England
Clinches European Championship Double by Howard Harding
5-1-11England
positively reclaimed its status as the top squash nation in Europe by
winning both the men's and women's European Team Championships titles
in style at the Esport Center in Espoo, Finland.
For the 11th time in
the last 12
years, England faced fierce rivals France in the men's final of the
European Squash Federation event which is in its 39th year.
European championship
newcomer
Jonathan Kemp started with a comfortable 11-7, 11-1, 11-3 victory over
Julien Balbo, and world number one Nick Matthew did what was expected
from him - beating Gregory Gaultier 11-6, 12-10, 11-5, despite having
to struggle in the second game against the French number one's
aggressive game, deadly dropshots and some arguing over lets and
strokes.
"It's good to have some
drama on the
court, it makes it more exciting," a smiling Matthew commented after
the game. "I'm glad I won the last match of the season."
It took just one
further game to
settle the title for England - Peter Barker beating Mathieu Castagnet
11-5 to leave the tie beyond France's reach.
Though England's
victory is hardly
surprising, it is still highly valued by the players. "People think
that we just need to show up and win," continued Matthew after
England's 19th men's win in a row, and the 36th of all-time. "It's not
that easy. These are top players we're playing against.
"We're very proud of
England's
record and tradition. When the women lost in last year's semi-finals,
we all felt the pain," explained the 30-year-old from Sheffield.
But it was the women's
final that
was the biggest celebration of the day for England: The men's team,
having already secured their championship, sat tightly in the audience
cheering for the ladies.
After losing in last
year's
semi-finals following 32 successive title successes, England's women
made no mistakes this time. The third seeds faced title-holders
Netherlands, led by former world number one and world champion Vanessa
Atkinson and ex-world number two Natalie Grinham.
In the opening match,
England's
Sarah Kippax took a two-game lead - only to see the experienced Grinham
fight back to draw level. But the 27-year-old world No18 from Halifax
gave one of the performances of her life to regain control of the match
to score a notable 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 5-11, 11-8 victory.
World number two Jenny
Duncalf then
clinched England's victory by taking a comfortable 3/0 win over the
experienced Vanessa Atkinson, who made her ETC debut in 1993 and has
played every year since then.
"Last year's
disappointment motivated us and this was a great reward for the whole
team," said England coach David Campion.
The men's bronze medal
went to
Italy, who beat Netherlands 3/1 to claim their first ETC medal and
their highest ever finish after appearing in the championships in every
year but one since 1978.
The women's bronze
medal went to
Ireland after two hard-fought matches against France. Aisling Blake
beat Isabelle Stoehr 3/1 before 12 times Irish champion Madeline Perry
bravely fought back from 2/0 down to beat French No1 Camille Serme
2-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9.
Hosts Finland
celebrated two
victories in the tournament. The men's team secured its place back in
the elite Division 1 after finishing in pole position in Division 2
following a dramatic 146/136 points win over neighbours Denmark after a
2/2 finish in matches!
But the ESF board also
announced that Finland will host the 2012 European individual
Championships.
"For Finnish squash, it
is extremely
important that we constantly have big tournaments and world-class
players here," said Leo Hatjasalo, president of Finnish Squash
Federation.
"Finland, as other
squash nations,
is committed to the goal of making squash an Olympic sport. Having top
tournaments and top players in Finland helps us convince the Finnish
sports community that this is a world-class sport and deserves to be
part of the Olympic family."
RESULTS: European Team
Championship, Espoo, Finland
Division 1 Men's Final: [1] ENGLAND bt [2]
FRANCE 3/0 Jonathan Kemp bt Julien
Balbo 11-7, 11-1, 11-3 Nick Matthew bt Gregory
Gaultier 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 Peter Barker bt Mathieu
Castagnet 11-5 ret.
