Irish amateurs suffer heartbreak in Killarney
Having not featured in the final since 2014, the Irish had taken a 2-0 lead after the morning foursomes but their Danish counterparts bounced back in the singles.
Despite another brilliant point from John Doyle (Fota Island), Ireland came out on the wrong side of an agonising 4-3 scoreline, with Kristian Hjort Bressum draining the winning putt on the 20th hole of his match against Thomas Higgins (Roscommon).
'Brilliant all week, very proud of them, very proud of the performance. They gave it a real go today,' said Ireland Captain Damien Coyne.
'We got off to a great start and gave ourselves every opportunity. We just got done by some really, really good golf on behalf of the Danish guys, and especially in Thomas' match, to finish with four straight birdies. He had six really good putts in the last six holes of the match, which is very impressive.
'I'm sure it'll sting this one, for an hour or so, but once we've mentioned that we're playing England in the morning, the lads will have no difficulty in getting themselves up for that, and we'll be ready to go again, and it's just try our best to get something out of the week and get a medal would be really, really good.'
Stuart Grehan (County Louth) and Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) secured the first point of the morning foursomes with a 3&1 win over Mads Heller and Mads Viemose Larsen. Doyle's 35-foot putt on 18 wrapped up a 2-hole win for him and Matt McClean (Malone) over Hjort Bressum and Oscar Valdemar Holm Bredkjaer.
Doyle sealed another precious point in the afternoon singles but the Danes came roaring back, with Heller and Holm Bredkjaer winning their matches against Grehan and Gavin Tiernan (County Louth) respectively. Andreas Trym Dam Fogth defeated McClean and then Hjort Bressum got the better of Higgins when he rolled in his putt on the 20th hole.
'It was a really tough match. The Irish guys are a really good team and we are sorry to beat them on home soil. They were really strong in the morning, in the foursomes, they won the two first matches,' said Denmark Captain, Peter Jespersen.
'After the foursomes they (Denmark) were not too happy. They thought it would be a really tough afternoon but we had to remember we only played for two points in the morning out of seven, so we still had five points out in the afternoon.
'It was important we got some points in the beginning because of course we were underdogs after the morning so it was really important that we got two points fairly quick but still it was the last match on hole 20, that made the difference.' The win earns Denmark their place in the decider alongside Italy, who shocked England in the other semi-final in Flight A.
The morning foursomes were halved before Italy took control in the singles with Riccardo Fantinelli, Giovanni Binaghi, Biagio Andrea Gagliardi and Filippo Ponzano all winning their matches. That was enough for a big 5.5 to 1.5 win for the Italians.
Ireland will face now England for the bronze medal.
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Michael Conlan receives a count against Jordan Gill. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO World titles seemed an impossibility in the wake of that Gill loss and talk of them may still sound fanciful to many in boxing, but Conlan is adamant he has the tools. 'I'm convinced. I know how I fight, I know how I've been performing in the gym, and I know what I can do and what I can't do,' he says, before offering further rationale. 'My body, I don't feel like I'm getting old. I don't drink. If I drink, I probably drink once a year, maybe twice. I don't take drugs, I don't smoke. So, it's not like I've abused my body. I've always lived like a professional, my whole career. 'I've no doubt in my engine still and how I can go. I've always been a fit person, you know? I was able to run a marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes last year – and that was my year off. I don't take my feet off the gas. I go 100 miles an hour, whatever I'm getting into, and give it 100%. 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I did too much because I was winning rounds quite easy, but still trying to take a guy out who had enough grit to hold in. 'They're the things you look back on: 'If I would have done this, if I would have done that, things would end differently.' In that fight, it was more fatigue than anything that got me at the end, but that's experience and, y'know, it was my first world title fight and that's probably one that actually keeps me up at night at times. Well, I'll think about that one more than anything. 'But, yeah, listen, I've got the experience. You gotta go in there and use your experience to your advantage, and I think I'm at that stage now where I know what I have to do and know how to do it and if I can do this and that, this will work.' Conlan celebrates his 2022 victory over Miguel Marriaga. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO A self-confessed boxing anorak, Conlan has a route to a third title shot already plotted. Win his 10-rounder next month and he will pick up the WBC's 'International' trinket – a belt that is valuable only for the top-15 ranking it will likely provide. This would make Conlan eligible to be chosen as a voluntary defence by a world champion, while it is also a gateway to world-title eliminators from which he could position himself as a mandatory challenger. The current WBC champion in his weight class is former Carl Frampton sparring partner Stephen Fulton. The talented Philly fighter is a two-weight world champion but Conlan is confident and details why he has chosen the WBC route as his comeback trail. 'Stephen Fulton's the WBC champion and he's the one I like most out of all the featherweights. I think his style and my style would gel very well, and, y'know, he's the fighter I'd wanna fight out of all of them. 'And if I fight him, it will be in an away corner, but it could be in New York.' There is no margin for error anymore, though, and even if things go well, the route ahead is not guaranteed. But Conlan has already made his peace. 'I know that there's not a lot of years left on my clock – two, three max. Max. So whatever I want to do, I gotta do it fast, and I gotta do it soon – and if I don't do it, so be it. 'I've probably been unfortunate, with the fights that fell through and I've come up short in world title fights. Things out of my control have happened. 'For me, it would be a shame if I never won a world title in terms of my talent level, in terms of the effort I give. 'As I've said, the next time the opponent's hand gets put up, I'll say, 'That's me done'. No, that's it. 'Do I look back on my career and go, 'Well, you underachieved?' Yeah, I will, because I should have been a world champion. I was a minute and a half away from being a world champion. 'But, would I be able to sleep at night, knowing I've done it the correct way? I gave it all I could, didn't take no fucking steroids, didn't take any performance-enhancing drugs, like a lot of these people do. 'I'm happy, I've done well. I've earned out of boxing and, you know, I've been smart with money. I haven't been a silly person, spending money on silly things. 'I can look at myself and smile and say, 'You were smart with your money, you earned well, and you're out.''
