After a dominant display in morning foursomes Team Europe maintained their advantage in afternoon fourballs at the PING Junior Solheim Cup to hold a commanding lead heading into the final day.
Leading by 5.5 to 0.5 points over USA at La Zagaleta, Spain, an entertaining afternoon saw both sides win three matches each to leave the home side needing just four points to retain the trophy on Tuesday.
Despite an emphatic 8&6 victory in morning foursomes, the Spanish duo of Andrea Revuelta and Rocío Tejedo were unable to reach the same heights as they were defeated 3&2 by Elizabeth Rudisill and Kathryn Ha.
Also paired together again were Francesca Fiorellini (Italy) and Denisa Vodičková (Czechia), who continued their excellent record together by dispatching Anna Song and Megan Meng 4&3.
“We did a great job,” Fiorellini said, who also won a point alongside Vodičková at the 2021 PING Junior Solheim Cup. “We played last time together two years ago so we know each other really well.”
While her Czech partner said: “Our energy on the course matches very well so I think we work really great.”
In match three, USA clawed a point back as Gianna Clemente and Yana Wilson defeated Yana Beeli & Anna Cañado 1UP on the final hole.
Having both clinched a point in morning foursomes, Josefin Widal (Sweden) and Cloe Amion (Spain) earned another point for their side winning 2&1 against Asterick Talley and Leigh Chien.
Coined the “dream team”, Savannah De Bock (Belgium) and Helen Briem (Germany) put on the performance of the afternoon carding eight birdies to beat Irene Kim & Ryleigh Knaub 5&4.
“It was amazing,” De Bock said. “The morning with Cloe already great, we played well, but this afternoon with Helen was also really good. We have such a strong team. Whenever I was doing a little less good she was making birdies!
“It’s so great to be here, the team is so great. The course is amazing and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Match six then saw Anna Davis annd Jasmine Koo come from behind to defeat the Swedish pairing of Meja Örtengren and Nora Sundberg 3&2 to leave the scores at 8.5 – 3.5 heading into the final day.
Sunday singles will take place on Tuesday morning with the following pairings (EU vs USA):
8:15: Andrea Revuelta vs Jasmine Koo
8:25: Francesca Fiorellini vs Anna Davis
8:35: Nora Sundberg vs Gianna Clemente
8:45: Yana Beeli vs Yana Wilson
8:55: Anna Cañado vs Kathryn Ha
9:05: Cloe Amion vs Elizabeth Rudisill
9:15: Josefin Widal vs Leigh Chien
9:25: Helen Briem vs Ryleigh Knaub
9:35: Denisa Vodičková vs Anna Song
9:45: Rocio Tejedo vs Asterick Talley
9:55: Savannah De Bock vs Megan Meng
10:05: Meja Örtengren vs Irene Kim
Live scoring can be followed here.
More information can be found in the PING Junior Solheim Cup section of www.solheimcup2023.eu, and follow the Instagram account of the European PJSC Team @jrsolheimcupeurope.
