Irish International Draws

Tomorrow the last EBU circuit tournament of 2009 begins in Dublin, Ireland as qualifying rounds for the Irish International begin. The competition at this year’s event will be quite strong, perhaps one of the toughest events of the circuit this year.

While last year’s mens singles champion Rajiv Ouseph has moved on up in the world, England’s Carl Baxter is still here hoping to retain the title for England once again. Hometown favourite Scott Evans however will be hoping to go one further this year as he lost in the finals last year. The top seed Przemyslaw Wacha is probably the top contender for the title in Dublin this year.

Larisa Griga is the one to beat in the womens singles, however second seeded Susan Egelstaff will be hoping to continue her winning ways after her big win in Glasgow two weeks ago. Other notable contenders for the title include Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri and Finland’s Anu Nieminen.

For full draws and to view ongoing results visit the draws below:
Irish International Championships 2009 Draws

Marc Zwiebler

The day started with two Scottish hopefuls in the final, unseeded Emma Mason and Mariana Agathangelou took on the top seeded Russian duo of Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina in the first final of the day. The local support rallied behind the British couple when they took a 12-11 lead early in the first set, only for the Russian pair to storm to the opening set 21-16.

The second set went much the same way as the first, with the Russian top seeds leading and refusing to let go of their lead, taking the second game 21-16 to claim the title. Marc Zweibler played Peter Mikkelsen in the Men’s Singles final, with both looking impressive on their way to the final.

Zweibler took a closely fought out first game 21-15, only for Mikkelsen to respond to take the second game by the same score but Zweibler dominated the final game and took it 21-16 to claim the Men’s Singles title.

The Men’s Doubles match turned into a fabulous encounter between the 3rd and 4th seeds, with the English 4th seeds of Middleton and Langridge taking a tight first game 21-19 and then saved 5 game points in the second but couldn’t get their own chance and lost the second game 26-24. The Danish 3rd seeds of Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding dominated the third game and at 8-8 won 13 of the next 16 points to win the third game 21-11.

The mixed doubles was the most one-sided of the finals, with Valeria Sorokina and Alexander Nikolaenko defeating Raj and Renuga Veeran 21-11, 21-16 in just 23 minutes.  The last match of the day pitted the top two seeds in the women’s singles against each other, with Susan Egelstaff in her first Scottish International final.

Ella Diehl dominated the opening part of the first game, only for Egelstaff to respond and from 18-17 down took the next four points to take the first game 21-18. If the first game was a nervy encounter, the second game was a precession from the 2nd seed Scot. Ella Diehl’s level dropped dramatically and Egelstaff was in commanding form as she took the second game 21-10 to win her first Scottish International title.

Sunday’s Results

Marc Zwiebler

Susan Egelstaff and Emma Mason have kept local interests alive into Sunday’s finals day with two wins on Saturday, Susan Egelstaff defeated 8th seed Tatiana Bibik in 3 games in the quarter final then booked her place in the final with a two game victory over Switzerland’s Jeanine Cicognini.

Egelstaff will play top seed Ella Diehl in the final, after the Russian beat unseeded Turk Li Shuang in two close games in the quarters before beating 3rd seeded Linda Zechiri in three games to set up a first versus second seed final.

Przemyslaw Wacha’s quarter final matchup with Jan Vondra never took place, with the 8th seeded Czech pulling out the night before, 4th seeded Peter Mikkelsen continued his excellent run and took out the second seed at the semi final stage in two close games, winning 21-19, 21-18.

Mikkelsen will play top seeded Marc Zweibler in the final, after the German defeated 6th seeded Vladimir Malkov in two games 21-14, 21-14 followed by 7th seeded Scott Evans in three games to book his place in the final.

Emma Mason and partner Mariana Agathangelou also reached tomorrow’s Women’s Doubles final after two superb wins. The first against the 2nd seeded Danish pair of Neilsen and Ropke and then a comfortable two set win over Cooper and Ward in an all-British semi final. This will be Agathangelou’s third consecutive final in the Women’s doubles at the Scottish International.

They will play the Russian top seeds Nina Vislova and Valeria Sorokina, who had to come through 2 three game encounters to reach the final. The first against unseeded Dutch duo of Jonathans and Van Dooremalen, winning 21-12 in the third and against 3rd seeded Indian pair Balan and Kurian, defeating them 21-14 in the third.

Play begins at 1pm on Sunday.

Scottish International Championships 2009 Draws

Przemyslaw Wacha

The top 2 seeds in both singles events are through to the last 8 of the Scottish International, Marc Zwiebler has been impressive in his progression to the last eight as has second seeded Przemyslaw Wacha, neither player has dropped a game to date.

