European Team Championships: England lose to Denmark in final

Chris Adcock and Andy Ellis

England collected the silver medal at the European Team Championships after a 3-1 final defeat by Denmark in Basel.

Team captain Rajiv Ouseph gave England a solid start with a singles victory over Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.

But Andy Ellis and Chris Adcock, and Chris Langridge and Peter Mills, lost their doubles encounters while Toby Penty lost the second singles match.

"We were here to win, but also to measure our level, and I'm proud of the silver," said England coach Jakob Hoi.

"Being in the final gave us the opportunity to compete against the best and that's what we are here for."

Ouseph, who won the English National Championships title last weekend, eased to a 21-13 21-16 win over Vittinghus.

But Adcock and Ellis were unable to follow that up as they suffered a 21-17 19-21 21-14 defeat by Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe.

Penty faced a tough ask against Viktor Axelsen, ranked 85 places higher, and he was well beaten 21-13 21-8 by the Dane.

That left Langridge and Mills needing a victory against Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding.

But the duo, who played a pivotal role in the semi-final victory over Germany on Saturday, went down 21-15 21-19.