Germany books mixed team final at home European Championships

Germany is guaranteed at least one appearance in a final at this week’s home European Championships after Katharina Bauer and Florian Unruh delivered a comeback for the ages during mixed team matchplay this afternoon in Essen.

Down 4-2 against Ukraine in the quarters, the German duo shot a perfect fourth set (40 points) – and then a perfect tiebreak (20) to survive in the competition.

“I am very happy. We absolutely deserve this. We shot very well in Shanghai but didn’t reward ourselves. We did our thing here,” said Bauer, already looking towards Sunday’s finals. “It’s nice that you can tell the fans: Germany is there.”

The pair beat the defending champion Netherlands in a cleaner, three-set semifinal.

“We both shot really well,” said Unruh, who paired with Michelle Kroppen at the Europeans two years ago and ended up runner-up. “I want to shoot better in the final than I did two years ago when we lost.”

Germany will face a surprise opponent for the continental title – ninth seed Great Britain.

Bryony Pitman and Conor Hall upset the top qualifiers from France and then beat Türkiye in a semifinal tiebreak to make the final. That was their third shoot-off in the four matches in the bracket.

“The atmosphere is going to be great because we’re facing a German team,” said Pitman.

Competition at the European Championships continues with individual and team eliminations on Friday. Watch finals this weekend with a subscription to archery+. Recurve Sunday is also streaming free on ZDF within Germany.