Jayce
Today is the fifth day of the Olympic badminton competition, and it is a special day.
Many European singles players (and Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen) will face world-class top seeds who are the only hope for European players to advance to the last 16.
In some ways, this match may already be a knockout stage match for the European players, as a win would send them through to the next round, while a loss would mean a farewell to Paris.
Here’s a look at the daunting challenges that await the European players:
Session 1 Starts at 8.30 AM CEST
Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) vs Kristin Kuuba (EST) – Winner wins group M
Misha Zilberman (ISR) vs Prince Dahal (NEP) – Winner will NOT go through
Viktor Axelsen [2] (DEN) vs Nhat Nguyen (IRL) – Winner wins Group P
Kalle Koljonen (FIN) vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn [8] (THA) – Winner wins Group C
Shi Yu Qi [1] (CHN) vs Giovanni Toti (ITA) – Winner wins Group A
Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup Rasmussen [2] (DEN) vs Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi (JAP) If Astrup/ Rasmussen win, they will go through to the next round; however if they lose, they could still go through if Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi (CHN) win their match against Lee Yang/ Wang Chi-lin (TPE) going on at the same time
Session 2 Starts at 2.00 PM CEST
Carolina Marin [4] (ESP) vs Rachael Darragh (IRL) – If Darragh wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group L since everyone has one win and one loss. If Marin wins she wins Group L
Lee Zii Jia [7] (MAS) vs Pablo Abian (ESP) – Winner wins Group G
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung [7] (INA) vs Tereza Švábíková (CZE) – If Švábíková wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group G since everyone has one win and one loss. If Tunjung wins, she wins Group G
Anders Antonsen [4] (DEN) vs Ade Resky Dwicahyo (AZE) – Winner wins Group E
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting [9] (INA) vs Toma Junior Popov (FRA) – Winner wins group H
Session 3 Starts at 7.30 PM CEST
An Se Young [1] (KOR) vs Qi Xuefei (FRA) – If Qi Xuefei wins, the winner of the group will depend on the individual score each three matches of Group A since everyone has one win and one loss. If An Se Young wins, she wins Group L
Chen Yu Fei [2] (CHN) vs Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) – Winner wins Group P
As we can see, the fate of the European team largely depends on whether they can beat the top players such as Shi Yuqi, An Sai Yong, Chen Yufei, Jin Ting and Li Zijia. This will be an extremely serious challenge. At Badminton Europe, we are honoured to serve these outstanding badminton players and to see our players challenged by the world’s best on the biggest stage. We can’t wait to see how the day unfolds.
