Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink and Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen entered the 2020 Dutch Championships as the favorites to take gold, but they had to settle for different medals as the country’s new generation dominated the tournament in Scheveningen with the victories of Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam and Jasper Bouter/Ruben Penninga.
In the women’s tournament, the 18-year-old Schoon and the 21-year-old Stam continued in the great form that saw them win the first three stops of Dutch Tour and secured their fourth-straight victory over the 2018 European champions Keizer and Meppelink, a 19-21, 21-17, 17-15 triumph that made then national champions.
The young talents came back from a 14-12 deficit in the tie-breaker to take the title against their experienced opponents.
“I think our eagerness was the deciding factor,” Schoon commented afterward. “We had the confidence that despite the score the match wasn’t over yet’.
The temporary duo of Marleen van Iersel, a London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympian, and Jantine van der Vlist, who appeared at the Rio Games, secured bronze with a 21-14, 18-21, 15-7 triumph over Emma Piersma and Esmee Priem.
Among the men, the 23-year-old Bouter and the 22-year-old Penninga, originally two defenders, reached the top of the podium after they posted a 21-17, 21-9 victory over Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot.
The 2013 world champions and Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalists Brouwer and Meeuwsen took bronze as the veterans powered through Dirk Boehlé and Mart van Werkhoven with a 21-13, 21-11 win. They lost in the semifinals to Boermans and de Groot.
The Dutch Tour continues after the National Championships as the teams will compete in Heerenveen next weekend.
