Bulgaria and Denmark grabbed a gold medal each at the Baku 2015 European Games through 
Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva and Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen respectively.
The Stoeva sisters (featured image) held off a late challenge from Russia’s Ekaterina Bolotova/Evgeniya Kosetskaya to prevail 21-12 23-21 in the Women’s Doubles final. Losing semi-finalists Neslihan Yigit/Ozge Bayrak (Turkey) and Maria Helsbol/Lena Grebak (Denmark) won the bronze medal.
Boe and Mogensen (below; centre) notched their fourth straight win over Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov after unexpectedly falling to them in the European Championships semi-finals. The win today in the gold medal match was achieved in comprehensive fashion, 21-8 21-13.
Germany’s Raphael Beck/Andreas Heinz and Ireland’s Sam Magee/Joshua Magee earned a bronze medal each after falling in the semi-finals.
Denmark had a good day, with Emil Holst and Line Kjaersfeldt making the singles finals and Niclas Nohr/Sara Thygesen entering the Mixed Doubles final.
Holst overpowered Germany’s Dieter Domke 21-14 21-15 and will face veteran Spaniard Pablo Abian in the Men’s Singles final. Abian recovered from a close first game loss to beat Lithuania’s Kestutis Navickas, 20-22 21-16 21-13.
Line Kjaersfeldt edged past Bulgaria’s Petya Nedelcheva in a close first game before cruising through in the second, 21-18 21-14. Her opponent in the Women’s Singles final will be Belgian Lianne Tan (above), who continued to demonstrate tremendous grit in winning yet another three-game match. Tan recovered from the loss of the first game to beat Spain’s Clara Azurmendi, 16-21 21-19 21-13.
The Mixed Doubles final will feature Nohr/Thygesen – 17-21 21-10 21-15 winners over Germany’s Raphael Beck/Kira Kattenbeck – against France’s Gaetan Mittelheisser/Audrey Fontaine (below). The French pair overcame Ireland’s Sam Magee/Chloe Magee 21-12 23-21.
BWF Newsletter
