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TODAY in Malmo ... Daily Updates |
Wed 29th, Day TWO:
The second day of pool action, with another 27 matches played,
saw no major upsets as the pool standings began to take proper
shape, setting up a series of crunch matches tomorrow.
Men's favourites England and France guaranteed their places in
the semi-finals, but match of the day was Netherlands v Scotland
in men's group B. The Dutch won 4-0 to secure a semi-final spot,
but three of those matches went the full distance. Wales or
Germany will take the last place in the final four.
In the women's both all four semi-final places were decided as
England, Holland, France and Ireland recorded their second wins.
They all meet tomorrow to decide top spots in their groups.
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Schedule & Results
Photo Galleries
Complete results
and pool standings after day two (pdf)
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Day TWO Bits & Pieces
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Hungary & Ireland progress
 Hungary
and Ireland went to the top of Men's Pool C in the day's
opening matchesto make it two out of two for each.
The Poles, appearing in the event for the first time, couldn't
make an impression on a strong Hungarian outfit, especially on
the glass court which they will not be used to, while the Irish,
who play again this afternoon, had too much firepower for
minnows Gibraltar. |
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Two out of two for Austria
 Austria
made it two wins out of two, winning all four ties 3/0 against
Norway, although in the fourth-string match Lukas Gnauer had to
save a couple of game balls in the second to stop Norway getting
on the scoreboard.
Group B rivals Finland cruised to a comprehensive 4/0 win over
Russia to keep their own unbeaten record ... |
England & Ireland girls march on
Defending champions England made their debut on the glass court,
and wasted little time in beating Germany 3/0, Laura
Lengthorn-Massaro, Jenny Duncalf and Tania Bailey all winning in
straight games.
Ireland kept up their winning streak too, Aisling Blake,
Madeline Perry and Zoe Barr inflicting a similar defeat on
Belgium.
England and Ireland meet tomorrow to determine who tops the
group, but both are already assured of their semi-final places. |
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Dutch & French top pool B
 Second
and third seeds Holland and France both recorded their second
victories to set up a table-topping clash tomorrow.
France beat Wales 3-0 with only number one Isabelle Stoehr dropping
a game, while Holland had an edgy start with Vanessa Atkinson
needing all five games to get past Denmark's Ellen Petersen, then
'new girl' Natalie Grinham made a winning Dutch debut as she beat
Line Hansen.
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Italian's wait is worth it
One of few teams who didn't play yesterday, Italy got their
group C campaign off to an excellent start with a 3/0 win over
Russia. To be fair, the Russians wouldn't have expected much out
of this match, and the Italians were probably seeing it as a useful
warmup for tomorrow's clash with hosts Sweden.
Chiara Ferrari, Manuela Manetta and Veronica Favero all won
comfortably enough, with Manetta's opponent Olga Petruchina coming
off "really really tired but I enjoyed every minute of it!"
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Scots sorely test the Dutch
On paper this should have been a
comfortable win for the Dutch, but no-one - as the saying goes -
told the Scots, and they will feel aggrieved coming away from the
closest match of the tournament so far with a 0-4 scoreline.
Two brutal matches to start, both going the full distance, saw
Sebastian Weenink edge past Chris Small 11/9 in the fifth in 59m,
shortly followed by Dylan's Bennett, 11/5 in the fifth against Alan
Clyne, 68m for that one.
The Scots still thought they had a chance, but Piedro Schweertman
saw off Stuart Crawford 3/0 in 43m to put victory beyond Scotland's
reach. Rene Mijs finished the match off, beating Jamie Macauley 11/7
in the fifth to rub salt into Scottish wounds after another 59m
match. |
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No stopping the top seeds
Considering they've contested seven of the last eight finals, and on
world rankings their players are way ahead of the rest, it's hardly
surprising that England and France should continue their winning
ways on day two.
France fielded a full team against Switzerland, while England rested
#1 Nick Matthew against Wales, but the result was the same in both
cases, 4-0 to the favourites and only one game - Peter Creed
troubling Daryl Selby - dropped.
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