Game day 6 of the European “B” Championships in Manchester, ended without any surprises although history was written by Macedonia.

The two tailenders Belgium and Ireland remained winless and will face each other for the 11th place today.

Macedonia and Belarus advanced to tomorrow’s semi-finals easier than expected.

After defeats against Montenegro, Belarus, Turkey and Macedonia Malta yesterday managed to beat Ireland 13-6.

The Maltese were dominant in the first three sessions, winning them 4-1, 3-1 and 2-0.

Ireland managed to keep the pace with the Maltese team in the fourth and final session which ended in a 4-4 draw.

In other matches yesterday Israel beat Belgium 10-9 (1-2, 2-2, 4-0, 3-5), Macedonia beat Ukraine 15-8 (5-2, 3-2, 4-1, 3-3) and Belarus beat Great Britain 10-5 (4-2, 3-1, 2-1, 1-1).

In today’s semi-final games Montenegro will play Belarus, while France face the strong newcomers Macedonia.

Great Britain will play Ukraine for fifth place tomorrow.

Israel, Malta, Turkey and Poland are still competing for the seventh place which could already mean the qualification for the 2009 “B” Championships in Lugano, Switzerland.

Malta plays against Poland today while Israel face Turkey.

As Montenegro are expected to make it for the “A” Championships in any case, teams from the bottom half could advance.