Azernews.Az

There is incredible rivalry in the badminton competitions within the framework of the first European Games in Baku, the main favorite of the tournament, Ireland's number 1 Men's singles badminton player Scott Evans told Trend on June 24.

He said that the athletes will have to compete hard for the medals of the first European Games.

“Of course, I would love to win gold, but one must admit that there is incredible rivalry at the competitions in Baku,” said Evans. “Many strong athletes arrived to the competitions, and we see it by the results. For example, in one of the groups, German athlete defeated the Spanish one, who, in turn, gained victory over the Estonian one.”

“But the Estonian athlete, in turn, defeated the same German one,” he said. “It is very significant, and I would like these Games to contribute to the growth of interest for our sport.”

He went on to add that he is very happy with the organization of such a major sporting event, as the first European Games.

“Everything is well thought out and well put into practice,” said the athlete. “The conditions in the Athletes’ Village are excellent, and nothing distracts from the sport. The same can be said of sports facilities. I was also struck by the interest of Azerbaijani spectators for badminton. It's very nice.”

The European Games kicked off in Baku June 12 and will last till June 28. There are a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports.

More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe came to Baku to represent their nations over 17 days of competition. Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz