European Mixed Team Championship: Denmark beat England to the gold medal
Last Updated: 15/02/15 6:51pm
England fell short in their bid to win gold against Denmark in the European Mixed Team Championship.
The Danes retained their title after a convincing 3-0 victory over Jakob Hoi's England squad, whose silver medal represented an improvement on two consecutive bronzes.
Line Kjaersfeldt beat Fontaine Chapman 21-14 21-11 in 31 minutes after the women's singles' rubbers opened up the final - a draw which benefitted Denmark.
World No 2 Jan O Jorgensen recovered from 11-8 down to the world No 112 Toby Penty to eventually win 21-18 21-14, extending Denmark's advantage.
It was a shame we couldn't gain momentum by getting one of our doubles pairs out early to gain intenstity and competition.
Jakob Hoi, England coach
Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl then defeated Heather Olver and Lauren Smith in the women's doubles, giving Denmark the gold with the men's and mixed doubles yet to be played.
Denmark have won 10 of the last 11 mixed team titles at the biennial event.
"There was nothing we could do about the order of play," admitted Hoi.
"It was a shame we couldn't gain momentum by getting one of our doubles pairs out early to gain intenstity and competition.
"I don't have a smile on my face right now and nor do the team as most of them have been in this position before and wanted to changed that.
"But to reach the final is an accomplishment despite being seeded second."
