England’s men secured their place at the European Team Championships with a dominant series of performances on home soil.
The National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes was the stage for men’s Qualification Group 3 and 5, with the victors securing a spot at February’s showpiece in Lodz, Poland.
Hosts England surged to top spot in Group 3, winning 14 of 15 matches across three days to secure qualification in style.
Thursday’s 5-0 win over Iceland came in emphatic fashion with no English player or pairing dropping a game across the five disciplines.
Harry Huang beat Gabriel Ingi Helgason 21-17 21-13, Nadeem Dalvi downed Daniel Johannesson 21-10 21-14 and Cholan Kayan crushed Gustavo Nilsson 21-8 21-12 to secure outright victory.
Two further matches were played despite the overall outcome being decided with Ben Lane and Sean Vendy running out 21-11 21-16 winners over David Bjarni Bjornsson and Kristofer Darri Finsson and Callum Hemming and Ethan van Leeuwen 21-11 21-9 victors against Johannesson and Nilsson.
The second tie against Switzerland was less straightforward with Huang going down in the third game of the singles opener against Tobias Kuenzi and Johnnie Torjussen needing a decider to get past Julien Scheiwiller.
But the other three ties went resoundingly in England’s favour as Kayan outlasted Nicolas Mueller 21-14 21-19 and wins were claimed by Lane/Vendy and Hemming/van Leeuwen.
Having won their first two ties, Sweden offered the sternest test on paper in Saturday’s decisive tie that would settle the final standings in Group 3.
The home team again rose to the occasion and didn’t drop a game with Huang, Torjussen, Kayan and Hemming/van Leeuwen joined by Rory Easton and Zach Russ in engineering victory in straight games.
The team will now turn their attention to the Championships which will take place at the Sport Arena Lodz from 14-18 February.
The 2024 event will feature the best eight men’s and the best eight women’s teams on the continent, crowning the best national teams in Europe and acting as a qualifier for the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals.
Images: Alan Spink
