Both the Danish and the international stars lived up to the expectations on the first day of the European Championships in Kolding as only one pair made a bit of a surprise.
In the mixed doubles category, Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (2) from England lived fully up the expectations as they, in a very one-sided match, won 21-10, 21-5 against Oliver Schaller/Celine Burkart from Switzerland.
- It was a comfortable win and a good start. I think we got our feet moving, we hit the ball well and we are happy that we got the win. Now it is time to focus on the next match, the pair said after the match as they were also very determined to live up to their seeding and compete for the gold medal, Chris Adcock said.
Another big favorite for the European title Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (1) also came off to a good start as they won their match 21-14, 21-17 against Ben Lane/Jessica Pugh from England.
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The siblings from Ireland Sam Magee/Chloe Magee, played very well in their first round where they, a bit surprisingly, beated the fifth seeded Jacco Arends/Selena Piek (5) from The Netherlands with the score 21-17, 23-21.
- We expected an extremely hard match and that was exactly what we got. We knew that they have been consistent in the top 20 for 3-4 years, but also that Selena has been injured lately. We played with great confidence, stuck to our game and we are very happy with the win, Sam Magee said after the match.
The Polish mixed double Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Zieba also started the European Championships in style as they won their match 21-10, 21-13 against the Spanish Alberto Zapico/Lorena Usle, in what is their last tournament together.
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The Danish double Søren Gravholt/Maiken Fruergaard, who got a wildcard coming into the tournament, also won, in what was their first ever European Championship match together. They played against Jakub Bitman/Alzbeta Basova from Czech Republic and won with the score 21-13, 21-17.
- I think we showed that we belong here. It was a tough match against an opponent we should beat, but not a pair so bad that we could just crush them, Søren Gravholt said. He also believe that they have a good shot of winning their next match.
The other Danish stars also won their matches today:
Marvin Emil Seidel/Linda Efler vs. Mathias Christiansen/Sara Thygesen (3): 6-21, 17-21.
Emil Holst vs. Felix Burestedt: 21-10, 21-15.