Marc Zwiebler plays Vladimir Malkov in the last 8, with Wacha playing Jan Vondra of the Czech Republic in the quarter finals. Unseeded Sourabh Verma plays Peter Scott Evans while Irwansyah plays Peter Mikkelsen in the other quarter finals.

Both Diehl and Egelstaff survived a first game scare in their last 16 to come through to make the last 8. Ella Diehl beat Carola Bott in the 3rd Round while Susan Egelstaff defeated Michelle Chan Ky. Diehl plays unseeded Turk Li Shuang whilst Susan Egelstaff plays Tatiana Bibik in the quarter finals.

Linda Zechiri plays Any Nieminen and Sayali Gokhale will play Jeanine Cicognini, who put out last years winner Elizabeth Cann in Round 2.

Nina Vislova and Vitalij Durkin will start off play again tomorrow, this time they play 5th seed Tony Ng and Grace Gao in the Mixed Doubles quarter finals. With all 5 top seeds still in the competition, it could be another year for Russian domination in the Scottish International.

UPDATE: Przemyslaw Wacha is through to the semi-finals as Jan Vondra has withdrawn.

Play begins tomorrow at 10am local time
Scottish International Championships 2009 Draws

Marc Zwiebler

Play started at 10am with top seed Marc Zweibler in action against qualifier Joshua Green, the German being in fantastic form in his 21-17, 21-13 win and will play against Scotland’s Craig Goddard. 6th seed Vladimir Malkov was also impressive in his win over Tomas Kopriva.

Local interest will continue into the second round, with Kieran Merrilees, Martin Campbell, Calum Menzies, Stephen McPhail and Gordon Thomson all winning their opening round games. Second seed Przemyslaw Wacha was last on court but was perhaps the most impressive in the opening round, winning 21-6, 21-14 against Rohan Midha.

The top seeds in the Women’s Singles will be in action tomorrow, with top seed Ella Diehl playing Perrine Lebuhanic and second seed Susan Egelstaff playing Belgian Stefanie Bertels. With local interest also coming in the way of Kirsty Gilmour, after a first round walkover.

Play begins tomorrow with top seeds Durkin and Vislova playing Scottish pair Keith Turnbull and Kirsten Geals, second seed Claes and Descamps have pulled out, leaving the bottom half of the draw wide open.

Day 1 seen only two seeds lost; will the dominance end on Friday? Play begins at 10am.
Scottish International Championships Draws

Susan Egelstaff begins the quest for her first Scottish Open this week with arguably her easiest draw to the later years in all the years she has been playing the event. The second seed will play the winner of Stefanie Bertels and Lubomira Stoymora in the second round after receiving a first round bye.

Top seed Ella Diehl plays the winner of Huwaina Razi and Perrine Lebuhanic, the news of Olga Konon withdrawing from the event is another boost to Egelstaff’s hopes, with the Pole recently reaching the French Super Series quarter final.

Marc Zweibler comes into the Men’s Singles as the top seed; his opening round match is against qualifier Joshua Green. Local interest will be with 9th seeded Kieran Merrilees for a chance of a Scottish victory, he plays Sam Phiillips in Round 1.

The Mixed Doubles draw has been opened up in the lower half of the draw with the withdrawal of 2nd seeds Claes and Descamps, allowing Scottish pair Paul Van Rietvelde and Emma Mason to progress into Round 1.

Play begins at 10am local time with Marc Zweibler starting play, with the first round of the Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles being completed on Day 1.

Thursday’s Order Of Play
Scottish International Championships 2009 Draws

Four top seeds were in contention for top honours in Sunday’s finals, with the mixed doubles top seed starting play. Robin Middleton and Mariana Agathangelou played unseeded Marcus Ellis and Heather Olver in an all-English final. It was the unseeded pair of Ellis and Olver that won the match in two games, 21-19, 21-17.

Next on court was Juliane Schenk, seeded 1 against Rachel Van Cutsen, the 4th seed from Holland. The German top seed took the opening game 21-12, only for Van Cutsen to win the second game 21-19 and level up the match, but Schenk proved too strong and took the third game 21-11 to secure the title.

Then came the Men’s Singles final, pitting the top two seeds against each other. Marc Zweibler, seeded 1 took the opening game 21-15, but the second seed Hans-Kristian Vittinghus responded by taking the second game 21-18. This set up a deciding third game for the title, which the 2nd seed Dane took 21-19 to clinch the victory.

Top seeded Helle Nielsen and Marie Ropke made it a second title for Denmark, beating Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskens in two games 21-13, 21-18. Title number three was provided by Rasmus Bonde and Simon Mollyhus, the unseeded pair defeated second seeds Kristof Hopp and Johannes Schoettler in three games, 18-21, 21-17 and 21-19.

