Great emotions in the quarterfinals

As the EBTC enters the matchplays, a drastic change in the weather regime confronts the players with wind, gusts and rain. At the end of a long day, Germany, Sweden, England and Spain qualify for the semi-finals.

St. Leon-Rot. The third day of the European Boys Team Championship witnessed the start of the matchplay phase. As many say, this is the real start of the tournament and for sure it was the start of big emotions on this grand championship course here in GC St. Leon-Rot. Three of the four quarter finals have found their victor within the regular playing distance. However, the match between Italy and Spain was to become a very special one. 

Their score was tied 3:3 and only one last party was still out on the course: Angel Ayora (ESP) and Flavio Michetti (ITA) just could not find an end. Every time one player seemed to have a slight advantage, the opponent miraculously came up with a shot for the history books. After all, these two outstanding athletes needed 24 holes to find a decision. And in the end it was Ayora, who had the upper hand on the sixth extra hole. In total the Spanish player “enjoyed“ 53 holes of championship golf today, as already his foursome had struck overtime.

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With this win, the Spanish team has pulled off a big comeback, after they lost both foursomes in the morning. Anyway, the other three quarter finals were decided in a more civil manner. The hosting team and defending champion Germany scored a 4:3 victory against the Czech Republic, as Peer Wernicke, the youngest player in the German team, won his point on the first extra hole against Jakub Janda.

The match between Sweden and France saw a strong start of the Scandinavians, who reeled in both points from the foursomes. Emotions were cooking high in parts of the french team, as the defeat took shape. In the end the leaderboard showed an outstanding 5,5:1,5 victory for Sweden.

The fourth quarter final was played between England and The Netherlands. England won both foursomes and thus had a head start for the singles. But even though the dutch team put up a great fight, the mortgage from the morning rounds was too much of a burden and England wins 4,5:2,5 to proceed to the semi finals.

In the next round of the championship, Germany will face off against Spain. The foursomes will start from tee one at 08:12 o’clock. And Sweden will play England, with the first tee time at 08:32 o’clock. Three out of these four teams will have a medal at the end of the tournament.

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