“We have been training together a lot lately and I believe that we have adjusted the form correctly,” said Zdena Blašková before the key tournament on home soil. Her doubles teammate Jan Valenta agreed: “We are both very much looking forward to the Olympic qualification. It is a huge honor and, of course, an equally huge chance to fight for participation in the Olympics. I haven’t played anything so important in my career,” he said.
For two days, twenty-six mixed couples will strive for a trip to the Olympic Games in Havířov. The fifth pair of the world ranking Lin Yun-Ju, Chen Szu-Yu from Taiwan, the world number six Spaniards Alvaro Robles, Maria Xiao or the seventh pair of the world Wong Chun Ting, Doo Hoi Kem from Hong Kong are registered.
Representatives of the DPRK, India, Singapore and the United States also traveled to the north of Moravia. And also other strong Europeans. The Austrians Robert Gardos with Sofia Polcanová, the Romanians Ovidiu Ionescu with Bernadette Szocsová or the Luxembourgish Luka Mladenovič with Ni Xia Lian. In short, what a name, it’s a concept in Europe, but also in the world.
“Of course we have respect for our opponents, they are top players, but we will go into every match with the clear goal of winning. There is no respect anymore. On the contrary, it is necessary to show right from the start that we are not afraid of our opponents and want to fight against each of them for advancement to the next round,” emphasized Valenta.
Coach Renáta Štrbíková’s wards will rely not only on their abilities but also on the Czech fans in the hall, which they both know very well. “The home crowd is always good. There will probably be some slight nervousness at the beginning, but that will disappear very soon. The support of family and friends, teammates from our clubs and other fans should help us. We would simply like to use the advantage of the home environment,” said Blašková.
Photo: Jaroslav Odstrčilík
The national champions in the mix Zdena Blašková (left) and Jan Valenta
European mixed doubles champion and current coach of the best Czech mixed doubles team Renata Štrbíková believes in the success of her students. Although, she says, coaching doubles is difficult. “Actually, he coaches for one set. Couples switch positions and tactics change very quickly. Monitoring service and reception is the main thing, but then you also need to think as a team. It’s not just one player and coach anymore. In short, there are interesting specifics, but I believe that we will manage all this together at the qualification,” explained Štrbíková, a participant of the Olympic Games in Athens.
He is not afraid to talk about the Czech couple’s chances. He has calculated that to advance to the Olympics, it is necessary to win four times in a row. “We will go into the tournament with the goal of winning one of those four tickets. It’s nothing unrealistic. In the mix, some individual strengths are essentially erased, and cooperation and team spirit decide,” emphasized the native of Havířov.
The two-day tournament in Havířov will be played in a knockout fashion. The first day will be played in two independent spiders, and the winner of each will advance to Paris. The second day will be played in the same way, except that the winners from the first day will no longer participate in the competition. And again, two advancement places will be played for.
