The latter side, who won this event in 2010 and earned bronze in 2014 and 2016, looked ready to spring a big surprise after taking a 2-0 lead in the third innings and holding it until the sixth and penultimate innings, where the hosts flipped their fortunes by winning 4-0, and held on to secure a 4-2 result and maintain their 100 per cent record.

In the previous evening’s final round robin match between the two sides, Denmark were 4-1 going into the fifth innings, which the Czech team won 5-1 before hanging on for a 6-5 win.

By reaching the gold medal match, both teams qualified for the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Men’s Softball World Cup 2022.

The Championship game, which began at 17:00 CEST in Ledenice Softball park, was the first to be watched by a crowd.

Spectators were able to enter the venue, with tickets having been made available on the Czech Softball Association e-shop.

The bronze medal game in Ledenice was a tight affair, with Croatia beating France 6-4 to earn its first ever medal at this Championship.

At field two in Sezimovo Ústí, Slovakia, Netherlands, and Israel were competing in a round robin for the fifth spot.

The Dutch team, beaten by the Czech Republic in the final of the last edition of these Championships in 2018, came out top with a 19-0 win over Slovakia followed by a 6-2 win over Israel, who had earlier beaten Slovakia 11-0.

Sweden earned eighth spot in the first match of the day at Ledenice, as they beat Lithuania 10-3.