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Girls' and Boys' Am
Thrilling day at Ganton as Girls' and Boys' Amateur quarter-finals decided
18 Aug 23
3 mins
Meja Ortengren maintained her excellent form to reach the quarter-finals of The R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship while Alex Papayoanou notched up an impressive win to advance in the Boys’ Amateur at Ganton today.
Ortengren won both her matches today to join world number ten Helen Briem in the Girls’ Amateur quarter-finals along with her fellow Swede Havanna Torstensson and Spanish trio Balma Davalos Guaita, Martina Navarro Navarro and Rocio Tejedo. England’s Isla McDonald-O’Brien and Sophia Fullbrook complete the line-up.
Papayoanou led the way into the Boys’ Amateur quarter-finals after eliminating the fancied Spanish player Jose Antonio Sintes Navarro. The Texan was joined by Michele Ferrero of Italy, Oscar Couilleau and Hugo Le Goff of France, Vaclav Svub from the Czech Republic, home hope Kris Kim, Spain’s Marcel Fonseca and Oscar Bach of Norway.
The 94th Girls’ Amateur Championship and the 96th Boys’ Amateur Championship are being played simultaneously at the renowned Yorkshire venue Ganton and today saw the rounds of 16 and eight being contested in both championships. The quarter-finals and semi-finals take place tomorrow.
Ortengren and Briem move into last eight
Meja Ortengren, ranked 14th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), faced her friend and fellow Swede Nora Sundberg in her round of eight match and took a grip of the match in the early stages moving to a three hole lead. The 18-year-old Trophee Esmond champion stuck to her game plan of finding fairways from the tee and secured a comfortable 5&4 win. “This morning it was a little bit worse than the other days but this afternoon I played well again so I’m just pleased with how I played right now,” she said. “It’s something I have been working on – staying patient all the way through. I am not changing my emotion because of how the match is going. I think I have done that pretty well this week so I’m pleased. “It will be fun tomorrow. I’m excited.” Davalos Guaita made the most of her putter to come out on top by 4&3 in her match against Laura Nepper from France and secure her place in the quarter-finals. “I am really pleased to get through,” she said. “My putter was the best part of my game. Then my drivers. I hit a lot of fairways and that’s very important on this course. “I’m a little bit tired but if you sleep well I think I can play 36 holes without problems. “I am so excited to play tomorrow. I am playing against Meja. She is a very good player and I’m so excited to play against her.” Briem demonstrated her mental toughness to come from behind in her match against her friend and fellow German Marie Agnes Fischer, just as she had done in her round of 16 match against Nishna Patel from India earlier in the day. The 18-year-old stepped up a gear on the back nine once again to take control of the match and eased to a 5&4 victory. Briem said, “It was a little different today because I was down early in both matches. I got two birdies (from her opponents) on hole one so it was not a good start. We actually have been quite equal until the nine and then in both matches I just won lots of holes on the back nine so it was good. “I mean it’s always tough to play someone of your country. I know Marie pretty well and we are actually good friends so it’s always tougher to play against someone you know than someone you don’t know that well. “It’s definitely a good achievement but I want to continue and I hope to play on Sunday.” Torstensson came through an all-Swedish clash with Matilda Bjorkman by 3&2 and Tejedo claimed the honours in the all-Spanish duel with Andrea Revuelta with a dominant 6&4 win. Navarro Navarro ended the hopes of 14-year-old Lauren Crump, from Hill Valley, defeating her by 4&3 while home hopes will centre on Isla McDonald-O’Brien after her one hole victory over Anastasia Hekkonen from Finland and Sophia Fullbrook who won 2&1 against her fellow English player Maggie Whitehead.
Helen Briem - Germany
“It was a little different today because I was down early in both matches. It’s definitely a good achievement but I want to continue and I hope to play on Sunday.”