Ireland’s Rachael Darragh has lost her final group game in the Women’s Singles at the European Games. The Donegal woman produced a strong performance but narrowly came out on the losing side against France’s Xuefei Qi 2-0.
Darragh played well in the opening set but ultimately lost it 21-18. The 25-year-old put in a valiant effort in the second, to try and force the game to a decider, but despite her best efforts ultimately lost it 24-22.
It brings to end Darragh’s third European Games campaign, having previously competed in Baku and Minsk.
Speaking afterwards the Letterkenny athlete gave this reaction: “I think the first set was close up until the interval, and then she kind of took a few points and stayed two or three points ahead of me.”
“I had a lead in the second set, and she went down with an injury. I think I struggled with my focus after that, because she took so long to come back on court. I’m quite frustrated right now because that was the seed in my group, and while I’m happy to put in a good performance today, I’m really disappointed not to take that second set.”
Darragh now travels to Canada and the US for competitions next month as she chases Olympic qualification.
In these Games there is a group stage format to begin with, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout rounds. Badminton here is a direct qualifier for the Olympic Games as the results will be part of the Olympic ranking events.
Rachael’s cousin Joshua Magee is still in the competition looking to reach the quarter finals of the men’s doubles with Paul Reynolds and the mixed doubles with Moya Ryan.
