Thu 2nd, down to
the playoffs
After another full day of matches at Frans Otten Stadion - a
few less than yesterday, but still 35 in all - we'll know
the semi-finalists in most of the divisions (except for the
women's Div 2 & 3 round robins).
Actually, we'll know the Division One semi-finalists well
before that, as there are some crucial early morning
matches, particularly for the women.
Division One Roundup
10am on Day Two and all the teams in Division One tool to
the courts at Frans Otten, so it's been a bust three hours
trying to keep up to date with what's been going on - here's
a stab at it !
 In
Pool A England eased past Auld Enemy Scotland 4-0, with the
Scots just as interested in how Italy, who held them to a
draw yesterday, were getting on against Switzerland. An 4-0
Italian win was needed to put them through, but the Scots'
nerves were quickly settled as Switzerland went on to win
3-1.
In Pool B Germany knew they needed to win one match against
second seeds France, and although they needed to wait until
the third match, Andre Haschker duly delivered, France going
on to win 3-1 to top the group.
That rendered the later-starting Spain v Denmark irrelevant
in semi-final terms, but it was still a tremendous match,
with Rasmus Neilsen winning a marathon final five-setter to
earn a draw for the delighted Danish camp.
So, the Men's semi-finals will be England v Germany and
France v Scotland - the top four seeds.
 In
the Women's top division England duly completed a hat-trick
of wins, this time against Germany, to put themselves
through, while Netherlands and Belgium battled it out for
the second spot.
A tremendous performance from young Tinne Gilis, beating
Milou Van Der Heijden 3-2, put Blgium ahead, but the hosts'
experienced pair of Natalie Grinham and Orla Noom both won
3-0 to put the Dutch through to yet another semi-final.
 In
Pool B Ireland and France met to decide who finished top,
avoiding England in the process. Cyrielle Peltier delighted
the French squad as she beat Laura Mylotte 3-1, but the
French bench were distraught when a tiring Madeline Perry
was awarded a stroke at 10-9 in the fifth to beat Camille
Serme and level the match.
In the decider Coline Aumard had several game balls to level
her match against Aisling Blake, but the Irish champion took
that 14-12 and went on to win the third quickly.
The women's semi-finals will therefore be: England v
France and Ireland v Netherlands.
Divisions Two and Three
The
women's round robins continued, where it looks as though
Denmark are the team to beat in Division Two, four wins out
of four for them so far. The final two matches of the day
both went to deciders as Spain beat Italy and Austria
overcame Sweden to keep the pressure on the leaders.
 In
division three Poland and Malta are both unbeaten after
three matches, so their Saturday morning meeting could be
decisive.
The men's Division Two semi-finals will be Netherlands v
Ireland and Finland v Wales after all won today -
reports on a lot of that on the blog.
In division three the final four are Norway v Malta -
who had a great battle with fellow minnows Monaco -
and Gibraltar v Israel
- who looked very good in their 4-0 win over the previously untroubled
Russians.
That's all for tomorrow though ...
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