On the penultimate day, three Swedish players booked their places in the semi-finals of the Big Green Egg Swedish Matchplay Championship
After two days of qualifiers, the main knockout competition started today with the last 16 in the morning and quarterfinals in the afternoon.
The last 16
Sweden’s Anna Magnusson had a tough morning match with last week’s champion Rachael Goodall of England, but the Swede eventually came out on top on winning the 21st hole.
Two more matches needed additional holes to decide the quarterfinalists, as Sweden’s Sofie Bringner beat Norway’s Celine Brovold Sanne on the 19th hole.
While it was the same result was for Scotland’s Gabrielle Macdonald who got the better of Swede Emilia Collowin.
Two matches finished on the 17th hole with Germany’s Patricia Isabel Schmidt defeating England’s Rosie Davies, and Sweden’s Sara Ericsson beat France’s Emilie Alonso.
Sweden’s Ellinor Haag, who won the qualifier, triumphed 3&2 over compatriot Amanda Lindahl, while another Swede Corinne Vidén beat Germany’s Verena Gimmy by the same margin.
Quarterfinals
With a Swedish player in each match, the local fans had their hopes up for all-Swedish semi-finals.
Magnusson continued her form and claimed a 2&1 win over Schmidt to become the first semi-finalist.
Bringner knocked out Ericsson by the same scoreline (2&1), she said: “My game felt really good all day even though there was a long delay. My ball striking was the key part of my game today. I’m very excited to be in the semi-finals, and to make it into the finals would mean a lot.”
Their fellow Swede Vidén has been unstoppable on her LETAS debut and beat Scotland’s Macdonald, who is currently second on the LETAS Order of Merit.
“I had a great time with the other Swedish players during the delay and I didn’t really do anything to prepare myself before the play. The course is in a great shape and handled the rain very well, so I could stick with my game play,” said Vidén.
“I am very excited to play tomorrow, I don’t really have any expectations. I am happy with where my game is at right now and I make a lot of birdies. I enjoy match play and would love to see a Swede win.”
The last match saw Caroline Rominger of Switzerland knock out the qualification winner Haag by the biggest margin in the tournament yet – she won 4&3.
“Today was good, although the weather has been a bit special here in Sweden. It was good we had a longer break for lunch because of the delay and the players had some fun together in the club house,” she said.
“I played really good today, I hit it close, made some good putts and had a lot of chances for birdies. My friend Clara Pietri didn’t make the cut, so she caddied for me today which was great, and I also had really nice playing partners today. I am really excited for tomorrow.”
The semi-finals will start on Sunday at 8:00 am with Magnusson vs. Bringner, followed by Vidén vs Rominger at 8:10 am.
Keep up with the scores – here.
Follow all the action @LETAccess on Instagram and Twitter – #RaiseOurGame.
