WMRT: quarter-final sweep at Match Cup Sweden

The third day of GKSS Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand saw the Open division finish the round-robin and advance to the quarter-finals with each of the three matches concluded in straight 2-0 wins. Sweden’s Anna Östling (Team WINGS) leads the round robin stage in the Nordea Women’s Trophy undefeated with seven straight wins.

Despite the forecast showing challenging conditions over the next few days, the GKSS Race Committee was keen to push through racing yesterday for the Open division and Nordea Women’s Trophy at GKSS Match Cup Sweden in anticipation of the weather ahead.

Concluding the round-robin stage in the Match Cup Open division, the quarter-final pairings were set with Eric Monnin (SUI)/Capvis Swiss Match Racing going up against New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson/ Knots Racing, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) v Aurélien Pierroz (FRA), and Denmark’s Jeppe Borch/ Borch Racing v Sweden’s Marius Westerlind. Each of the matches were won in straight 2-0 scores with Monnin, Berntsson and Borch joining USA’s Chris Poole in the semi-finals.

2022 Match Racing World Champion Nick Egnot-Johnson and his Knots Racing crew had a disappointing day after being defeated in their two races against Switzerland’s Eric Monnin.

“It is a shame not to make it through to the semis as we have been sailing well this week with a new crew, two of whom haven’t sailed the Far East 28’s before. The conditions in Marstrand have been amazing, unfortunately we made a crucial errors in each of our quarter-final matches against Eric (Monnin) and they got away from us.”

In the Nordea Women’s Trophy, the eight teams concluded the robin stage with Sweden’s Anna Östling advancing straight to the semi-finals and the remaining six teams lining up in the quarter finals.

“We had a great day yesterday with three important races” commented Östling. “The crew are working so hard and we have been able to make some good and proactive decisions – we also had a lot of fun surfing down waves yesterday!”