The mixed doubles final will be an all Danish battle between the pre-favourites Frederik Colberg/Mette Poulsen and their compatriots Kasper Antonsen/Amanda Madsen. Colberg and Poulsen overcame the challenge of Wales’ Oliver Gwilt/Georgia Hughes in straight sets in the semi finals, but had to fight hard already in the quarter final where Netherland’s Jim Middelburg/Soraya De Visch Eijbergen took the Danes to three sets. Kasper Antonsen and Amanda Madsen had a similar road to the final. In the quarter final they won in three sets against Sweden’s Filip Myhren/Seydi Aktan, while they beat France’s Joris Grosjean/Lea Palermo in two sets in the semi final.
The women’s singles will be the only one without Danish participation – but definitely not without top quality. Spain’s rising star Carolina Marin won her semi final against Turkey’s Ebru Tunali in a close three sets match, while she will be up against another Turkish player in the final, Neslihan Yigit. Yigit knocked out Denmark’s Line Kjærsfeldt in the semi finals, winning 21/19 21/16.
Denmark will also take the gold medal in the men’s singles event. Top seeded Viktor Axelsen will be up against will fellow countryman Kim Bruun in the final. Axelsen won his semi final against Russia’s Anatoly Yartsev – Yartsev who had beaten Axelsen in the team final earlier on the week. This time Axelsen however take control of the game from the very start, and never allowed Yartsev to get really close. Kim Bruun had to struggle a bit more in his semi final against Turkey’s Emre Lale. Eventually it was however the young Dane who was victorious, winning the match 21/15 23/21.
In the men’s doubles final it will be Denmark or France who will be able to bring home the gold medals. Going into the tournament Kasper Paulsen/Frederik Colberg and Joris Grosjean/Lucas Corvee were seeded to face each other in the final – and this will now be the case tomorrow. In the semi finals Paulsen/Colberg beat Russia’s Anatoly Yartsev/Ivan Nikitin in straight sets, while their opponents in the finals had to use three sets to knock out Denmark’s other pair – Mathias Mundbjerg/Kasper Antonsen.
Bulgaria took a surprising medal in women’s doubles. The sister’s Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva were up against the top seeded Celine Juel/Mette Poulsen in their semi final, but despite a strong performance the young sisters had to settle for the bronze medal after losing in three sets. The top seeded Danes will be up against Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit/Neslihan Kilic in Sunday’s final. In the last semi final of the day they overcame the challenge of another Danish pair, Amanda Madsen/Josephine von Zaane in a hard fought match going over three sets.
Tomorrow’s finals start at 10.00 and can be followed
live here
To see all the results from the 2009 European U17 Championships – click here