England win silver in European Mixed Team Championships
Last updated on .From the section Badminton
England won silver at the European Mixed Team Championships after losing 3-0 in the final to Denmark.
The Danes took advantage as England, the second seeds, were without the injured Rajiv Ouseph in Belgium.
Line Kjaersfeldt beat Fontaine Chapman 21-14 21-11, before world number 112 Toby Penty lost to European champion Jan O Jorgensen 21-18 21-14.
Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen then defeated Heather Oliver and Lauren Smith 21-9 21-14.
The Danes, edged out by Russia two years ago, have now won 10 of the last 11 mixed team titles at the biennial event.
England last won gold 31 years ago and were claiming their sixth silver since 1998.
"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," admitted head coach Jakob Hoi.
England surged through the group stages with two 5-0 wins over Belgium and Ireland, before beating the Netherlands 3-1 in the last eight and defeating Russia 3-2 in the semi-finals.
