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[ TODAY ] [ Day THREE ] [ Day TWO ] [ Day ONE ] |
Thu 27th, Day TWO:
France & Germany gatecrash women's semis ...
No surprises in men's top four ...
Steve Cubbins reports from
Vienna
The second day of play saw
the conclusion of the pool stages, with the semi-final and play-off lineups
decided.
There were no surprises at the top of the men's event, but the women's
semi-finals feature two unexpected entrants in France and Germany.
 The
French women won twice today to clinch a semi-final place, while Germany won
a nail-biting last match of the day against Denmark to reach the last four.
The men's top seeds all came through, with England playing Wales and France
versus the Netherlands in the final pool matches, and will swap opponents
for Friday's semis.
The play-offs actually began tonight, with Turkey, Russia, Gibraltar and the
Isle of Man playing their 21-24 place semi-finals. Minnows Gibraltar, the
smallest country here, defeated Russia, the largest, and now face debutants
Turkey who recorded their first-ever victory in the event. |
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Women's Semis:
England v Germany
Netherlands v France |
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Men's Semis:
England v Netherlands
France v Wales |
Women's Play-offs |
Men's Play-offs |
Match Schedule, Thu 27th, Day TWO:
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Order: 1-4-3-2 (GC *3-1-2-4) |
Order: 1-2-3 |
| 10.00 |
MA
Scotland 0-4 Wales *
MB Netherlands 3-1 Sweden
MA England 4-0 Spain |
WA England
3-0 Spain
WB Netherlands 3-0 Denmark
WA Scotland 0-3 France
WC Belgium 2-1 Slovakia
WC Czech 2-1 Wales |
| 12.00 |
ME
Ukraine 3-1 Turkey
MB France 4-0 Germany
MD Italy 4-0 Isle of Man |
WD Italy
3-0 Norway
WB Ireland 1-2 Germany |
| 13.00 |
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WD Switzerland
3-0
Austria |
| 14.00 |
MF
Russia 1-3 Slovakia
MC Austria 4-0 Gibraltar |
WC Belgium
2-0 ... Czech
WC Finland 0-2 ... Wales |
| 15.00 |
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WA England
3-0
Scotland * |
| 16.00 |
ME
Denmark *2-2 Czech
MD Ireland 4-0 Belgium
MC Finland 4-0 Israel |
WB Ireland 0-3 Netherlands |
| 17.00 |
MF
Switzerland *2-2 Hungary |
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| 18.00 |
MB
France 3-1 Netherlands *
MA Scotland 1-3 Spain
MB Sweden 0-4 Germany |
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| 19.00 |
21/24 semis:
Isle of Man 1-3 Turkey
Russia 1-3 Gibraltar |
WB Germany
2-1
Denmark
WA France 2-0 Spain
WC Finland 2-1 Slovakia |
| 20.00 |
MA
England 4-0 Wales |
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Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D |
21/24 Semi-Finals:
Turkey 3-1 Isle of Man ... Gibraltar 3-1 Russia |
 The
playoffs started at the tail-end of day two for the four countries finishing
bottom of Pools C,D,E and F. None of them could lift themselves out of the
'drop-zone' in this morning's matches, so they finished winless and the race
was on to avoid bottom place.
First up were Turkey, who recorded their first-ever win in the competition,
followed by a win by the smallest country in the tournament against the
biggest
 "It's
our first time in the event and we're all really pleased to finally win
a match. We're just here to enjoy ourselves and not be last. We have
sponsors and we want to do our best for them.
"We looked to be winning quite comfortable but when Sela was 2-0 up and
6-all in the third he started to tire, but he pulled it off in the end.
"We lost to Russia in the European Nations Cup in a close match, so we'd
like a chance at revenge, although we've beaten Gibraltar before so
maybe we'd be better playing them!
"But we're all friends - we all go to their tournaments and they come to
ours ..."
Gunal Gunsav
(Turkey) |
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 "We
were hopeful of a 2-2 draw and maybe sneaking it on countback, but we
didn't expect to win at number one. He played really well in the first
match, and it set the tone for the whole team. When our number four won
we knew we only needed one more and it really spurred us on.
Our aim was not to finish last, and we've done that so we'll go into the
Turkey match with confidence. We lost to them in the European Nations
Cup, but it was a close match and we weren't playing well that day so
we'll be hopeful of overturning that result.
Win or lose though, we're really proud that tour smallest country has
beaten the biggest in Europe ..."
Barry Brindle
Gibraltar Manager
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 "The
match against Slovakia this morning was very important for us to win,
but one our number one lost it was hard for the rest of the team to come
back."
Irina Poddubnaya
Russian Fed Vice-President
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Third seeds Ireland knew they were
facing an uphill task to come anywhere near that position once number one
Madeline Perry withdrew injured. But they very nearly pulled off a win
against Germany - who would later go on to reach the semi-finals.
Playing at number one Karin Beriere won a see-saw battle against Laura
Mylotte 9/5, 9/1, 6/9, 2/9, 10/9 - recovering from 4/8 down in the fifth.
The win proved crucial, as Aisling Blake levelled the match against
Katharine Witt before Kathrin Rohrmuller sealed the win against Eleanor
Lapthorn.
So Germany went on to the second-place decider against Denmark while Ireland
looked to the 5-to-12 playoffs.
 "I
started to tire after winning the first two, and wasn't confident enough
to play my boasts which had won me a lot of points in the beginning, and
I started to make more mistakes.
"In the end she was a bit more tired than I was, and she started making
mistakes.
"I always say it's never over until the last point's won, and I never
give up. "Maybe that's why I won, but I'm very pleased with that and I
hope it gives the others the confidence to win."
Karen Beriere |
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Laura Mylotte was icing a sore knee
after the Beriere match, which would force her to retire early in the
second game later in the day against the Netherlands' Vanessa Atkinson.
 "I
knew for a while, before it was announced, that Madeline wouldn't be
able to play and that I'd be number one.
"My knee has been troubling me for a couple of weeks, but it's been
playing fine and was ok this morning but I jarred it going for a shot
against Vanessa, and although I tried to keep going I couldn't put any
weight on it so it was pointless to go on.
"The last eight or nine months when I've been playing tournaments have
really whetted my appetite, so I finish work in twelve weeks and I'm
taking a year to play full-time ... if I don't do it now I never will
..."
Laura Mylotte |
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 After
what she described as an 'unexpected' victory over Manuela Manetta
yesterday, Switzerland's Agnes Mueller led the line again today as
she took on Austria's Pamela Pancis, who also had a marathon win over
the Italian number one yesterday.
The match was a relatively short 42 minutes, but it was a close match, with
the result in doubt until the end as Agnes won 7/9, 9/6,10/8, 9/6.
The Swiss team went on to win 3-0, their third victory which puts them at
the top of pool D with finishing second Italy
(incidentally, Manuela got her wish for a short game today, as she led Italy
to a comfortable 3/0 win over Norway).
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 "It
was unexpected yesterday, but I'm taking every match as a bonus at the
moment. I haven't played for five years and only started again last
December.
"I had some back and breathing problems which caused me to stop playing.
"They got better after one or two years, but I still wasn't able to push
myself fully, and I had some studies to complete too.
"I'm training and trying very hard now though, but every win comes as a
surprise. I may start playing some tournaments, I may need to in order
to be able to play for the National team.
"I'm just enjoying being back for now ..."
Agnes Mueller |
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Wales finish top of pool C |
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