Swiss girls serve up a stunner against England in European Women’s Team Championship
Switzerland finished England’s race to Uber Cup finals by a stunning 3-2 victory at the European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships in Amsterdam on Thursday.
This ends Olympic host England’s expedition in the tournament which also was a qualifying round for Thomas and Uber Cups set to be held in Wuhan, China from May 20-27.
The day belonged to the Swiss Shuttlers as their British rivals clearly got pale in front of them. Both teams had won their group matches and this encounter was a decisive tussle in their quest for the ticket to China.
Switzerland’s singles shuttlers exhibited their prime skills by hunting England’s singles players.
Jeanine Cicognini, Sabrina Jaquet and Nicole Schaller ensured the victory by winning against Nicola Cerfontyne, Sarah walker and Kate Robertshaw respectively.
Cicognini set the foundation when she convincingly defeated Cerfontyne with 21-14 and 21-12 score on the board. The British shuttler resisted for 29 minutes but could not stop her Swiss challenger from snatching the first important match point.
Sarah Walker tried to re-establish England’s grip over match by winning first set with 22-20 against Sabrina Jaquet, but Sabrina bounced back in next two games and raise Switzerland’s lead to 2-0 by beating her opponent with final score of 22-20 and 19-21.
In next Doubles match, the British duo out classed the Swiss pair in just 21 minutes. As expected, Mariana Agathangelou-Heather Olver brought the thrill back into match by clinching a point from Marion Gruber-Sanya Herzig with a 21-7 and 21-8 final score.
The format of the match also worked in favour of the Swiss as they had an upper hand in Singles category and so proved by Nicole Schaller when she sealed Switzerland’s 3-2 victory by scoring a final match point against Kate Robertshaw. The final score of
their game was 21-15 and 21-13.
The next doubles game turned inconsequential so Cicognini- Jaquet decided not to sweat against Jenny Wallwork-Gabrielle White and got retired from their doubles match without a shot being played.
Switzerland is set to take on Netherland in the quarter-finals.In the other quarter-final matches Denmark will compete Ukraine while Russia is playing against Bulgaria and Germany is facing France.
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