In terms of medals, the Minsk 2019 European Games will not go down in history as an illustrious event for Team GB, who linger far behind Russia, Belarus and Italy in the overall standings.
British performances have largely been mediocre across the board, with the exception of the badminton players; under the bright lights of the Falcon Club, British players have dominated.
The mixed doubles final is an all-British affair with at least silver medals also guaranteed in the men's doubles, women's doubles, and women's singles.
The achievements are particularly impressive given that three years ago UK Sport opted to strip badminton's funding after British players returned a solitary medal – Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge's bronze in the men's doubles – from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
"It was a tricky time but I think it really spurred us on as a whole unit to show that it was the wrong decision," said Kirsty Gilmour, who upset top seed Line Hoejmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark to reach the women's singles final on Saturday.
While UK Sport have since set aside a small pot of money purely to help leading British badminton players qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Gilmour said that the relative lack of support compared to other nations has made it difficult when facing the best in the world.
"I've spent a few stints in Asia without a coach and it's intimidating," she said.
"The top players will come into the hall with their personal coach, physio, psychologist, their entire entourage walking in with them, and I'm on my own, thinking, 'Excuse me, can I hit with you'?"
For Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch, who reached the women's doubles final in Minsk, an added incentive when competing in major events such as the European Games is to show that British badminton players are worthy of more financial support in the future.
"We want to showcase how good we are and that we can perform with the best in the world," said Smith, who has also reached the mixed doubles final with Ellis.
"Since we lost our funding, the squad's a lot smaller but we're all very determined and trying to get the best out of each other all the time because we know that we're good enough."
But other British players feel that in some ways being stripped of the full funding has been a blessing in disguise as the added pressure from needing to win matches to pay the bills has resulted in improved results.
"It's nice to have that pressure to have to perform," said Toby Penty, who reached the quarter-finals of the men's singles at Minsk 2019.
"Sometimes you can get it a little bit too easy and I think, in the past, when Badminton England had a lot of money, maybe after Athens [2004 Olympic Games], players got a little bit comfortable in their surroundings.
"So sometimes when these things happen, it pushes you to perform a little bit extra."
GNS dc/pp/ar
