Friday at the European Team Championships across the continent produced another exciting display of elite amateur golf.
Semi-final day saw eight teams advance to Saturday's gold-medal matches of the European Amateur, Ladies', Boys' and Girls' events.
Highlights of the day included:
- Estonia qualify for their first ever European Team Championship final on home soil in the men's event, where they'll meet Ireland
- Spain also make the most of home advantage to overcome defending champions, Czech Republic in an incredibly tight semi-final at the Boys' Team
- France and Spain set up a rematch of last year's final at the Ladies' Team in Ireland
- Spain and England advance comfortably at the Girls' Team in Zürich
AMATEUR TEAM - ESTONIA
Ireland and Estonia will be this year's finalists in the European Amateur Team Championship. Ireland knocked out defending champions Italy, while Estonia pleased the home crowd by edging out France.
Home team Estonia took the first point of the day, winning both morning foursomes. Kevin Jegers and Markus Varjun secured a point with a birdie on the 18th. A solid up and down from Estonia on the same hole in the second match pushed the contest into extra holes, before Mattias Varjun and Ralf Kivi holed the winning putt over Ugo Malcor and Paul Beavy on the second play-off hole.
France won a point of their own in the afternoon singles, but the home players secured the two points needed to move on. Richard Teder made a crucial step towards victory by beating Ugo Malcor, seconds before his teammate Mattias Varjun sealed the deal. Estonia will have the privilege of playing its first ever gold medal contest on home soil.
Both morning foursomes went to the 18th between Ireland and Italy. The defending champions drew first blood through Francesco Pertangeli and Biagio Andrea Gagliardi, before Ireland's Gavin Tiernan and Thomas Higgins evened the contest a few minutes later on the same green.
Ireland then took the lead in the afternoon singles, with a convincing win by reigning Amateur Champion Stuart Grehan over Riccardo Fantinelli. A steady fight back by Italy in the late afternoon resulted in a tie at three points, with just one match, between Giovanni Binaghi and Matthew MacClean, still on the course. Binaghi had the opportunity to win it all for Italy on the 18th, but wasn't able to convert. An errant tee shot on the first extra hole eventually opened the way for MacClean and Ireland.
In Flight B, the losing teams from Thursday's matches went head-to-head to keep their place in Division 1 for 2027.
Spain defeated Poland, and Sweden overcame Denmark, relegating the two teams to Division 2 for next year. Spain and Sweden will now compete for the last position in next year's top flight, in what is set to be a high-pressure match on Saturday.
LADIES' TEAM - IRELAND
Spain will aim for successive European Ladies' Team Championships when they face France tomorrow at Slieve Russell.
In a repeat of last year's final, where Spain defeated hosts France 4.5 to 2.5 at Golf de Chantilly, the Spanish are now looking to replicate those heroics on Irish soil.
Spain, who have won the event in two of the last three editions, had Andrea Revuelta Goicoechea and Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio team up for a precious point in the morning foursomes against Finland on Friday.
Fanni Gronlund and Emilia Vaisto won their match to keep Finland's hopes alive, but Paula Francisco De Liaño led out for Spain in the afternoon and quickly secured a stunning 8&7 win.
That laid the platform, and a further win for reigning European Ladies' Amateur Champion, Paula Martin Sampedro, took Spain within one point of victory. Fanni Gronlund took Balma Davalos down the 18th, while Emilia Vaisto was battling back from four down against Andrea Revuelta. Balma Davalos ultimately booked Spain's place in another final with a birdie at the last.
France await, looking to win a ninth European Ladies' Team Championship and avenge last year's final defeat. They had a convincing 5.5 to 1.5 win over England, with Vairana Heck securing a point thanks to a 3&1 victory over Sophia Fullbrook. Fresh off her win in the 123rd Women's Amateur, Valentine Delon grabbed another decisive point in the afternoon.
Elsewhere, Denmark and Sweden will renew rivalries when they battle it out for fifth place in Flight A. Sweden had a brilliant 3.5 to 1.5 win over hosts Ireland, winning three singles matches in the afternoon.
BOYS' TEAM - SPAIN
Another hot day at Barceló Montecastillo in Spain saw two incredibly tight semi-finals contested.
In the first match of the day, hosts and number-one seeds, Spain took on defending champions, the Czech Republic. One of the tightest matches of the week in any category saw the morning foursomes points shared. There was virtually nothing to separate the teams in the afternoon singles. Midway through the back-nine, four of the five matches were all square, and went to the 18th or beyond.
The first two singles matches went to the 19th. Gonzalo Banos claimed the first for Spain but Louis Klein drew the tie level with a win on the 20th.
Hugo Mikl won his match 1up as Raul Gomez made it 3-3 in the penultimate match. Yago Horno's 2up victory in the decisive match was enough to send Spain to the gold medal match with a final score of 4-3.
The other semi-final of the day saw England take on the Netherlands. Yet again the morning foursomes were split, meaning the match would be decided by the five afternoon singles.
Frankie Morton struck early for England with a 6&4 win over Steven Chapman but Pieter Werner responded with a 4&3 win in the last match for the Netherlands. England's Aaron Moody took England within one point of the final with a 3&1 win in the second match, allowing Cole Self to send England to Saturday's gold medal match with a 2&1 win over Ischa Wichman.
Spain and England will battle it out for the boys' team title. The Spanish, who earned promotion from Division 2 last year, will make their first appearance in the boys' team final since 2018. England, who haven't won the event since 2004, will be looking to make amends for two runner-up finishes in the last four years.
Czech Republic and the Netherlands will compete for the bronze medals.
In Flight B, Thursday's defeated nations went head-to-head to keep their position in Division 1 for 2027.
Scotland defeated Austria while Wales overcame Switzerland to keep their hopes alive of remaining in the boys' top flight. Switzerland and Austria will compete in Division 2 next year, while Scotland and Wales will contest the last remaining spot in Division 1 on Saturday.
GIRLS' TEAM - SWITZERLAND
Spain continued their dominant run in the Girls' division on Friday in Zürich. On yet another hot and sunny day in Switzerland, the defending champions, and ten-times winners in the event, looked comfortable in defeating the Czech Republic in today's first semi-final.
The Spanish girls have dropped just one match on the opening two days of match play in Switzerland and look in with a strong chance of a record-extending 11th win in the Girls' Team Championship.
They'll face 2024 champions, England in the gold medal match on Saturday. England took on France on Friday. The morning foursomes were split one each, but the English side were clearly the better team in the afternoon, winning all three of the first singles matches to secure a second final appearance in three years.
France and the Czech Republic will battle for the last spot on the podium on Saturday.
