With Austria heading the rankings and Germany occupying the last qualifying place, both sides wanted to consolidate their position in the penultimate round of the event.

First blood went to Germany.

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All ª 7 6 © K 10 9 ¨ A 8 6 2 § A 9 6 2 ª K 10 ª Q 9 5 3 © A Q J 6 3 © 5 4 ¨ J 9 7 4 ¨ K Q 10 3 § 7 5 § Q J 4 ª A J 8 4 2 © 8 7 2 ¨ 5 § K 10 8 3

Andreas Feichtinger led the ª7 against Daniela von Arnim's 2© contract and when Terry Weigkricht played low after some thought von Arnim won with the ten. The ©A was followed by the ©J and when North ducked, the contract could no longer be defeated. A third heart cleared the trumps and von Arnim made her contract for the loss of two clubs and one trick in each of the other three suits. +110 to Germany.

Sylvia Terraneo's double of 2© encouraged Maria Erhart to double 2ª, but Andrea Rauscheid was able to come to eight tricks by ruffing three diamonds in her hand. +470 and 11 IMPs to Germany.

Board 2. Dealer East. NS Game ª J 9 8 5 © 6 3 2 ¨ 9 3 § A Q 9 8 ª K 3 ª A Q 6 4 © 7 5 © K J 9 8 4 ¨ A Q J 5 4 2 ¨ 8 6 § 10 7 5 § J 2 ª 10 7 2 © A Q 10 ¨ K 10 7 § K 6 4 3

Both Wests played in 3¨. In the Closed Room the lead was a spade, so Terraneo was able to discard a heart on the third spade and exit with a club. The defence could only prevent the club ruff in dummy by sacrificing their trump trick so Terraneo made her contract. In the Open Room, Feichtinger led a heart and now the defence should prevail. Two heart tricks, two club tricks and then a third club to punch the dummy ensures South makes the setting trick with the ¨K. However, Weigkricht switched to a spade after winning the ©Q and von Arnim was able to duplicate the Closed Room play and come to nine tricks for a flat board.

Both Souths played in 1NT doubled on board 5, but Germany went four down whereas Austria were down only two. +600 and 12 IMPs to Austria.

Board 7. Dealer South. Game All ª A K 8 7 © K 6 2 ¨ A K 8 5 2 § Q ª Q 10 6 ª J © 8 4 3 © A 9 7 ¨ 9 7 6 3 ¨ 10 4 § A 6 5 § K J 10 8 7 3 2 ª 9 5 4 3 2 © Q J 10 5 ¨ Q J § 9 4

Germany bid and made 4ª in the Closed Room, but Austria got too high in the Open Room.

It looks like Feichtinger was expecting a bit more from Weigkricht for her original double when she carried on over 4ª, but the bottom line was that 5ª had to go one down when trumps did not behave. 12 IMPs to Germany.

Board 9. Dealer North. EW Game ª Q 10 5 4 3 2 © A J 9 6 3 ¨ — § Q 9 ª K 9 8 6 ª A © 10 © Q 4 2 ¨ J 7 3 2 ¨ K Q 10 8 6 4 § A 10 8 7 § K J 3 ª J 7 © K 8 7 5 ¨ A 9 5 § 6 5 4 2

Erhart's jump to 3NT was not a success as the defence took their five heart tricks and the ¨A for two down and +200 to Germany.

In the Open Room, the opponents' bidding helped Germany to avoid 3NT and reach 5¨ instead. A trump lead would have proved troublesome, but Weigkricht led the ªJ and Auken was able to ruff two hearts in dummy and discard her third club on the ªK . +600 gave Germany 13 IMPs and increased their lead to 26 IMPs.

Germany gained 5 more IMPs on the last three boards of the half to produce a halftime score of Germany 46 Austria 15.

Unfortunately for Austria boards 13-24 provided little scope for them to overturn their deficit and they spurned their best chance when they misguessed the play in 6© on board 13 to drop a further 13 IMPs. So Germany ran out winners by 69-16 IMPs which translated to a 25-5 VPs win that ensured they finished in the top six and reduced Austria's lead at the top to 8 VPs.