The fourth day of action and the second day of match play has been completed at the European Team Championships across the continent. It is now known who will face-off in saturday's finals.
Spain and Sweden will both have two chances at securing gold medals on the last day of action: the Swedes have teams in both the men's and ladies' finals, while the Spanish ladies' and girls' teams both made the finals of their events.
European Amateur Team Championship
Host team, Sweden, have qualified for the final of the European Amateur Team Championhsip at Ljunghusen Golf Club, Sweden. After defeating Germany in the quarter-finals on Thursday, the Swedish team faced eighth-seeds, Denmark, in the final-four.
Ludvig Aberg and Christoffer Palsson scored the first point for Sweden, defeating John Axelsen and Andreas Hillersborg Sorensen in the leading match. 18 holes wasn't enough to decide the second foursomes match, but Sweden came out on top once again, with Pontus Nyholm and Albin Bergstrom putting a second point on the board for the Swedes in the morning session.
Denmark were unable to mount a comeback in the afternoon: Sweden's Vincent Norrman secured a 5&4 victory which was closely followed by a 3&1 win for Ludvig Aberg, leaving Sweden with an unasailable advantage, and a spot in Saturday's championship match.
The Swedish team are one win away from ending a 58-year drought in the competitition, having won the event in 1959 and 1961, and failing to win since. They will face a strong England team in a repeat of the 2010 final in which the British side prevailed.
England earned their spot in the final by defeating Scotland. After England won the first foursomes match 3&2, Euan Walker and Euan McIntosh took Matty Lamb and Alex Fitzpatrick to the 18th hole. With a one-up advantage, the English side won the last to earn a two-hole victory and put a second point on the board.
The Scottish team bounced back with two wins of their own, from Sandy Scott (6&4) and European Amateur Championship runner-up, Euan Walker (one hole). It wasn't enough though, as wins from Tom Plumb (3&2) and Harry Hall (3&1) gave England the four points needed to progress to their 21st final in the event.
The English are the most successful country in the championship's history, and will add a record 12th win if they defeat Sweden on Saturday.
The Scottish and the Danish teams will play for bronze medals in the match for third place.
In the other side of the competition, Slovenia and the Czech Republic lost out to Finland and the Netherlands respectively meaning they will occupy the bottom two spots in the final ranking and suffer relegation to the division 2 event for next year. Finland and the Netherlands will face-off on Saturday, with only the winner remaining in division one.
Friday's match scores and Saturday's scheduled matches can be found on the event page here
European Ladies' Team Championship
Spain were the first team to qualify for Saturday's final at Is Molas Resort on Friday, upsetting the hosts, and the top-qualifiers, in the semi-finals. The morning session was dominated by the Spaniards, winning both foursomes matches by the 16th hole.
The Italian team fought back in the afternoon however: Alessia Nobilio, Alessandra Fanali, and Letizia Bagnoli all won their matches by three holes, giving the Italians a 3-2 advantage. But Ana Pelaez maintained a comfortable lead over Clara manzilini for Spain to put a third point on the board, and Elena Hualde closed out her match on the 17th hole to earn the Spaniards a spot in the final.
The Spanish team, searching for their sixth championship title, will face defending champions, Sweden in Saturday's final match.
The first foursomes match came to a dramatic end. After Sophie Hausmann's chip from a bad lie went off the back of the 18th green for Germany, Sophia Zeeb holed her shot from the rough to send the match to extra holes in front of a jubilent German camp. They couldn't convert the point however: Maja Stark and Beatrice Wallin won the 19th hole for the Swedish team to take the score to 2-0.
The second foursomes match also went to Sweden, Ingrid Lindblad and Linn Grant defeated Leonie Harm and Polly Mack 5&4.
The German team mounted a comeback in the afternoon, going up early in three of the matches. Although it wasn't to be, Sweden turned them all back around, claiming the first three singles points to guarantee a spot in the final. Sweden will have a shot at back-to-back championship titles on Saturday, after winning the event in Austria last year.
Friday's match scores and Saturday's scheduled matches can be found on the event page here
European Boys' Team Championship, Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy
France have continued their winning form at Golf de Chantilly. The hosts, who finished eighth in the stroke play qualifying, upset defending champions and top-seeds in the quarter-finals on Thursday to set up a semi-final encounter with Sweden.
The two morning foursomes matches went down the last hole, but the French team managed to prevail in them both. Tom Vaillant and Claude Churchward won by two holes, while Charles Larcelet and Nicolas Muller won by a single hole.
Adam Wallin put a point on the board for Sweden in the first singles match of the afternoon, but the French team won all four of the other singles matches to win 6-1. The French team will have a chance to add to their tally of three victories in the championship, and win their second title in the space of four years, but Germany will be the opposition standing in their way.
The German team finished second in the stroke play qualifying, and recovered from a 2-0 deficit after the morning foursomes in the quarter-finals against Italy to earn a semi-final match with Ireland. After sharing the points in the morning foursomes, the German team dominated the afternoon singles session. Frederik Schott won 3&2, and Tiger Christensen won 2&1, leaving Jonas Baumgartner the honour of securing the deciding point with a 6&5 victory over Joshua McCabe.
Sweden and Ireland will play for bronze medals in the match for third place.
In the other side of the competition, Iceland and Finland lost out to Norway and Austria in the bottom half of the Flight B bracket, meaning they will occupy the bottom two spots in the ranking and suffer relegation to Division 2. Norway, who gained promotion last year, will have to defeat Austria to keep their spot in division one.
Friday's match scores and Saturday's scheduled matches can be found on the event page here
European Girls' Team Championship
There was only one point between the teams in both semi-finals at Parador de El Saler on Friday. In the first match, a repeat of last year's final, top-qualifiers and defending champions, Italy, took on the hosts, Spain. The morning points were shared, Emilie Alba Paltrinieri and Benedetta Moresco claimed a 5&4 victory for the Italians, while Marina Escobar Domingo and Maria Villanueva Aperibbay defeated Caterina Don and Virginia Bossi on the 21st hole.
The Italians then won two of the next three matches to take the score to 3-2, and within just one point of a spot in the final, but the Spanish team held on in the last two matches to claim a 4-3 victory.
Germany took on Denmark in the other semi-final. The Germans went up early, winning both of the morning foursomes matches, meaning they needed to win just two of the afternoon singles to progress to the championship match.
In the first two afternoon singles matches, one point went to Denmark and one to Germany, taking the score to 3-1. The Danish girls were up in two of the last three matches however, and managed to close them out: Amalie Leth-Nissen won 3&2 and Anne Norman won by one hole. That left the score at three points each, with the last match on the course between Cecilie Leth-Nissen and second individual qualifier, Paula Schulz-Hanssen, all-square through 18.
It took three extra holes for the tie to be decided in favour of the Danish, who will play in their first ever final in the event on Saturday.
Friday's match scores and Saturday's scheduled matches can be found on the event page here