Dominant Nordic ladies

Come out on top after round robin of Swedish Match Cup's women's division in Marstrand

With five out of seven possible wins Marstrand’s own Malin Källström won the round robin in the Swedish Match Cup, but behind her, competition was hard. Three crews had four wins and three losses, so it was a question of reciprocal matches to sift out American champion Betsy Alison.

The all Nordic semifinals will take place on Wednesday afternoon between Malin Källström of GKSS, title defender Marie Björling also from GKSS, Danish rookie Anette Ström and World Champion Malin Milbourn from KSSS. As winner of the round robin Malin Källström has the privilege of choosing her semifinal opponent:

"We have already decided, but are going to keep the others guessing until tomorrow," says Malin, but admits after some pressure that they wont choose Marie Björling from the same yacht club. "Marie is much too stable and has too much experience of these boats. We’d rather meet her in the finals..."

"I’d love finals against Malin so that we can get our revenge for the Swedish Championship earlier this spring," Marie Björling counters.

Malin has been away from the match racing arena for a while taking time off for her baby, but has made a fantastic come back this spring. The victory in the Swedish Championship is now followed by a grand beginning in the Swedish Match Cup and her goals are set high.

The prestigious match on Tuesday against Marie Björling, on top of the world ranking for almost two years, went Malin’s way. After a come back on the last downwind leg, it is true, but still: "Yes, we succeeded in passing Marie just before the finishing line, but never mind. It’s the line and the result that counts," Malin says.

"We had the upper hand in that match but temporarily lost the tactical advantage at the end. I’m not worried about meeting Malin again," counters Marie Björling, who is not going to be content with the semifinals. "Now we have our sights on repeating last year’s performance and win. The semifinals are sailed in best of three matches and reliability and routine will pay off. I think that’ll be to our advantage."

Surprisingly Anette Ström finished third in the round robin, with the same number of wins as Millbourn and Alison, so the reciprocal matches were decisive. Ström, who earlier crewed for her fellow countrywoman Dorte Jensen with three wins in Marstrand, has now shown that she is a good helmswoman herself. Betsy Alison did not reach the semi-finals having lost against the other three.

Results in the women’s class in the Swedish Match Cup after the round robin. The first four go on to the semifinals:
Malin Källström, GKSS SWE 5-2
Marie Björling, GKSS SWE 5-2
Anette Ström, DEN 4-3
Malin Millbourn 4-3

Betsy Alison USA 4-3
Paula Lewin BER 3-4
Lotte Meldgaard-Pedersen DEN 2-5
Claire Leroy FRA 1-6