Near perfect scorecard for LeRoy

French match race no.1 leads at the Lysekil Women's Match in Sweden

World women's match race no.1 Claire Leroy from France has taken ten victories out of 11 and is winning the first Round Robin of Lysekil Women’ s Match. Besides Leroy, the Scandinavians are at the top of the leaderboard of while three Swedish and the two Danish teams have cleared a place in the quarter finals.

At the end of the day, 30 matches had been sailed in close to perfect conditions. The two giants in the race, both undefeated in their nine previous matches; French Claire Leroy, number one on the world ranking, and the reigning champion and silver medallist in the World Championships, Swedish Marie Björling, were defeated by Swedes Malin Millbourn and Linda Rahm respectively.

The last match of the day was the match everyone had been looking forward to: Leroy versus Björling, which determined the winner of the Round Robin. In a thrilling conclusion of the race Leroy defeated Björling just a couple of metres over the finish line.
 
"We had a great day with very close racing and we are lucky to be at our position. All six teams that will continue racing really have a chance to reach the semi finals so there is a lot of pressure," said Claire Leroy on her progress so far.

A team that impressed today was that of Dane Camille Ulrikkeholm. She is ranked number 20 on the world ranking list and not one of the top teams in Lysekil Women’s match. But today she was on form, taking victory after victory, beating both top ten ranked Linda Rahm from Sweden and her fellow country member Lotte Meldgaard-Pedersen. Ulrikkeholm snatched the sixth and last place in the quarter finals ahead of Dutch Klaartje Zuiderbaan, second on the world ranking, when Zuiderbaan lost her last match to Swedish Linda Rahm.

Results after first Round Robin – six teams continue racing:
1. Claire Leroy FRA/Team Ideactor      10 wins - 1 loss
2. Linda Rahm SWE/Team Daros        9 – 2
3. Marie Björling SWE/Team Schenker  9  – 2         
4. Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen DEN/Team HSH Nordband  7 - 4    
5. Malin Millbourn SWE/Team Santa Maria 7– 4
6. Camilla Ulrikkeholm DEN/Team CU  6 –5

7. Klaartje Zuiderbaan NED  5 - 6
8. Giulia Conti ITA           4 – 7
9. Josie Gibson GBR        3 – 8
10. Jessica Smyth NYZ     2 – 9
11. Ulrike Firk GER          2 - 9
12. Martina Karlemo FI    2 – 9