The first day of matchplay of the 2022 European Team Championships has been completed.
The top eight teams from each tournament across Europe went head-to-head on Thursday for spots in Friday's semi-finals.
Sweden and England have both qualified for the semi-finals in the Men's, Ladies', Boys' and Girls' Championships, and will, amazingly, play each-other in all four.
The Spanish teams are also looking strong for medals, with their Men's, Ladies' and Boys' teams making it through to semi-finals.
EUROPEAN AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - ROYAL ST. GEORGE'S, ENGLAND
FLIGHT A MATCHES - EUROPEAN AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Three of the four quarter-finals came down to one singles match at Royal St. George's on Thursday.
Hosts, England, were the only team that never looked in trouble. They swept asside Italy 5.5 - 1.5 to earn a spot in the semi-finals.
They'll face Denmark, who had an incredibly close encounter with Germany. After splitting the morning foursomes points, three of the afternoon singles matches went down the 19th.
Ultimately, Søren Lind would clinch the deciding point for Denmark on the 1st extra hole over Laurenz Schiergen. Denmark will have to get past England on Friday if they want to defend their title.
The other two quarter-final matches also finished with a score of 4-3. Spain defeated Ireland, while Sweden recovered a 2-0 deficit from the foursomes to upset 2nd seeds, France.
In Flight B, Switzerland, Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands won their matches, guaranteeing their spots in Division 1 for 2023.
FLIGHT B - European amateur team championship
EUROPEAN LADIES' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - CONWY GOLF CLUB, WALES
FLIGHT A - european ladies' team championship
Thursday at the European Ladies' Team Championship was a similar story to the men's event. England dominated their quarter-final, while the other three matches were extremely close.
Defending champions, England, dispatched hosts, Wales 6.5 - 0.5. They'll face a tough semi-final against Sweden, a re-math of last year's final at Royal County Down.
Sweden's match with Scotland was far from being straightforward. After splitting the morning foursomes matches, the first four singles of the day were also shared, taking the score to 3-3. The outcome of the quarter-final would rest on the match between the top ranked player in Europe and reigning European Ladies' Amateur Champion, Ingrid Lindblad, and the top individual stroke play qualifier, Hannah Darling.
Their match was as tight as expected, requiring extra holes. Lindblad ultimately made birdie on the 2nd extra hole to send Sweden into the semi-finals.
In two more close encounters, Italy defeated Germany 4-3, and Spain came out winners against Denmark by the same scoreline. They'll face each other in the second semi-final on Friday.
EUROPEAN BOYS' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - GC. ST LEON-ROT, GERMANY
FLIGHT A - EUROPEAN BOYS' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Hosts, defending champions, and number-one seeds Germany nearly faultered to 8th seeds, the Czech Republic.
Germany looked comfortable after the morning foursomes, going 2-0 up and needing just two wins in the singles to progress to the semi-finals. The Czech Republic team had other ideas however, winning three of the singles matches. Carl Siemens scored a point early in the afternoon for the home side, meaning the score was 3-3 with one match left on the course.
The match between Peer Wernicke and Jakub Janda had to be decided by extra holes. The German player ultimately secured victory with a long putt on the 1st green to send his team into the semi-finals.
Germany will face Spain in the semi-finals. The Spanish team had an extremely close quarter-final encounter with Italy, a re-make of their match in the same stage in 2021. Last year, the Italian team fought back from a 2-0 deficit after the morning foursomes to defeat the Spanish team.
This time, the reverse was true. After losing both morning foursomes matches, the Spanish side rallied in the singles. The winning point would ultimately come on the 6th extra hole for Angel Ayora over Flavio Michetti.
Second-seeds England found themselves behind against the Netherlands with just six holes to play, but ultimately recovered to win 4.5 - 2.5. They'll face Sweden, who had a comfortable 5.5 - 1.5 victory over France.
in Flight B, Slovenia, Denmark and Finland won their matches, securing their spots in Division 1 for 2023.
FLIGHT B - EUROPEAN BOYS' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
EUROPEAN GIRLS' TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - ODDUR GOLF CLUB, ICELAND
The weather conditions were very though in Iceland today, the courageous teams battled their way through very strong winds reaching up to 45km/h with the objective of securing a spot in the semi finals.
flight a - european girls' team championship
1st on the leaderboard France maintained their advantage by beating Czech Republic 5-2. Both teams were tied after the morning foursomes but the French girls dominated all the afternoon singles and will continue to play in medal contention matches.
They will be facing Germany who won against the 2021 defending champions Spain 5-2. The tied match saw both foursomes bringing one point to each team in the morning, but then the german girls performed stronger in the afternoon singles claiming their spot for the semi-finals.
The other semi-finals will oppose Sweden against England. The Swedish girls distinguished themselves against Denmark by winning their match 4.5-2.5. A similar scenario to England who claimed the last semi-final spot by defeating Belgium 4.5-2.5.
