The 18-year-old beat her good friend, travelling companion and the number one seed, Benedicte Brent-Petersen, in an all-Danish tussle that went the full distance.
It was a gallant effort from Andersen, who was struck down with an illness on the eve of the second day of knock-out matches but bounced back to win both her ties.
“I felt I wouldn’t make it through to today,” admitted Andersen, who won the Danish Girls’ Championship last season. “I was sick during the night. Perhaps I had too much sun, I don’t know? I was better in the morning but even when I started my warm-up I wasn’t great. I got some electrolytes in my water and that seemed to help me. I’m proud of myself for getting through.”
Dogged determination
Her showdown with Brent-Petersen was a friendly but eagerly-fought affair and Andersen was rewarded for her dogged determination as the pendulum swung on the closing stretch.
Two down at the turn, Andersen kept plugging away and when she holed a ten-footer for birdie on the 16th, the match was all-square.
Andersen inched ahead on the 17th – the first time she’d been in front since the 5th – with an up-and-down from the bunker and sealed the deal on the last as Brent-Petersen found trouble with her drive and had to chip out sideways.
Andersen is staying with Brent-Petersen and her mum this week. She may have to find alternative accommodation after scuppering her friend’s title ambitions.
Support network
“They are a great support and it’s hard to beat a good friend,” said Andersen. “I played Benedicte in a tournament last month in Demark and she beat me 4&3. This was a little bit of revenge.”
Andersen will now face Spain’s Nagore Martinez, who beat her compatriot Adriana Garcia Terol by a 4&3 margin. Charlotte Naughton came through a tense tie with her England team-mate, Annabel Peaford, and won on the 20th hole.
Naughton, who won the German Girls’ International Amateur Championship earlier this season, will face a stern test against France’s Melliyal Schmitt, a two-hole winner over England’s Ellie Lichtenhein. The remaining quarter-final match will see Lily Reitter of France square up to Sweden’s Olivia Holmberg.
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