The European Mixed Team Championships Qualification commences next week. We take a look at all the teams in Group 6.
The European Mixed Team Championships, which started in 1972, is played in February in uneven years. The eight best teams in Europe will be competing to become European Champions from 16 to 20 February 2021 in Vantaa, Finland.
The winning team in the qualification groups will advance to the finals, joining hosts Finland and reigning Champions Denmark.
Qualification Group 6 will be held at the Badminton High Performance Sports Centre in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. The group contains the hosts, Portugal, along with Spain, Scotland, Ukraine and Latvia. Here is a rundown of the teams:
Portugal
The hosting nation has yet to medal at the European Mixed Team Championships, but maybe with a home-court advantage, they can surprise some of the other countries in the qualification group.
The Portuguese men’s doubles with Bruno Carvalho and Tomas Nero won the 2019 Iceland International and together with the women’s doubles they might be able to score some points for Portugal.
Sonia Goncalves is likely to be busy for Portugal, with the potential to feature in the women’s singles and doubles. Playing with her younger sister in the doubles last month at the Portuguese International Championships in the same city, they lost out 24-22 in the decider against Scottish pair of O’Donnell/ Sidebottom. The tie against Scotland provides an opportunity to seek revenge.
Strongest line-up (based on World Rankings 07.12.2020)
MS: BERNARDO ATILANO (136)
WS: SONIA GONCALVES (141)
MD: BRUNO CARVALHO / TOMAS NERO (658)
WD: ADRIANA F. GONCALVES / SONIA GONCALVES (103)
XD: BRUNO CARVALHO / CATARINA CHRISTINA (1270)
SPAIN
Strengths lie in the singles categories, with the experienced Pablo Abian who has been winning titles on the European Circuit since 2006, with the first being in Latvia. Since then, he has won 27 titles and in 2015 he won the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The star of the team is of course Carolina Marin with her Olympic gold medal, three World Championships and four European Championships medals. She will for sure make it tough for her singles opponents, and maybe she will even appear in the women’s doubles to help her team.
Strongest line-up (based on World Rankings 07.12.2020)
MS: PABLO ABIAN (51)
WS: CAROLINA MARIN (6)
MD: JOAN MONROY /CARLOS PIRIS (183)
WD: NEREA DIAZ / PAULA LOPEZ (342)
XD: ALBERTO ZAPICO / LORENA USLE (159)
SCOTLAND
Kirsty Gilmour, 2016 and 2017 European Championships runner-up and 2019 European Games runner-up, is one of Scotland’s strongest players and will for sure play a big role in trying to secure a spot in the final in Finland. Besides Marin, she is the strongest women’s singles player in the qualification group, but last time the two players faced each other, it was Gilmour walking off court as the winner at the SaarLorLux Open. The match between these two stars is for sure one to watch!
The 2020 Austrian Open winners, Adam Hall and Alexander Dunn, will also play a big role in the team both in the men’s doubles but also in the mixed doubles as they play with Julie Macpherson and Ciara Torrance respectively, who also play the women’s doubles together.
Strongest line-up (based on World Rankings 07.12.2020)
MS: CIAR PRINGLE (1560)
WS: KIRSTY GILMOUR (27)
MD: ALEXANDER DUNN / ADAM HALL (38)
WD: JULIE MACPHERSON / CIARA TORRANCE (95)
XD: ADAM HALL / JULIE MACPHERSON (60)
UKRAINE
Former Centre of Excellence player, Artem Pochtarov, will together with Maria Ulitina do their best to lead the way for the Ukrainian team. With Polina Buhrova and Mariia Stoliarenko winning a bronze medal in women’s doubles at the 2020 European Junior Championships, the future for Ukraine is bright and maybe these two young girls will fight for Ukraine in Portugal.
The highest-ranked players in the team are the 2017 Czech International Champions, Maryna Ilyinskaya/ Yelyzaveta Zharka, will aim to build strong foundations for a well-balanced Ukrainian team.
Strongest line-up (based on World Rankings 07.12.2020)
MS: ARTEM POCHTAROV (86)
WS: MARIA ULITINA (91)
MD: GLIB BEKETOV / MYKHAYLO MAKHNOVKSIY (113)
WD: MARYNA ILYINSKAYA / YELYZAVETA ZHAKARA (75)
XD: MYKHAYLO MAKHNOVKSIY / ANASTASIYA PROZOROVA (112)
LATVIA
Many of the Latvian players took part in their home event, the Latvia International, in August. The tournament is one of a handful of opportunities players have had for competitive action. They will be hoping this puts them in good stead for their matches against strong opposition.
Liana Lencevica, 19, and Jekaterina Romanova, 23, will be ones to watch for Latvia. Having not played since the Lithuanian International quarterfinal, it would great to see of the young pair will feature in Portugal.
Strongest line-up (based on World Rankings 07.12.2020)
MS: ANDIS BERZINS (1241)
WS: MONIKA RADOVSKA (305)
MD: PATRIKS KANDIS / KRISTAPS VARNA (1195)
WD: LIANA LENCEVICA / JEKATERINA ROMANOVA (267)
XD: ANDIS BERZINS / UNA BERGA (965)
Group 6 will be played out 9-12 December (local time):
Wednesday 9th December 2020
Portugal vs Latvia 10:00
Spain vs Ukraine 10:00
Thursday 10th December 2020
Scotland vs Portugal 10:00
Latvia vs Ukraine 10:00
Latvia vs Spain 17:00
Scotland vs Ukraine 17:00
Friday 11th December 2020
Portugal vs Spain 10:00
Scotland vs Latvia 10:00
Saturday 12th December 2020
Ukraine vs Portugal 10:00
Spain vs Scotland 10:00
For more information about the EMTCQ, click here.