Final three Women's Match Racing berths decided

Silja Lehtinen's Finnish team plus Denmark and Spain get the ticket to London 2012

The final day of racing at the WMR International Country Olympic Qualifying Regatta has succeeded in determining the final three countries that to get a berth in the Women's Match Racing competition for London 2012.

Throughout the week Silja Lehtinen's team from Finland has dominated the proceedings and on the last day of competition the Finns won the final against Spain's Tamara Echegoyen to win the event.

However while in most match racing events the finals are the premier match to watch, today all eyes were on the Petit-Finals to see who would be the last country to punch their tickets to go to the Olympics. The Argentinians and Danes did not disappoint the spectators!

Denmark's Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen took an early 2-0 lead in the best of five series, but Martina Silva's crew from Argentina fought back with two wins to force a fifth and final deciding match. In this, Denmark had a great start and led most of the race until 300 metres from the finish line when the Argentinian's were able to steal the wind from the Danes. The Danes stayed just enough in control until it was time to gybe for the finish and were able to hang on for the win!

So Finland, Spain and Denmark now join the nine countries that have already qualified for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition - Australia, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, Russia, and USA.

Final Day's Results:

Final: Finland defeats Spain 3-0
Petit-Final: Denmark defeats Argentina 3-2

Final Standings:

1 - FINLAND - Silja Lehtinen, Mikaela Wulff, Silja Kanerva
2 - SPAIN - Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega, Sofía Toro
3 - DENMARK - Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen, Susanne Boidin, Tina Schmidt Gramkov
4 - ARGENTINA - Martina Silva, Ana Lucía Silva, María Trinidad Silva
5 - SLOVENIA - Vesna Dekleva Paoli, Katarina Kersevan, Lena Koter
6 - GERMANY - Silke Hahlbrock, Anke Lukosch, Maren Hahlbrock
7 - CANADA - Sharon Ferris-Choat, Caroline Kaars Sijpesteijn, Joanne Prokop
8 - CHINA - Ru Wang, Li Xiaoni, Pan Ting Ting
9 - BRAZIL - Renata Decnop, Gabriela Nicolino, Larissa Juk