The first long day of the Championships saw Italy move into a clear lead. They are currently 9.50 Victory Points clear of Sweden and a further 5 ahead of the favourites, Norway.

Israel is fourth and Turkey fifth. It looks as if the field is beginning to divide itself into two halves with 13 points dividing the teams currently occupying twelfth and thirteenth places. Rumours are beginning to circulate that if the tremendous heat continues, the afternoon session will be held in the courtyard!

After three rounds there are joint leaders, the teams from Italy and Hungary. Remarkably they are both on maximum points, almost certainly a record. They are already 21 points clear of third placed Germany. From what we have seen so far, the standard of play is high.