Latvia and Lithuania Win European Team Shield Championship Titles

01 Aug 2021

The 2021 European Team Shield Championships have been completed at Jurmala Golf Club.

 

12 four-player teams competed in both the men's and ladies' events which is reserved for nations that have not participated in this year's Division 1 or 2 European Team Championships.

 

Ladies

 

Latvia triumphed in the ladies tournament. After finishing second in the stroke play qualifying, they faced Hungary in the quarter finals. A victory in the foursomes and the first singles match was enough for a 2-1 win and a a spot in the semi-finals. 

 

On the penultimate day, Latvia faced Turkey. Two convincing wins of 5&4 and 6&5, the first in the foursomes and the second in the third match earned Latvia a spot in Saturday's championship match.

 

Top stroke play qualifiers, and number-one seeds, Poland were Latvia's opposition in the final.

 

Marija Luize Jucmane and Katrina Jana Gustafssone convincingly won the foursomes match 5&3, making it three out of three for them in the match play rounds meaning Latvia needed to win just one of the remaining two matches.

 

Laila Forstmane won her match 4&2 to secure Latvia their first EGA Championship title.

 

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Men

 

The stroke play qualifying of the men's event was extremely tight, with the top seven teams seperated by just five strokes. Malta and Lithuania both finished with the same score of three-over-par to take the first and second seeds respectively. 

 

The two teams would meet in the championship match on Saturday.

 

Malta put the first point in the board with a 5&4 victory in the foursomes match from Ruud Critien and Andrew Borg, putting them just one win away from the title.

 

Giedrius Mackelis levelled the score with a 5&4 victory in the final singles match, meaning the championship would be decided by the match between Malta's Laurens Schulze Doering and Lithuania's Gediminas Markevicius. 

 

A birdie on the 17th hole for the Lithuanian player secured a 2&1 victory and a Lithuania's second European Men's Team Shield Championship title.

 

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FULL RESULTS

 

Photo gallery