The world champions and Olympic champions against another Swedish duo. Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson were pitted against David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig in the European Championship semi-final.
It was like David said yesterday, it's a shame that we had to meet in the semi-finals. It could have been in the final, that would have been the dream, says Hölting Nilsson.
During the first set, Hölting Nilsson/Andersson pulled away a couple of times, but Åhman/Hellvig were able to come back, before the "Icemen" decided the close first set 23–21.
Even meeting
The second set was even more exciting. Both teams had match points several times, but the points went back and forth. Hölting Nilsson/Andersson eventually won 28–26, and thus won the match 2–0 in sets. The duo are now through to the European Championship final.
It feels great. Then maybe it's not as fun as beating someone you really dislike, but it's great that we make it to the final and can tie up the two somewhat unnecessarily long sets we played here today, says Andersson.
Åhman/Hellvig will instead focus on the bronze medal match at 4:00 PM.
Meets Norway
Of course it's frustrating, but we're really happy that we even made it to a semi-final. We've had injury concerns all year, we've barely been able to play any competitions, it feels like, so it's really crazy that we're making it to a semi-final and that we're putting pressure on "Jack" and Elmer, who are still world No. 1s, Åhman tells SVT.
In the bronze medal match, they will face Frenchmen Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Teo Rotar, who lost the other semi-final.
Norwegians Christian Sørum and Anders Berntsen Mol won and will face Hölting Nilsson and Andersson in the final, which will be played at 5:15 p.m.
