Portugal hosts Group 3 of the European Mixed Team Championships Qualification stage in Caldas de Raninha.
Three team matches in three days will take place for the four sides in Group 3 from the 7-9 December. Group 3 consists of four teams with the host Portugal that has been drawn alongside Switzerland, Iceland and the Netherlands.
The winner of the group at the end of the three days will qualify for the finals in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 13-17 February.
Opening days matches
The Group 3 matches are taking place at the High Performance Centre in Caldas de Raninha, Portugal, and will begin on the 7th of December with the host playing against Switzerland, followed by the Netherlands taking on Iceland on the opening day.
Check out Saturday and Sunday’s schedule here
The Netherlands come into this one as the favourites. It has been 12 years since the Dutch reached the semi-finals of this competition but are ranked over 25 places higher than any of their group opponents in the team rankings.
Strong Doubles team for the Netherlands
The Netherlands come into this group as the heavy favourites, mainly due to the strength of their doubles line-up.
In the Men’s Doubles, the pair of Robin Tabeling and Jelle Maas are a strong pair and currently ranked 31st in the world.
The Mixed Doubles pairings of both Robin Tabeling and Cheryl Seinen and the pair of Imke Van Der Aar and Ruben Jille are strong opponents which could cause the rest of the group some problems.
Also, in the Men’s Singles, the Dutch will be strong through Mark Caljouw. He is coming off a semi-final defeat in last week’s Scottish Open and will be expected to bounce back with a few wins.
Teams chosen
Switzerland and the Netherlands have both nominated each seven men and women for the European Mixed Team Qualification.
Switzerland will be looking to Celine Burkart to lead them to victory whilst the Netherlands will be looking for big performances from the likes of Mark Caljouw and Robin Tabeling.
Portugal and Iceland have selected a smaller team however. The hosts have selected ten players for the tournament (five men and five women) whilst Iceland come into the competition with just six players (three men and three women) so have selected the least players from Group 3.
Find the players chosen for each team here: