ENGLAND'S MEDAL HOPES ARE DASHED
12th July2012

England's hopes of a medal in the European girls' team championship were dashed when they lost 3-4 to Sweden in the first matchplay round at St Leon Rot, Germany.

The defeat means the top seeds are ruled out of the hunt for medals and they will now play for place in the championship flight.

Sweden grabbed the initiative early in the day by winning both foursomes, in keenly contested matches. One went to the 19th and the other was decided on the 18th.

England were dealt a further blow when Charley Hull was beaten in the top singles, meaning the team needed to win the remaining four games. They almost did it, all four players were up at the turn and Georgia Hall, Elizabeth Mallett and Emily Taylor succeeding in winning their points. But the last game on the course ended in defeat for Bronte Law.

England results
Foursomes
Charley Hull (Woburn) & Georgia Hall (Remedy Oak) lost to Linnea Strom & Linn Andersson at 19th.
Bronte Law (Bramhall) & Emily Taylor (Hillside) lost to Elsa Westin & Isabella Deilert 1 down
Singles
Hull lost to Emma Nilsson 4/2
Hall beat Mia Landegren 3/2
Elizabeth Mallett (Sutton Coldfield ladies') beat Deilert 5/4
Law lost to Strom 2 down
Taylor beat Andersson 5/3

Other results
Italy beat the Netherlands 4½-2½
Denmark beat Germany 4½-2½
Spain beat France 4-3.

In tomorrow's semi-finals Sweden will play Italy while Denmark take on Spain. In the other matches England will play the Netherlands and Germany play France.