Huelva: The European Championships held in Huelva have finished the round of 16 on Thursday, where both Viktor Axelsen and Carolina Marin eased past their opponents to advance to the quarterfinals.
World No. 1 men’s singles player Viktor Axelsen played a flawless match and seemed to have no trouble giving his English opponent Sam Parsons a workout by winning 21-13 and 21-9 in 33 minutes. Axelsen will play compatriot and No. 5 seed Rasmus Gemke on Friday, as Gemke defeated Russian player Vladimir Malkov 21-13 and 21-18.
If Axelsen able to advance to the semi-finals, he is likely to take on the winner between Frenchman Brice Leverdez and Nicjk Fransman of Netherland. Leverdez beat Raul Must of Estonia in 41 minutes with 21-16, 21-16 and Fransman overcame Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 14-21, 21-17, 21-19 on Thursday.
Three weeks ago, the Dutch number one player beat former European champion Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark to eventually emerge champion at the Orleans Masters. On Thursday, at the European Championships, Jorgensen turned the table to see off Caljouw in two tight games 21-19, 21-18.
In women’s singles, Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin beat Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland 21-14 and 21-7 in 33 minutes and remained the only Spaniard in the tournament after the elimination of Sara Penalver by Denmark player Natalia Koch Rohde 21-11 and 21-19 in 33 minutes. Marin will get a chance to seek revenge on behalf of her teammate on Friday as she will face off against Rohde for a spot in the semi-finals.
