England and Denmark: the most dominant Badminton nations in the European Mixed Team Championships
The biggest event of Badminton in Europe is the European Mixed Team Badminton Championships. The leading 32 countries participate in this prestigious mixed team event. The first edition of this European contest was held in 1972 and 12 countries, so far,
have hosted the 21 editions of this event. England and Denmark have proved their dominance in this tournament by winning more titles as compared to the other countries of Europe.
The first edition of European Mixed Team Badminton Championships was organized in 1972 at Karlskrona, Sweden. The opening title was won by England, as they grabbed the top position by beating Denmark in the final. Austria hosted the second edition of the
championships in 1974. The result of the second edition also remained the same as England once again defeated Denmark and won the title of European Champion for the second consecutive time.
In 1976 at Ireland, Denmark defeated England in the final and became the European champion for the first time. In 1978, England hosted the event and won the title on home soil by beating Denmark in the final. The 1980 edition took place in the Netherlands,
where Denmark took revenge by defeating England in the final match. In 1982, the event was held in West Germany, where England won the final and became European champions for the fourth time.
In 1984, England became the host of the event for the second time and again won the final against Denmark on the home ground. In 1986 at Sweden, Denmark clinched the title by beating the English team in the final show down. In 1988, Norway became the hosting
country of the event, where Denmark emerged as victorious against Sweden.
The following edition of the event took place in 1990, at Moscow, Soviet Union. The result remained the same as Denmark again defeated Sweden in the final match of the European Mixed Team Badminton Championships. However in 1992, at Glasgow, Sweden destroyed
the superiority of Denmark and England in this Team event, as the Swedish team defeated the Danish shuttlers in the final and became the new European champions.
In the next version of this tournament in 1994, at the Netherlands, Sweden once again proved that they are right on track when they again defeated Denmark and became the winner for the second time in a row. In 1996, for the first time Denmark became the
host of the event. This time the Danish players proved their supremacy over the Swedish team and won the title at home.
Since 1996, Denmark remained the unparalleled claimer of the title as the Danish players improved their quality of the game and left the rest of European countries far behind. In 1998, Denmark defeated England at Sofia, Bulgaria. In the 2000 edition, the
English team met with the same fate in Glasgow, Scotland. England suffered with the third consecutive defeat by the hands of Denmark in 2002, in Sweden. The 2004 version of this event was won by Denmark against Netherlands, at Geneva in Switzerland.
In 2006, the Netherlands again suffered with the second consecutive defeat from Denmark in the final of the event. In 2008, Denmark won the title against England on home soil. In 2009, Denmark for the first time defeated the English team on their home soil.
In the last edition of this event took place in Netherlands in 2011, where Denmark continued its winning streak and won the title by beating England in the final of the championship.
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