For me the European Championships Tournament is over. Yesterday I lost the mens doubles as well as the mixed in the third round.
The matches on Tuesday were not very difficult. In both events we had a 2 game win. But Wednesday would be an extremely heavy day with, if all went well, 3 matches within a relatively short period of time.
Samantha and I started the day in the second round playing the Czech champions Bitman and Basova. Especially in the second game we performed very well and we kept the Czechs from coming into the right rhythm. So a two game win. Soon after this the next match was scheduled for which Dave and I had prepared ourselves during the past 10 days. For the third time this year we were going to meet the Russians Ivanov and Sozonov. In the final in Sweden and the semi finals in Poland we didn’t stand a chance so when the EC draw had been published we started to analyse their playing with our coach Gerben Bruijstens. As a result we adjusted parts of our training with the only purpose to make a good performance playing this top pair. My objective was to play at least two good games and we achieved that goal.
In the first game we stayed close together all the way and we even got 2 game points which we failed to capitalize. At their first game point they played a winner and the game was theirs. In the second game the Russians took a 16-12 lead but a good series of consecutive points brought us back in the game. At a 18-19 score we played 3 winners in a row and the second game was ours. Also in the third we stayed close together but at 15 all they scored 4 very important consecutive points making the gap too big to bridge and we lost the game with 16-21. Of course this was a pity after such a good match but after all we were very happy and proud that, thanks to our preparation, we had succeeded to really fight back and offer resistance!
One hour later it was Samantha’s and my turn and again versus Russians, the number 3 seeds. In both games we were able to keep up with our opponents but still we never came close to winning a game. We were not dissatisfied at all with the 21-16 and 21-18 especially because we were often the better lot in the rallies. But they scored just a bit better at the service of the Russian lady who was anticipating well and at the right spot most of the time.
Today are the quarter finals and I will definitely watch these matches. Tomorrow morning we travel by bus to Copenhagen where we will take the flight back to Amsterdam. After two tournaments in a row I intend to enjoy a badminton free weekend to relax and to reminisce on my silver medal last week at the Dutch International. I believe it is important to cherish such moments! When saying it I realize that I still may log in at Badmintoneurope.tv to watch some of the finals. It’s quite addictive badminton.