If you were looking for drama, there was no better place to be than in one of the VuGraph theatres last night, as the first set of knock out matches drew to a close.

The match featuring Austria and Sweden was a sensational affair, as first Sweden and then Austria ran off unanswered runs of more than 40 IMPs. That left Austria in the box seat, but Sweden came again, and it appeared that they would be the ones who would be advancing to the last eight. However, there were appeals pending, and when the result of those became known at 02.15, it was Austria who lived to fight another day. If that was not enough excitement, the audience had to keep an eye on both results screens, as more than one match developed into a nail-biting affair.

In the Open series, Brazil were having to fight hard to stay ahead of Indonesia, and England, who had started the session with a substantial deficit, roared back into contention with two massive swings. They went on to record a tremendous comeback victory, whilst Brazil just managed to hold on. Poland edged out France, Norway eased past Russia, Iceland put out the hosts, and USA and Italy prevailed by comfortable margins against Argentina and Australia respectively.

In the Women's contest, attention focused on the matches between the Netherlands and Israel, and USA and Scotland. Both saw the lead change hands several times, but in the end it was the two fancied teams that prevailed. Elsewhere, there were major surprises as Austria crashed out to South Africa, and Chinese Taipei toppled France. Germany and Canada scored runaway victories, Norway were too strong for Poland, and China held off England.

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