England are one victory away from qualifying for the European Team Championships after beating Norway 3-1 in Sarajevo today.

In their opening match of the second group phase at the European Team Qualification Event, England fell behind when Martine Toftaker – Norway’s top player at world No 360 – recovered from losing the first game to Tianer Yu to win in four.

However, Tin-Tin Ho won in three straight against Christine Kalvatn to level up and Jasmin Wong then bounced back from losing the first to defeat Filippa Skjold-Hinze in four.

Toftaker managed to win a tight opener 14-12 against Ho in Match 4, but thereafter there were no alarms for the England No 1 as she conceded only 11 points across the next three games to secure England’s 3-1 victory.

They face Slovenia, who beat Norway 3-2 earlier today, on Saturday morning (8.30am UK time on Table 1) knowing a win will see them through to the final tournament in Croatia in October.

If they are defeated, they will finish second in the group and will face another runner-up from the second group stage in a winner-take-all match.

Results

England 3 Norway 1
Martine Toftaker bt Tianer Yu 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6)
Tin-Tin Ho bt Christine Kalvatn 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-4)
Jasmin Wong bt Filippa Skjold-Hinze 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7)
Ho bt Toftaker 3-1 (12-14, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4)