Sudirman Cup 2019
Badminton’s Sudirman Cup 2019 is currently underway in Nanning, China. Day two saw a stunning victory for the England team over a strong Danish team. In fact all of the matches went to three games resulting in thrilling tie.
For those not too familiar with the Sudirman Cup it’s basically badminton’s version of Tennis’s Davis Cup. It sees men and women representing their countries with ties featuring singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Day 1
England started day one badly losing 4-1 to a rampant Indonesian team. That meant victory against Denmark that included one of the men’s games top players Viktor Axelsen was imperative.
Day 2
Denmark proved too strong in the men’s and women’s singles. However both matches did go to three games. Viktor Axelsen (Den) vs. Toby Penty (Eng) probably looked the most straightforward on paper at least. However Penty made the Dane really work hard for it with match finishing 21-11, 13-21, 21-17.
The women’s singles saw Chloe Birch take on Mia Blichfedt with the Danish player winning 21-11, 18-21, 21-12.
Prior to the singles matches the mixed doubles kicked things off. That one was contested by England’s Marcus Ellis / Lauren Smith vs. Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen / Sara Thygesen. The English pair wining this one 15-21, 22-20, 21-17.
Marcus Ellis / Chris Langridge won the men’s doubles match 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 against vs. Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup. Following the match winning point Ellis collapsed in agony having struggled through much of the last game with a leg problem.
That meant the tie was level at 2-2 with one match left to play. Women’s doubles player’s Chloe Birch / Lauren Smith produced some scintillating badminton finally overcoming their Danish opponents Maiken Fruergaard / Sara Thygesen 21-12, 19-21, 21-11.
England’s Sudirman Cup 2019 Badminton Squad
- Chris Adcock
- Gabby Adcock
- Chloe Birch
- Marcus Ellis
- Abigail Holden
- Chris Langridge
- Toby Penty
- Lauren Smith
The Adcock’s were the only ones to win in the 4-1 defeat to Indonesia. They are also the highest ranked English players in the BWF World rankings.
The win means Denmark must overcome Indonesia. If they don’t then England will be into the quarterfinals of the World Mixed Team Championships.
