Day 3 of the European Team Championships saw 16 quarter-final matches contested. Winning teams have advanced to the final-four of each tournament, and will battle it out for medals over the final two days of competition on Friday and Saturday.
The performance of the day went to Switzerland in the European Ladies' Team Championship, who upset the reigning World Amateur Team champions, Sweden, in Finland.
The Swiss side finished 47 strokes behind their opponents in the stroke play qualifying stage, yet managed to upset a Swedish side that includes the top-ranked amateur player in the world, Ingrid Lindlad, and four more players ranked inside the world amateur top-50.
European Amateur Team Championship - Royal Waterloo Golf Club, Belgium
All of the top-four seeds won their matches at Royal Waterloo on Thursday.
Stroke play qualifying leaders, Denmark, defeated Sweden to book a spot in Friday's semi-finals. Despite winning both foursomes matches early, the singles matches were a lot tighter. All of the afternoon matches went down the 18th, three in favour of Denmark and two in favour of Sweden for a final score of 5-2.
Denmark will face Ireland, who came out on top in a tight affair with France today, in the final-four.
The other side of the bracket saw England and Spain secure comfortable wins against the Netherlands and Italy respectively. The reigning champions, Spain, are still on route for a successful defence of their title, but won't have it easy against a strong England team on Friday.
European Ladies' Team Championship - Tawast Golf & Country Club, Finland
Despite setting a new aggregate scoring record in the stroke play qualifying of the European Ladies' Team Championship, Sweden were unable to progress past eighth-seeds Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Two tight matches in the morning both went to extra holes, with the foursomes points ultimately shared one a piece. In the afternoon singles, Switzerland found an edge. Three wins, including Chiara Tamburlini's 3&2 victory over the top ranked amateur player in the world (Ingrid Lindblad) in the final match was enough to defeat the favourites.
England and Spain both enjoyed relatively comfortable wins over Ireland and the Czech republic in the quarter-finals. The former will face Switzerland in the semis', while Spain will lineup against Germany, who defeated France 4-3.
European Boys' Team Championship - Golf de Genève, Switzerland
Number-one seeds, England, faced hosts, Switzerland on Thursday at Geneva Golf Club. The English players seemed unphased by wet conditions in the morning in Switzerland, claiming both of the morning foursomes matches.
Despite a fight back from Switzerland in the afternoon, the 2022 runners-up would ultimately win the match 5-2 to book a spot in the semi-finals. They'll face France who came out on top in a tense affair with Italy, where the outcome was decided on the 18th green in the final match.
Germany were one of the only teams of the day to upset the seeding order. The defending champions finished sixth in the stroke play qualifying rounds, but swept aside Spain who finished third. Winning all of the first four matches, the German team will have the chance to compete for a record third consecutive title on Friday and Saturday.
Sweden will stand in their way after narrowly defeating the Czech Republic 4-3.
European Girls' Team Championship - Golf d'Hossegor, France
Spain continued to look like the team to beat at Golf d'Hossegor on Thursday, securing a dominant victory over Ireland to secure a spot in the semi-finals. They'll face the Netherlands on Friday, who also recorded a dominant scoreline of 6-1 over Denmark despite four of the matches going to the 18th.
France had their hopes of successfully defending the title dashed by Italy, who inflicted a 4-3 defeat on the hosting nation. Italy will face number-two seeds, Sweden, in the final-four.
