september 6, 2021 15:07
After a dramatic team match against Turkey, the Danish U17 national team runs away with a victory of 3-2. Now the young talents are ready to face Russia in an exciting semifinal.
Denmark today got a match to the line in their team match against Turkey for the U17 EC in Slovenia. The Danish players showed up for today’s first team match without losing a single one of their matches from the group stage. That statistic was changed by the Turkish players.
– It was a completely crazy match today, it is definitely something we have not tried before, says U17 national coach Frank Larsen.
William Bøgebjerg made a strong start in the men’s singles with a two-set victory of 21-12, 21-6 against Anil Ulac Atan
– I definitely want to highlight Bøgebjerg. He comes in and delivers a completely stable men’s single, which is impressive, says Frank Larsen
Subsequently, Kajsa Van Dalm meets the Turkish player Ravza Bodur in the women’s singles. After a close three-setter, Kajsa loses 21-15, 16-21, 18-21 and the Danish national team therefore loses their first match to this year’s U17 EC.
The men’s doubles with Calvin Lundsgaard and Mads Emil Monke also lose their match against Anil Ulac Atan and Mirac Kantar 19-21, 17-21 and the Danish national team therefore enters the women’s doubles with a position of 2-1 to Turkey.
– We are almost out of the tournament and stand with one leg in the grave. It was something completely different today and we were clearly over there looking over the edge. Turkey puts a lot of pressure on us and takes up a lot of space both on and off the pitch, and we can especially feel that in the men’s doubles, says Frank Larsen.
See today’s results from the quarterfinals here
Today’s team match took a turn when the Danish women’s double came on the field. After the Danes lost their women’s singles and men’s doubles, the women’s doubles with Sofie Røjkjær and Lærke Thomsen became a turning point for today’s team match. The two Danish players end up with a 15-21, 21-17, 21-18 victory over Cansu Ercetin and Tugcenur Korkmaz and therefore equalize the team match to 2-2.
– Lærke and Sofie are cool today, the Turks put a lot of pressure on them and in the stay in the second set we are behind 3-9, but the girls get to turn the match around, and it’s just fucking cool.
The team match was decided in a mixed double with Jonathan Melgaard and Maria Højlund Tommerup, who meet Bugra Aktas and Sinem Yildiz. Jonathan and Maria play to a sure victory of 21-17, 21-10 and make sure that the Danish national team is on to the U17 EC semifinals.
-The mix doubles were mega cool, and deliver a good game. In general, there is a lot of noise in the hall today, and it is not something the players are used to, but we stand together as a team, and that is also what secures us the victory today.
At 16.00, the Danish U17 national team will meet Russia, who will win their quarter-final 3-0 over Cyprus. A difficult match according to U17 national coach Frank Larsen.
– It’s going to be a really tough match. We have to face the top-seeded and the smashed Ukraine 3-0 in just one hour. Ukraine were the ones we feared, so we will definitely play as underdogs later.
You can watch the U17 national team matches live on Badminton Europe’s Youtube channel.
Click here to watch Badminton Europe’s live TV
Tags: Calvin Lundsgaard, EC 2021, Jonathan Melgaard, Kajsa Van Dalm, Lærke Thomsen, Mads Emil Monke, Maria Højlund Tommmerup, Slovenia, Sofie Røjkjær, U17, William Bøgebjerg
Category: Elite, Home, News
