European senior women's amateur team championship

SCOTS LOSE TO ENGLAND AND GERMANY

BEAT LEADING QUALIFIERS IRELAND

Scotland lost 3 1/2-1 1/2 to England on a day when top seeds and hosts Ireland surprisingly went down by a similar scoreline to Germany, the last of the eight qualifiers for the top flight of the European senior women's amateur team golf championship at Dun Laoghaire.
In the semi-finals it will be England v Germany and Spain and France v Italy.
Italy, the No 7 qualifiers, beat Sweden, the defending champions and second seeds, 3-2.
Scotland's only winners in a match decided over one foursome and four singles were the alternate shot pairing of Heather Anderson (Alyth) and Fiona Hunter (Baberton). They beat Christine Stirling and Lucy Newton by 2 and 1.
In the singles, Mary Smith (Tain) lost by 2 and 1 to Chris Quinn, Fiona De Vries (St Rule lost by 4 and 3 to Janet Melville and Moira Thomson (Gullane Ladies) lost by 3 and 2 to Sue Dye.
Lorna Bennett (Ladybank) had a square match with Jo Ashmore.
The best that Scotland can now achieve is fifth place and the first hurdle to be cleared in that direction is a strong Ireland team who will be smarting after their unexpected reverse on home turf.

FROM THE ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION WEBSITE:
England were the only seeds from the top four to survive the first round of match-play. The quarter-finals provided a series of upsets as the top three qualifiers tumbled out of the hunt for medals. Leading qualifiers Ireland lost to Germany, second favourites Sweden fell to Italy, while third qualifiers France suffered a similar fate at the hands of Spain.
England, however, staged a fine performance in the difficult conditions. “The rain was torrential,” said team captain Sue Westall.
“At one time, looking out of the clubhouse, it was just a white-out. I have never seen anything like it, but the course is fantastic in the way it just soaks it up. Our girls just plugged away and played brilliantly to win.”
The England team narrowly lost the foursomes but were superb in the singles. England’s double senior champion, Chris Quinn, had an eagle and four birdies on her way to victory; Janet Melville holed a seven-iron for eagle on the eighth as she set up a comfortable win; while Sue Dye played strongly at the back of the order to secure the win. Jo Ashmore’s match was then declared a half, although she was up at the time.

Today's results:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT

IRELAND 1 1/2, GERMANY 3 1/2
Foursome - Valerie Hassett & Violet McBride lost to Karin Gumpert & Nicolle Elcke-Huth 3 and 2.
Singles - Marilyn Henderson lost to Edeltraud Jacob 5 and 4, Sheena McElroy lost to Chris Utermarck 3 and 2, Phil O'Gorman bt Cornelia Schmidt-Stuetzle 5 and 4, Helen Jones halved with Tessa Oldenbourg.

ENGLAND 3 1/2, SCOTLAND 1 1/2
Foursome - Christine Stirling & Lucy Newton lost to Heather Anderson & Fiona Hunter 2 and 1.
Singles - Chris Quinn bt Mary Smith 2 and 1, Janet Melville bt Fiona De Vries 4 and 3, Jo Ashmore halved with Lora Bennett, Sue Dye bt Moira Thomson 3 and 2.

FRANCE 2, SPAIN 3
Foursome - Helen Dutertre & Kadija Boutahchicht bt Ana Vilella & Pia Allende 5 and 3.
Singles - Virginie Burus bt Marta Estany 2 and 1, Cecilia Mourgue d'Algue lost to Catalina Castillejo 1 hole, Marie Jose Ibarlosa lost to Christina Marsans 4 and 3, Anita Remoleur lost to Vicky Pertierra 5 and 3.

ITALY 3, SWEDEN 2
Foursome - Nicoletta Cacciatore Bolaffi & Francois Colmant lost to Aniki Hermansson & Christina Birke 4 and 2.
Singles - Guenda Preti Moavero bt Anna Donnestad 6 and 5, Marina Buscaini bt Eva Lindberg 1 hole, Francesca Christillin bt Birgitta Ljung 2 and 1, Clotilde Fasolis Costa lost to Viveca Hoff 6 and 4.

THURDAY'S SEMI-FINALS
Germany v England
Spain v Italy
PLAY-OFFS 5th to 8th places
Ireland v Scotland
France v Sweden.

Other Wednesday results:
SWITZERLAND 4 1/2, SLOVENIA 1/2
FINLAND 3, AUSTRIA 2
NETHERLANDS 3 1/2. DENMARK 1 1/2