Huelva: The Rio Olympic champion and Spain’s Carolina Marin, whom the event’s venue was named after her (Carolina Marin Sports Pavilion), has progressed through to the semi-finals of the European Championships women’s singles competition after the No. 1 seed overcame Denmark’s Natalia Koch Rohde 21-17, 21-10 on Friday.
Marin will meet Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark on Saturday, after Blichfeldt survived a tough victory against Germany’s Yvonne Li 28-26, 21-12.
In the men’s singles, top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark showed no mercy to beat compatriot Rasmus Gemke 21-11, 21-16 to book his place in the semi-final.
Awaiting Axelsen in the semi-final is France’s Brice Leverdez, who was made to work before he outlasted Nick Fransman of Netherlands 22-24, 21-15, 21-15.
Meanwhile, former European champion Jan O Jorgensen barely broke a sweat to reach the European Championships semi-finals, as he received a walkover from teammate Anders Antonsen who suffered an injury.
Jorgensen will take on England player and No. 3 seed Rajiv Ouseph for a spot in the final.
