Badminton: Going for gold
England and Poland will battle it out for a place in the European Team Championship final on Saturday night.
Last Updated: 14/02/09 12:51pm
England and Poland will battle it out for a place in the European Team Championship final on Saturday night.
A 3-1 victory over Ukraine on Friday guaranteed the hosts at least a bronze
medal in Liverpool with losing teams in the last four finishing tied for third
England head coach Ian Wright insists the second seeds cannot not afford to be complacent against Poland though.
"We know them very well as we have played them home and away this year in friendlies and the score is 1-1. This is the decider for the season," he said.
"Poland's men's singles player (Przemyslaw Wacha) is top-10 in the world, their men's doubles are a top-10 pair and they have one very experienced girl.
"It is dangerous. They are a good experienced team. If we play well we have every chance of winning but we need to play well."
Mixed doubles pair Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork got the English off to a strong start against Ukraine with a straightforward victory over Valeriy Atrashchenkov and Elena Prus.
World number 21 Andrew Smith then came from behind to beat Dmytro Zavadskyy and men's doubles duo Robert Blair and Chris Adcock wrapped up victory after Liz Cann had gone down to Larisa Griga in the women's singles.
Defending champions Denmark and sixth seeds Russia face off in the other semi-final at the Echo Arena with a place in Sunday's final at stake.
