Danish Open Ladies Cup - Electrifying action on day 3

by Joakim Hermansson on 23 Jun 2013 At the Danish Ladies Open Cup, the excitement was electric during Saturday's matches, first with a really tight conclusion of the round robin, and then the initial matches of the semi-finals. Just in time for the regatta dinner, race management stopped further racing for the day with both semi-finals tied 1-1.

'It means we will start it all again tomorrow' round robin winning home sailor Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen smiled, adding that 'the competition always gets better at the end of match racing regattas.'

As winner of the round robin she got the favour of choosing her semi-final opponent, picking Dutch rookie Merel Witteveen: 'We won one of our two round robin matches against her, and lost the other one just because of a couple of big mistakes. I think they've been the most unstable in the round-robin' Lotte explains her choice.

Unranked wildcard Witteveen was, not surprisingly, very happy to reach the semi-finals, still determined to continue her performance in the semis: 'We will continue focusing on every single race, not thinking of the end result. We've already performed a lot better than expected, so let's see how far we can get' she says. 'We lost the first semi but recovered in the second when we focused on what was happening outside our boat instead of inside it. For tomorrow we will continue keeping more than one eye on that,' she declares.

Recent World Championship silver medallist and ISAF World Ranking number one, home sailor Camilla Ulrikkeholm, was happy to reach the semi-finals after a not very convincing opening of the regatta: 'I asked for some more wind in my evening prayers, and that helped. But the conditions are very challenging; with the top mark close to shore and a lot of wind shifts, puffs and gusts you have to track. And also some current on top of that' she laughs.

With just a few flights of the round-robin remaining, it was already clear that Meldgaard Pedersen and Macgregor would be joined by Ulrikkeholm in the semis, but the fight for the fourth slot was not over until the absolute end of the round robin. Merel Witteveen was ashore watching the last important nail biter between Stephanie Roble, USA, and Swede Anna Kjellberg, shouting out and jumping around at Restaurant Sejlklubbene in Skovshoved when the results became clear: Roble beating Kjellberg meant that all three of them ended up with a 8 - 8 record, in a tie that when broken gave the semi-final slot to the Dutch crew. Swede Anna Kjellberg couldn't cover her disappointment after having been eliminated from the semi-finals: 'We made no big mistakes, so right now I can just think about every situation we could have done better in order to gain just that one more valuable point we would have needed to reach the semis' she comments.

The Danish Open 2013 Ladies Cup will be determined Sunday, with the remaining semi-finals and the final matches.

Semi-final standings in the Danish Open 2013 Ladies Cup, the third event on the inaugural 2013 Women's International Match Racing Series. First to three points advances to the final: Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN - Merel Witteveen, NED 1 - 1 Lucy Macgregor, GBR - Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN 1 - 1
Match for fifth place: Stephanie Roble, USA - Anna Kjellberg, SWE 1 – 0

Round-robin results in the Danish Open 2013 Ladies Cup, the third event on the inaugural 2013 Women's International Match Racing Series (skipper/nationality/wins/losses): 1. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, DEN, 14 - 2 2. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 14 - 2 3. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 9 - 7 4. Merel Witteveen, NED, 8 – 8 5. Stephanie Roble, USA, 8 - 8 6. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 8 - 8 7. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 7 - 9 8. Anna Kjellgren, SWE, 4 - 12 9. Anne Marit Hansen, NOR, 0 – 16

Standings in the 2013 Women's International Match Racing Series after two events, in France and in Korea (skipper/nationality/WIMRS points): 1. Tamara Echegoyen, ESP, 25 1. Lucy Macgregor, GBR, 25 1. Anna Kjellberg, SWE, 25 4. Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 22 4. Julie Bossard, FRA, 22 6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 20 7. Katie Spithill, AUS, 19 8. Alexa Bezel, SUI, 17 8. Claudia Pierce, NZL, 17 9. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 16 11. Ekaterina Skudina, RUS, 15 12. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 14 13. Susannah Pyatt, NZL, 9 14. Milly Bennett, AUS, 8 15. Sung-Eun Choi, KOR, 4 15. Morgane Dréau, FRA, WIMRS website