It felt like Denmark had opened the door to its first home gold medal at the 2026 European Women’s Championships.
The crowd in Odense had already watched sisters Karen Kærgaard Nielsen and Sofie Kærgaard Nielsen, together with Mika Guldbæk, finish first in qualifying and then survive a tenth-frame thriller in the semifinal against Sweden.
The momentum was there. The home crowd was loud. The chance was there.
But Germany did not let Denmark’s night become a home-gold celebration.
Saskia Malz, Laura Beuthner and Birgit Noreiks defeated Denmark 657-637 in the Trios final on Wednesday, turning a loud home-crowd opportunity into Germany’s first gold medal of the championship.
The final stayed close, but Germany kept enough control late in the match to finish 20 pins ahead. Denmark had already fought through one tight match to reach the final, but this time, the German trio had the stronger finish.
Germany entered the medal round as the No. 2 seed after six games of qualifying. The team also had a recent reminder of how quickly a strong position can disappear. On Monday, Germany’s doubles pair Maxine Bolek and Franziska Czech led qualifying, but lost in the semifinal to eventual champions Emma Palermaa and Sanna Oksanen and had to settle for bronze.
This time, Germany made sure the story ended differently.
In the semifinal, Malz, Beuthner and Noreiks faced Sweden’s Ottilia Gunnarsson, Victoria Johansson and Josefin Hermansson. Both teams had to work through a difficult match, but Germany found enough control to win 616-585 and move into the final.
The other semifinal gave the home crowd one of the loudest moments of the evening. Denmark faced Sweden’s Nora Johansson, Anna Andersson and Hanna Engberg, and Sweden held a small lead before the final frame. Denmark turned the match around in the 10th and won 633-628.
Sweden did not win either semifinal, but the Trios event still ended with a reason to celebrate. Both bronze medals went to Sweden, putting all six Swedish bowlers on the podium and filling the bronze spots with blue and yellow.
For Johansson, Andersson and Engberg, it was another medal together in team competition. The same trio also won bronze at the 2025 IBF World Championships in Hong Kong.
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The Trios event followed the first two medal events of the championship. Nora Johansson won singles gold for Sweden, while Emma Palermaa and Sanna Oksanen won doubles gold for Finland.
The European Women’s Championships now continue with the Team event. The first three games will be played Thursday, with the remaining games and medal matches scheduled for Friday.
After the Team event, the All-Events winner will also be decided. The top 24 players will then move on to Saturday’s Masters, where the final medal of the championship will be awarded.
