The 2021 European Championship continues in earnest today, with the four scheduled quarter-finals announcing the start of the knockout rounds. The four group winners – Italy, Israel, the Netherlands and Spain – were all unbeaten in group play, with Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in particular qualifying for dominant performances in their respective groups.
At 15:00 (CEST) Croatia, who surprised Germany in group stage, won 8-2 (box count), the hosts, Italy, take on the fight, which crossed through group play with a +34 run differential. Italy want to improve on its silver medal at the 2019 tournament. It last won the European title in 2012, the last country to win it before the Netherlands started with three consecutive victories.
At 15:30 (CEST) Spain beat Belgium, who qualified from Group A with just one victory, a 5-4 step-0ff win (box count) about Greece on the last day of group play. The Belgians scored three runs at the bottom of the ninth to penetrate at Greece’s expense and now face a Spanish team that finished group stage with a combined no-hitter from Croatia and twice 15 runs in recorded victories over Ukraine (15-0, box count) and Germany (15-2, box count).
Two quarterfinals are scheduled for the evening, with Israel against the Czech Republic culminating in the round. Israel slipped past Russia on Day One of the tournament thanks to a 10th innings that brought home the decisive run (2-1, box count) and has since been powered by the hot butt of Assaf Lowengart, leading the competition with three home runs. The Czechs lost in group play against the Netherlands, but were otherwise dominant in victories over Sweden (6-1, box count) and Slovakia (13-3, box count).
The evening’s second quarter-final puts the defending champions, the Netherlands, against Great Britain, with Team GB qualifying with just one W, a 7-2 victory (box count) over France on Day One of the competition. a 7-6 loss (box count) in the hands of Russia followed after a late innings rally, and Israel defeated Team GB handy on the final day of group play, with the aforementioned Lowengart hitting a home run and three runs in an 11 -4 Israeli drove. victory (box count). The Dutch, on the other hand, crossed through group play and scored 37 runs while conceding just six.
Friday’s semi-final will see Croatia’s winner Italy face Czech Republic’s winner Israel, with the second semi-final matching Spain’s winner against Belgium and Netherlands’ winner against Great Britain.
The final is scheduled for Sunday, September 19, at 8:30 pm (CEST).
For complete scores and statistics and links to live streams, visit the WBSC Europe competition page.
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GROUP RESULTS
Credit: WBSC Europe.
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