Four top nations in finals Europeans for lady teams

AARHUS - What the hell happened in the match between Therese Klompenhouwer and Magali Declunder at the European ladies three cushion championships for national teams? The Dutch leading lady, the reigning European champion, was 10-5 down after a poor start. The match still ended 25-11 for Therese after a sudden attack, thus scoring 20 points in the last part when the French lady made only one more carom(!). That was, on the opening day at the Nations event in Aarhus, Denmark, the most bizarre match. The preliminary rounds ended this Tuesday night with four of the favorite countries in the final rounds: Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Turkey. The countries' tournament was launched on this first day in a wonderful arena, but unfortunately in front of empty stands.

The start with three matches in each of the eight groups was not yet impressive in averages. The Netherlands with Therese Klompenhouwer and Karina Jetten led the ranking with the maximum match points and 0.735 on average ahead of Denmark with 4 points and 0.705, Belgium with 4 points and 0.527 and Turkey with 3 points and 0.690.

The Danish pair with Charlotte Sörensen and Nanna Petersen had the most impressive start in the final evening session against Germany. Sörensen was sublime from the start and led 17-4 in 11 against Träm (later 25-9 in 24), Petersen ran away even further against Titze and put 16-2 in 12 on the scoreboard (final score 25-14 in 35).

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Netherlands plays Turkey at 10am in the first semi-final, with Denmark playing Belgium at 12.30pm. The final is at 4.30pm.

The best individual matches came from Charlotte Sörensen, the reigning world champion, with 25 in 24 and 25 in 30, Therese Klompenhouwer with 25 in 25 and 25 in 28, and the two Turkish ladies Guzin Mujde Karakasli and Gülsen Degener with 25 in 31.

The most excitement was in the group with Turkey and Denmark 2. Both teams won against Austria 4-0 and the match between these two  was 1-1. Degener won vs Jensen (25-15) and Karakasli lost to Mortensen (25-21). The two teams finished equal with three match points, Turkey had the best average: 0.690 against 0.475. In its group with France and Greece, the Netherlands won the four matches almost unchallenged.

The Belgians and Spaniards fought a bitter battle against each other for the group win. Jaimie Buelens ran much faster away than Estela Cardoso (15-4 in 17), Danielle Le Bruyn had more trouble with Ana Juarez. Buelens kept her lead and won 25-14 in 38, De Bruyn had a better second half and also triumphed against Juarez: 25-20 in 46.

The disappointing countries were mainly Spain with 0.391 average, Germany with 0.493 and France with 0.420.

The final table of the preliminary rounds (match points, individual, average, highest runs):

1. Netherlands 4-8-0.735-8
2. Denmark 1 4-8-0.705-5
3. Belgium 4-8-0.527-3
4. Turkey 3-6-0.690-4
5. Denmark 2 3-6-0.475-5
6. Germany 2-4-0,493-3
7. Spain 2-4-0,391-5
8. France 1-2-0,420-5
9. Greece 1-2-0,385-3
10. Czech Republic 0-0-0,303-4
11. Austria 0-0-0-0,245-2
12. Denmark 3 0-0-0-0,165-2

The ladies for the European ladies championship for nation teams

Therese Klompenhouwer, on top with the Dutch team

Jaimie Buelens, strong leading lady in the Belgian team