3rd place play-off: [5] ITALY bt [3]
NETHERLANDS 3/1 Stephane Galifi lost to
Laurens Jan Anjema 5-11, 4-11, 9-11 Marcus Berrett bt
Piedro Schweertman 11-4, 9-11, 11-1, 11-2 Amr Swelim bt Sebastian
Weenink 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 Davide Bianchetti bt
Dylan Bennett 11-5, 11-5, 11-5
5th-8th place play-offs: [6] GERMANY bt [4]
WALES 3/1 Simon Rosner bt Peter
Creed 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 Rudi Rohrmuller bt Alex
Gough 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 Raphael Kandra bt Nic
Birt 12-10, 11-5, 11-1 Jens Schoor lost to
David Evans 8-11, 6-11, 3-11
[7] SCOTLAND bt [8]
CZECH REPUBLIC 4/0 Alan Clyne bt Petr
Martin 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 Lyall Paterson bt Roman
Svec 12-10, 11-3, 11-3 Chris Small bt Jaroslav
Cech 11-5, 11-9, 11-1 Jamie MacAulay bt Pavel
Sladecek 11-8, 11-9, 12-10
3rd place play-off: [4] IRELAND bt [2]
FRANCE 2/0 Aisling Blake bt
Isabelle Stoehr 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8 Madeline Perry bt
Camille Serme 2-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9
5th-8th place play-offs: [7] SCOTLAND bt [5]
GERMANY 2/1 Frania Gillen-Buchert
bt Pamela Hathway 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 13-11 Senga Macfie lost to
Sina Wall 10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11 Lisa Aitken bt
Franziska Hennes 11-5, 11-5, 11-6
[6] ITALY bt [8] SPAIN
2/1 Katiuscia Grossi bt
Stela Carbonell 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 Manuela Manetta bt
Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 Monica Menegozzi lost
to Laura Alonso Perez 5-11, 2-11, 5-11
Final positions: 5
Scotland, 6 Germany, 7 Italy, 8 Spain
Division 2
Men's Final: [2] FINLAND bt [6]
DENMARK 2/2 (Finland win 146-136 on points countback) Olli Tuominen bt
Kristian Frost Olesen 10-12, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6 Matias Tuomi lost to
Morten W Sorensen 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 3-11 Hameed Ahmed lost to
Michael Frilund 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, 5-11 Henrik Mustonen bt
Rasmus Nielsen 6-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-4
3rd place play-off: [1] SPAIN bt [4] SWEDEN
3/1 Borja Golan bt Rasmus
Hult 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 Hugo Varela lost to
Romain Tenant 0-11, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11 Ivan Flores bt
Sebastian Victor 11-2, 12-10, 11-9 David Vidal bt
Christian Drakenberg 11-3, 11-6, 13-11
5th-8th place play-offs: [3] IRELAND bt [5]
SWITZERLAND 3/1 Arthur Gaskin lost to
Nicolas Mueller 4-11, 2-11, 3-11 Steve Richardson bt
Patrick Miescher 13-11, 11-9, 11-7 Conor O'Hare bt Jonas
Daehler 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6 Derek Ryan bt Reiko
Peter 3-11, 11-0, 12-10, 11-6
[8] HUNGARY bt [7]
BELGIUM 2/2 (Hungary win 8-7 on games countback) Mark Krajcsak lost to
Stefan Casteleyn 4-11, 2-11, 9-11 Andras Torok bt Jan van
den Herrewegen 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 Sandor Fulop bt Mark
Burke 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 Peter Hoffman lost to
Dave de Beule 13-11, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11
Final positions: 5
Ireland, 6 Switzerland, 7 Hungary, 8 Belgium
9th - 11th place
play-offs: [9] SLOVAKIA bt [10]
UKRAINE 4/0 Tomas Toth bt Ruslan
Sorochinskiy 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 Peter Kviecinsky bt
Valeriy Fedoruk 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 Miroslav Celler bt
Dmytro Scherbakov 4-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-8 Marek Manik bt
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko 10-12, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4
Final Positions: 9
Slovakia, 10 Austria, 11 Ukraine
Women's final
qualifying rounds: [3] AUSTRIA bt [4]
BELGIUM 2/1 Sandra Polak lost to
Yara Delagrange 9-11, 6-11, 5-11 Birgit Coufal bt Kim
Hannes 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 Sabrina Rehman bt
Liesbeth Dries 5-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt
[5] FINLAND 2/1 Veronika Koukalova bt
Elina Kononen 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10 Lucie Fialova bt Saara
Valtola 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 Klara Janoskova lost to
Jutta Tuunanen 1-11, 6-11, 8-11
[1] SWITZERLAND bt [2]
WALES 2/1 Sara Guebey lost to
Tesni Evans 10-12, 10-12, 9-11 Gaby Schmohl bt Deon
Saffery 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 Agapi Kazamia bt Fiona
Murphy 11-8, 11-6, 11-7