Raphoe siblings Chloe and Sam Magee have secured Ireland’s first ever medal at the European Badminton Championships.
The Magees have defeated former European gold medal winners Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba from Poland in a gripping quarter-final at the Sydbank Arena in Kolding, Denmark.
Picture caption: The Magees, Sam and Chloe, have made history. Picture by Mark Phelan for Badminton Europe.
The Magees record a famous 22-20 17-21 21-12 win to seal, at least, a bronze medal ahead of a semi-final against number 1 seeds, Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen from Denmark.
The Magees won the first game 22-20 after falling behind. The nerves were jangling when the experienced Polish pair won the second game 21-17, but a blistering start to the third frame put the Magees in command of their destiny.
[adrotate group=”91″]The Magees showed experience themselves and were unruffled on their way to a history making 21-12 triumph in that third game to put them on the medals list.
Chloe has competed at three Olympic Games now, the only Donegal athlete ever to do so.
The Raphoe pocket rocket decided in the aftermath of Rio last summer to shelve her singles plans to concentrate on her doubles team with Sam.
The Magees booked their quarter-final berth with a 19-21 21-16 21-15 win over French duo Bastian Kersaudy and Lea Palermo.
It was nervy and tense, but the Magees prevailed, having started the tournament with a magnificent straight-sets, 21-17 23-21, win over former World number 12 pair Jacco Piek and Selena Arends from the Netherlands.
[adrotate group=”46″]In the other semi-final, Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock from England will meet French pair Ronan Labar and Audrey Fontaine.
Sam has had a busy week having also competed in the men’s doubles with another sibling, Joshua.
However, they lost out to Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak and Zvonimir Hoelbling 21-14 21-19.
Rachael Darragh, the Magees niece, bowed out of the women’s singles following a 21-12 21-11 loss to Luise Heim of Germany after a 23-21 22-20 win over Belgium’s Flore Vadenhoucke.
Darragh teamed up with Sara Boyle for the women’s doubles, but lost out to Finland’s Jenny Nystrom & Sonja Pekkola. 21-15, 21-13.
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