# Greece national badminton team

The Greece national badminton team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα Αντιπτέρισης της Ελλάδας) represents Greece in international badminton team competitions. The team is controlled by the Hellenic Badminton Federation, the governing body for badminton in Greece. Greece made their first appearance in the Sudirman Cup in 1997.
At the European stage, Greece has hosted the first edition of the European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships in 2006 which granted the national men's and women's team qualification. The team have yet to qualify for the European Mixed Team Badminton Championships. The team also competed in the Helvetia Cup in 2003 and 2005 but did not reach the semi-finals.
Greece also competes in the Balkan Badminton Championships and has also made several bronze medal finishes at the Balkan Team Championships.

## History

While badminton is said to have history that can be traced back to Ancient Greece, competitive badminton was unknown in the country until the early 1990s. Following the formation of the Hellenic Badminton Federation on April 1993, Greek players began competing in international tournaments.

### Men's team

Greece first competed in qualifying for the 1998 Thomas Cup in Sandefjord. Placed in Group D with Belarus, Peru and the United States, the team lost all their matches 5–0 to their opponents and were eliminated in the first round.
In 2006, Greece competed in the 2006 European Men's Team Badminton Championships and was placed into Group 5 with the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. The team lost 5–0 to all three teams and was eliminated in the group stages. The team made another two appearances at the European Men's Team Championships in 2008 and 2010 but failed to advance to the knockout stages.

### Women's team

In 2004, Greece competed in the 2004 European Uber Cup Preliminaries. The team lost 5–0 to Iceland and Germany but managed to win a match in a 4–1 loss against the Norwegian women's team. At the 2006 European Women's Team Badminton Championships, the team were eliminated in the group stages.

### Mixed team

In 1990, the Greek mixed team competed in the invitational Balkan Cup tournament in Varna, Bulgaria. In the group stage, the team finished third in their group after losing to Romania and Yugoslavia, then placed sixth on the overall rankings after losing 10–0 to Malta. In 1997, the team made their debut at the Sudirman Cup. The team defeated 4–1 to Lithuania, 5–0 to Estonia and 3–2 to Armenia but defeated Chile 5–0 to finish in 58th place.
At the Balkan Championships in 2005, Greece finished in third place at the Balkan Championships for the first time after defeating Moldova 3–1 in the bronze medal match. In 2009, the team reached the semi-finals of the Balkan Championships but lost 3–0 to Bulgaria. In 2011, the team played in the semi-finals of the Balkan Championships against Turkey and almost qualified for the final but eventually lost 3–2 to their opponents.

## Competitive record
### Helvetia Cup

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 1962 to 2001 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2003 | Group stage | 16th |
| 2005 | Group stage | 18th |
| 2007 | Did not enter | Did not enter |

### Balkan Badminton Championships
#### Mixed team

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 1992 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1993 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1995 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1997 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1998 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1999 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2000 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2001 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2002 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2003 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2004 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2005 | Third place | 3rd |
| 2006 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2007 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2008 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2009 | Semi-finals | 4th |
| 2010 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2011 | Semi-finals | 3rd |
| 2011 | Group stage (Team B) | 6th |
| 2012 | Group stage | 7th |
| 2013 | Group stage | 5th |
| 2014 | Semi-finals | 4th |
| 2016 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2018 | Semi-finals | 4th |
| 2018 | Group stage (Team B) | 6th |
    **Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

## Junior competitive record
### Suhandinata Cup

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 2000 to 2024 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2025 | To be determined | To be determined |

### European Junior Team Championships
#### Mixed team

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 1975 to 2007 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2009 | Group stage | 29th |
| 2011 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2013 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2015 | Group stage | 31/32 |
| 2017 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2018 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2020 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2022 | Group stage | 25/32 |
| 2024 | To be determined | To be determined |

### Finlandia Cup
#### Mixed team

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 1984 to 1996 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1998 | Group stage | 22nd |
| 2000 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2002 | Group stage | 12th |
| 2004 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2006 | Did not enter | Did not enter |

### Balkan Junior Team Championships
#### Mixed team

| Year | Round | Pos |
| 1992 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1993 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1994 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1995 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1996 | Third place | 3rd |
| 1997 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1998 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 1999 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2000 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2001 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2002 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2004 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2005 | Fifth place | 5th |
| 2006 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2007 | Semi-finals | 4th |
| 2008 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2010 | Group stage | 5th |
| 2010 | Group stage (Team B) | 6th |
| 2011 | Group stage | 5th |
| 2012 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2013 | Fourth place | 4th |
| 2015 | Group stage | 5th |
| 2016 | Semi-finals | 4th |
| 2017 | Semi-finals | 3rd |
| 2019 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
    **Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

## Coaches

The following shows a list of coaches for the Greece national badminton team.

### Current coaches

* Vasilis Xanthou (2004–present)
* Alexandros Kantzoglou (2009–present)
* Charalambos Iordanou
* Athena Hadjistyllis

### Former coaches

* Panagiotis Goudentzikis (1991–2003)
* Kesov Nenko (2003–2005)
* Petar Dimov (2004–2012)

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 2 January 2024

#### Men's team

| Name | DoB/Age | Ranking of event | Ranking of event | Ranking of event |
| Name | DoB/Age | MS | MD | XD |
| Stamatis Tsigkirdakis | (1992-10-16) 16 October 1992 (age 32) | - | - | - |
| Marios Michail Boulios | (2000-03-21) 21 March 2000 (age 24) | - | - | - |
| Paschalis Melikidis | (1998-10-30) 30 October 1998 (age 26) | 1735 | - | - |
| Axilleas Tsartsidis | (1996-10-20) 20 October 1996 (age 28) | 1735 | - | - |
| Metzelos Sotiropoulos | (2005-09-19) 19 September 2005 (age 19) | - | - | - |
| Georgios Tsiolis | (2002-02-23) 23 February 2002 (age 22) | - | - | - |

#### Women's team

| Name | DoB/Age | Ranking of event | Ranking of event | Ranking of event |
| Name | DoB/Age | WS | WD | XD |
| Grammatoula Sotiriou | (2002-04-18) 18 April 2002 (age 22) | 311 | - | - |
| Theodora Lambrianidou | (2002-02-14) 14 February 2002 (age 23) | - | - | - |
| Antonia-Petroula Vlachantoni | (2004-06-29) 29 June 2004 (age 20) | - | - | - |
| Athanasia-Paulina Vlachantoni | (2004-06-29) 29 June 2004 (age 20) | - | - | - |
| Theodora Fragoulidou | (2001-10-20) 20 October 2001 (age 23) | 986 | - | - |
| Dimitra-Kalomira Kroystalli | (2001-03-17) 17 March 2001 (age 23) | - | - | - |