EUROPEANS – Scotland beat Wales in Battle of Britain Part 1

This evening in Liverpool Scotland beat Wales 4-1 in the first round of the battle of Britain. Meanwhile England took little time is disposing of the threat of Czech Republic to solidify their position as number 2 seeds for the tournament. Elsewhere the Ukraine showed why they are a force to be reckoned with as they brushed aside Italy
By Mark Phelan (Live) Photos: badmintonphoto.com (Live in Liverpool)
While all the attention was justifiably centred on England (Blair and Adcock photo left) making their debut on home soil there was plenty of quality badminton on show this evening on all courts in the Echo Arena. Scotland got off to the perfect start as they left Wales with an uphill climb if they are now to proceed from group 8. Scotland took control of the tie with the score level at 1-1 in matches as Susan Hughes (photo right) crushed Caroline Harvey 21-10 21-5. Scotland went on to win the final two matches to take the match 4-1 to set up and eagerly awaited tie with England on Thursday which might ultimately decide the group winners.
England meanwhile, play on the adjoining court, had the experienced combination of Clark and Kellogg up first and they duly provided a performance that justifies there status as world number 4. Their 21-9 21-8 demolition of Pavel Florian and Martina Besesova set England on their way to a 5-0 win. England did not have it all their own way however as Elizabeth Cann had to dig deep into her reserves to see of Christina Ludikova 21-17 21-19 and the women’s doubles at the tail end of the match went to three sets.
The Ukraine had a sweeping 5-0 victory over Italy in a match that saw world number 22 Larisa Griga show all the qualities that has elevated her to one of Europe’s top female singles players.

“I felt very comfortable today on court. I am in good form and I think we have a really balanced team this year. We really want to win this group and go on and maybe play England on their home soil in the next round. Personally I feel I am still improving and hopefully there is more to come from me in the coming years as I want to push on into the worlds top 16 which I am close to achieving.”
said Griga after her impressive singles win today
The match between Iceland and Hungary was always going to be a tight affair on paper and as expected it went down to the final match. Iceland managed to steal the victory which is sure to bolster their spirits ahead of their next match against Italy which if they can win will leave them with a realistic chance of advancing beyond the group stages.
In group 4 Russia (with Sorokina and Vislova, pictured left) cruised by Latvia as none of their games extended beyond 20 mins. In the same group Belarus, minus the influential Olga Konon, also completed a 5-0 whitewash to keep the Russians looking over their shoulders.
Tomorrow sees the awaited introduction of championship favourites Denmark in group 1 as they take to the courts at 10am against Spain. France, the number 7 seeds, open their campaign against European minnows Cyprus on the adjoining court.
For all results go HERE