Ireland fall agonising short in group decider

Team Ireland came within a set of creating history today but in the end had to surrender to group seeds France and finish second in group 6.

The match against France was always going to be Ireland's best ever opportunity to create a small piece of Irish badminton history after to strong opening group victories against Finland and Israel.

The Irish got off to the best possible start as Sam and Chloe Magee Defeated Ronan Labar and Emilie Lefel in two straight games.

"We played well and we knew we had to win to give the team a chance in the overall match" said Sam Magee after the victory.

The second match on court was always going to be one of those pivotal matches which would ultimately decide who advanced to the quarter finals. Scott Evans, brimming with confidence, took to the court against French number 1 Brice Leverdez.

Both players matched each other shot for shot and traded the opening two sets to set up a tense final set. The beginning of the decider proved to be the Irishman's downfall as Leverdez raced into and opening 7-0 lead which Evans would never recover from. The Irish number one did fight back to 20-17 but Leverdez remained calm to take the match and give the French their first point.

"I knew against Scott it would be a mental battle as we have had so many of these games over the years. But in the end I dealt with the pressure better which was the difference" commented Leverdez.

Chloe Magee was next on court and maintained her 100% record in Russia with a comfortable two set victory of Irish Future Series winner Perinne Le Buhanic. The two time Irish Olympian has been in sparkling form this week and restored Irelands lead as the match headed into the men's doubles.

Again the Irish had the opportunity to seal the victory leading by one set and 14-11 in the second. But a few errors cost both Sam Magee and Scott Evans and the French pounced to level at 1 set each.

In the third game the Irish led 10-6 but a run of 7 points in a row mid game put the French in the driving seat and they went on to take the game 21-15 in the deciding set.

The tie was again level at 2-2 and the match went down to the deciding women's doubles game with Ireland's Sinead Chambers and Jenny King attempting to take the team into the history books.

However the French pair of Lefel and new French wonder kid Delphine Lansac were too strong for the gallant Irish challenge and it was team France that took top spot in the group by the slimmest margin of 3 matches to 2.

Ireland's Sam Magee while disappointed was somewhat philosophical after the defeat "We have had a good tournament overall and yes we are disappointed but we are getting better and stronger as a nation so we will go away from Russia with confidence moving forward"

France now go forward to meet Germany in tomorrow's quarter final.