The German duo made a disastrous start to their pursuit of the continental crown as they succumbed to a shock 21-18, 18-21, 15-6 defeat to outsiders Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini of Italy in Pool A.

Laboureur and Sude, who arrived at the tournament in the Dutch city having finished second at the recent Gstaad Major in Switzerland on Sunday (July 15) recovered in their second match of the day by defeating Liliana Fernández and Elsa Baquerizo of Spain 21-19, 21-19.

Their passage into the knockout round was only confirmed due to the withdrawal of Poland's Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Kociolek.

Kolosinska suffered an injury in their match with the Spanish pair, who were awarded the victory as a result.

The withdrawal of the Polish team leaves all of the remaining competitors with one win each going into tomorrow.

Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina of Russia, who claimed the Under-19 World Championship title earlier this month, were beaten 21-8, 2-1-0 by compatriots Svetlana Kholomina and Nadezda Makroguzova in Pool H.

"Our opponents were perhaps a bit tired as they only flew in from China and I am sure they will show a better performance later," Kholomina said.

"It is not more difficult to play against Russians, we are one team and they are another team and we focus only on our game and how to win."

The tournament in The Netherlands is due to ontinue tomorrow.