England claim silver at European Team Championship

England narrowly missed out on the chance to win the European Men’s Team Championship for a record twelfth time when they lost to hosts Sweden in the final of this year’s championship at Llunghusen.

Tom Sloman, Alex Fitzpatrick and Ben Jones all claimed top-ten finishes as England finished second behind Ireland in the 36-hole stroke play qualifier and they went on to defeat both Wales and Scotland by 4-3 before losing 4.5-2.5 to the home team in a keenly contested final in which all but one of the matches went at least as far as the 17th green.

The English team, comprising Sloman, Fitzpatrick, Jones, Tom Plumb, Harry Hall and Matty Lamb, were the first to put a point on the board when Sloman and Plumb recorded their third foursomes win of the tournament with a 2&1 win over Ludvig Aberg and Christoffer Palsson, but David Nyfjall and Vincent Norrman ensured the scoreline was level at lunch with a 4&3 victory over Fitzpatrick and Lamb.

In the afternoon, Hall made it three out of three in the singles with a 2&1 victory over Norman, and Plumb also halved with Nyfjall, but that was not quite enough to see the team over the line.

The result means that England have won three sliver medals in a row, having also achieved that feat in Austria in 2017, and then again in Germany last year.

England ended the European Ladies’ Team Championship on a high note when they beat Scotland 3-2 to claim fifth place at Is Molas in Sardinia. The team, made up of Lianna Bailey, Annabell Fuller, Alice Hewson, Lily May Humphrey and Emily Toy, lost the chance of collecting a medal when they were beaten 5.5-1.5 by Sweden in the opening round of match play but then defeated Denmark 3.5-1.5 before rounding the championship out with a win over the Scots. The event was won by Sweden who beat Spain 5-2 in the final.

There was also a fifth-place finish for the English team at the European Boys’ Team Championship, where hosts France won in front of the own fans at Chantilly. England, represented by Barclay Brown, Conor Gough, Max Hopkins, Joe Pagdin, Ben Schmidt and Robin Williams, lost 4-3 to Ireland in the opening round of match play, but then defeated Italy 3.5-1.5, before rounding things by beating Spain by the same scoreline.

The English team comprising Jessica Baker, Rosie Belsham, Ellie Gower, Charlotte Heath, Euphemie Rhodes and Caitlin Whitehead finished fifth in qualifying at the European Girls’ Team Championship at Parador El Saler in Spain but then lost 4-3 to Spain, 3-2 to The Netherlands and 3.5-1.5 to Sweden. The event was won for the first time by Denmark, who beat Spain in the final.