Germany retains the title

In the final match for the title of the European Team Championship, Germany beats the very strong Team England 4,5:2,5 and keeps the Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy for at least another year. In the match for third place, Spain beats Sweden 4:3.

St. Leon-Rot. In yet another convincing performance the defending champion Germany achieves a clear victory against England. But the match was far from one-sided. In the morning it looked like both foursomes would end up as wins for defending champion Germany. Tim Wiedemeyer (GER) and Carl Siemens (GER) dialed in an early lead and never let it go. They defeated Josh Hill (ENG) and Frank Kennedy (ENG) by 7&5. However Harley Smith (ENG) and Josh Berry (ENG) were able to turn their match in the late stage and win against Tom Haberer (GER)  and Finn Kölle (GER) 2up on the last green. 

The singles started off very evenly, but over the course of the afternoon, the hosts of the tournament slowly built up an advantage. The first one to haul in his point, was Tim Wiedemeyer (GER), who filed yet another high win: 7&5 was his final score against Frank Kennedy (ENG), who has proven to be one of the backbones of the english team, with four matchplay points in his bag. On this afternoon however luck simply was not on his side. 

With two points in their books, the Germans now needed two more points to keep the title. And those two points were to come faster than many have thought: Finn Kölle (GER) won his match against a very good Harley Smith (ENG) 2&1. And almost at the same time Carl Siemens (GER) secured the decisive point against Josh Berry (ENG) by winning 3&2. Meanhwile Tyler Weaver (ENG) won his match against Tom Haberer (GER) 2&1. The last remaining match between Peer Wernicke (GER) and Josh Hill (ENG) was halved. 

Match for third place

In the match for the bronze medal Spain faced off against Sweden. In the morning Jaime Montojo (ESP) and Sergio Jimenez  (ESP) scored the first Spanish point against Albert Hansson (SWE) and Nils Svanberg (SWE), when they signed their scorecard with a 3&2. The second foursome went over the full distance, as Jorge Hao (ESP) and Angel Ayora (ESP) tried to close their gap to Vincent Stjernfeldt (SWE) and William Wistrand (SWE). The Swedes however clinged to their lead, even though it diminished. They secured a 1up and evened out the score.

Just like in the grande final, the decision came down to the singles. Jorge Hao (ESP) reeled in the second Spanish point, as he beat Vincent Stjernfeldt (SWE) with a convincing 6&4. A few minutes later however Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson (SWE) defeated Pablo Garcia Terol (ESP) 5&4 and the team score was even again. But: the tide was slowly turning against the Swedes. Angel Ayora (ESP), who played the most holes in this tournament, was able to score a preliminary decision by beating William Wistrand (SWE) 2&1. 

Now the Spanish team needed just one more point to reach third place and even though Albert Hansson took out Jaime Montojo 4&2 to even out the team score again, it was clear that Sweden needed a little wonder to stay in the match. It was not to be: On the 16th green Nils Svanberg (SWE) brought the Spanish lead down to one hole, but he was not able to entirely close the gap to his opponent Sergio Jiménez (ESP). 

The Spanish player invested heavily in his win and holed a nine meter birdie putt, to win hole 17. The fate was sealed and Spain wins against Sweden 4:3. In the other two matches of Flight A, The Netherlands win against the Czech Republic 3,1:1,5. And finally, after losing two matchplay rounds in the playoffs, Italy is able to reward itself by winning against France with 4:1.

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