Kalle Koljonen did not get a continuation of his European Championship bronze last year.
26.4. 19:27 • Updated April 26th. 19:27
Kalle Koljonen suffered a loss to the Dutchman in the first round of the Badminton European Championships duel To Mark Caljouw erin 2–1 (22–20, 17–21, 21–10). So Koljonen’s games ended here.
The first two installments were a steady struggle. Caljouw won the first set with continuation balls, but Koljonen took the second set with clear numbers. Koljonen started the third round poorly, so Caljouw got the upper hand in the game and moved on.
– There are no glamorous moods. It should be the fourth time I lost 2-1 to this Dutchman. You can’t be happy with that performance, even though the game was relatively good. The start of the third installment was a bit bad for me. At this level, if there is a big lead to another, then it is hard to get it back. When there were a couple of bad points to play, I knew there was quite a mountain to climb. After a bad moment, the game was tight again.
Caljouw, who placed four in the tournament, has been a difficult resistance for Koljonen, as he has won 6-0 matches between the duo.
Head coach of the Finnish badminton national team Ville Lång was pleased with the start of Koljonen’s game.
– In the third, the Dutch boy got a little better control of the game. He started moving faster and was previously in the balls. Then it is much easier to control the beats.
Lång describes the Dutchman as a diesel machine that moves faster by batch.
– He needs to get in the game. In the third round, Caljouw is usually pretty bad, especially in a hall like this where there are such fast balls.
With the defeat, Koljonen’s games in the tournament ended. Caljouw will face the winner in the third round Milan Dratva–Brice Leverdez.