Norwegian International 2009 Complete Finals Results

Saturday’s play begun with top seeds Robin Middleton and Mariana Agathangelou in quarterfinal action against Christian John Skovgard and Maria Heisbol, 21 minutes and two games later, the top seeds booked their place in the semi finals later that day, winning 21-12, 21-10. They were joined the semi finals by another English pair, Marcus Ellis and Heather Olver who beat 2nd seeds Dave Khodabux and Samantha Barning 23-21, 21-19.

Both English couples secured semi final victories to make the Mixed Doubles final an all-English affair, both coming through in three games. Middleton and Agathanegelou beating Tim Dettman of Germany and Emelie Lennartsson of Sweden, whilst Olver and Ellis defeated Indian duo K. Tarun and Shruti Kurian.

Top seed in the Women’s Singles, Juliane Schenk made light work of her two matches today to secure a place in Sunday’s final, first defeating Patty Stolzenbach 21-14, 21-4 in the quarter finals, then beat 3rd seed Anu Nieminen 21-13, 21-13. Her opponent in tomorrow’s final is another Dutch woman, 4th seeded Rachel Van Cutsen, who defeated Karina Jorgensen in the quarterfinals and 2nd seed Larisa Griga in the semi finals, both in two games.

The final of the Men’s Singles is a battle of the top two seeds; Marc Zweibler was in dominant form as he disposed of 7th seeded Henri Hurskainen in the quarterfinals, then 3rd seeded Christian Lind Thomsen in the semi finals. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, seeded 2 also had little trouble booking his place in tomorrow’s final. Defeating unseeded Magnus Sahlberg in the quarterfinals and then Estonia’s 4th seed Raul Must in the semi finals. With all four matches won by the top two seeds being won in two games.

The top seeds in the Women’s Doubles, Helle Neilsen and Marie Ropke are also through, after defeating England’s Heather Olver and Scotland’s Emma Mason in the semi final in two tight games, 23-21 and 24-22, they will play unseeded Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskens of Holland in tomorrows final.

Saturday’s Results

Day two of the Norwegian Open saw the start of all five events, with most of the seeded players progressing through to the second round, Chloe Magee who was seeded 6th in the Women’s Singles lost out to Karina Jorgensen in three games was the first of the seeded players to crash out.

The sixth seed in the Men’s Singles, Dmytro Zavadsky crashed out to Sweden’s Magnus Sahlberg in two close games, then the 7th seed in the Women’s Singles, Michelle Chan lost out of Holland’s Patty Stolzenbach in three games, losing 21-15 in the third game.

The top seeds have progressed safety the Quarter Final stage, with Juliane Schenk progressing without dropping a game whilst Marc Zweibler was taken to three games in his second round match against Kristian Neilsen. He plays 7th seed Henri Hurskainen in Saturday’s Quarter Final.

Play begins tomorrow with top seeded Mixed Doubles pair Robin Middleton and Mariana Agathangelou playing unseeded Christian John Skovgaard and Maria Heisbol. The Men’s Singles begins at 11.40, with Zweibler against Hurskainen and Christian Lind Thomsen, seeded 3 playing Scott Evans, the 8th seed from Ireland.

Juliane Schenk plays Patty Stolzenbach at 11.40, as well as 3rd seeded Anu Nieminen plays Truoti Murgunde of India, seeded 8.

Friday’s Results

Saturday’s Order of Play

The Norwegian International Championships is the beginning of a 4-week run of events on the Badminton Europe calendar, taking the players to Norway, Scotland, Wales and then Ireland.

There is a large Scandinavian contingent in the draw as expected, but the top seeds are of a German nationality, Marc Zweibler is top seed in the men’s singles draw, followed by three Danes in the next four seeds. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, Christian Lind Thomsen and Peter Mikkelsen are all challengers to the title this week.

Juliane Schenk, another German is top seed in the Women’s Singles, with Larisa Griga, Anu Nieminen and Rachel Van Cutsen making up the top 4 seedings. The top two seeds in the Men’s Doubles are also German, with Michael Fuchs and Ingo Kindervater top seeded for the event.

The Women’s Doubles top seed are Helle Nielsen and Marie Ropke, with Sandra Marinello and Birgit Overzier of Germany being third seeded. The top seeds in the Mixed Doubles is Robin Middleton and Mariana Agathangelou of England, who is also seeded in the Women’s Doubles with Jillie Cooper of Scotland.

Qualification begins on Thursday at 1pm local time.

Norwegian International Championships 2009 Draws