European Teams 2006

Men's final:

[1] ENGLAND 2 [2] FRANCE 2 (England win 9-6 on games countback)

James Willstrop lost to Thierry Lincou 5-9, 9-2, 4-9, 6-9 (50m)

Peter Nicol lost to Gregory Gaultier 9-6, 4-9, 9-6, 1-9, 3-9 (83m)

Lee Beachill bt Renan Lavigne 9-2, 9-4, 9-4 (84m)

Peter Barker bt Laurent Elriani 9-3, 9-3, 9-0 (43m)

Women's final:

[1] ENGLAND bt [2] NETHERLANDS 3-0

Vicky Botwright bt Vanessa Atkinson 8-10, 9-4, 9-3 ret. (29m)

Tania Bailey bt Annelize Naude 9-0, 9-4, 9-4 (29m)

Jenny Duncalf bt Orla Noom 9-2, 7-9, 9-5 (39m)

Men's 3rd place play-off:

[4] WALES bt [3] NETHERLANDS 2-1

Alex Gough bt Laurens Jan Anjema 9-8, 9-1, 9-3 (80m)

Gavin Jones lost to Tommy Berden 7-9, 2-9, 9-5, 3-9 (99m)

David Evans bt Dylan Bennett 9-1, 9-7, 9-0 (43m)

Ricky Davies drew with Lucas Buit 7-9, 9-3

5th place play-off:

[10] IRELAND bt [7] GERMANY 3-0

Liam Kenny bt Simon Rosner 9-3, 3-9, 8-10, 9-5, 9-2 (85m)

Derek Ryan bt Simon Baker 9-6, 9-1, 9-3 (51m)

John Rooney v Stefan Leifels (dead rubber - match not played)

Angus Kirkland bt Jens Schoor 9-7, 9-3, 3-9, 4-9, 9-0 (69m)

7th place play-off:

[8] SPAIN 2 [5] SCOTLAND 2 (Spain win 8-7 on games countback)

Borja Golan bt John White 9-6, 9-4, 9-1 (35m)

Alejandro Garbi Caro lost to Stuart Crawford 10-9, 3-9, 2-9, 9-6, 5-9 (99m)

David Vidal lost to Harry Leitch 1-9, 1-9, 7-9 (50m)

Albert Codina bt Graham Melvin 9-0, 9-10, 9-4, 9-5 (52m)

9th place play-off:

[6] SWEDEN bt [11] DENMARK 3-1

Badr Abdel Aziz bt Morten W Sorensen 9-1, 9-0, 8-10, 9-5 (62m)

Christian Drakenberg bt Michael Frilund 9-2, 9-6, 6-9, 9-1 (60m)

Rasmus Hult lost to Rasmus Nielsen 10-8, 9-5, 4-9, 4-9, 4-9 (53m)

Sebastian Victor bt Rene Jepsen 9-6, 9-0, 3-9, 9-3

11th place play-off:

[12] SWITZERLAND bt [9] FINLAND 3-1

Andre Holderegger lost to Olli Tuominen 1-9, 0-9, 0-9 (26m)

Marco Datwyler bt Matias Tuomi 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 (25m)

Marcel Straub bt Juha Raumolin 9-0, 9-5, 9-1 (28m)

Nicolas Mueller bt Tatu Murronmaa 9-2, 9-6, 9-5 (36m)

13th place play-off:

[15] BELGIUM 2 [13] HUNGARY 2 (Belgium win 8-7 on games countback)

Steve Dries lost to Mark Krajcsak 3-9, 0-9, 9-6, 3-9

Wim van Asten lost to Andras Torok 3-9, 10-8, 7-9, 4-9

Rik Smet bt Sandor Fulop 9-3, 9-6, 6-9, 9-7

Gregory Lecerf bt Balazs Welesz 9-1, 9-3, 9-4

15th place play-off:

[17] AUSTRIA bt [14] CZECH REPUBLIC 3-1

Gerhard Schedlbauer lost to Jan Koukal 9-2, 2-9, 6-9, 0-9 (38m)

Aqeel Rehman bt Martin Stepan 9-3, 9-0, 2-9, 9-0 (32m)

Wolfgang Rothbacher bt Pavel Sladecek 9-2, 3-9, 4-9, 10-8, 9-2 (71m)

Jakob Dirnberger bt Jaroslav Cech 1-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-2 (38m)

17th place play-off:

[16] ISRAEL bt [18] ITALY 3-1

Ron Levy lost to Simone Rocca 7-9, 9-7, 9-3, 8-10, 5-9 (94m)

Nadav Wilensky bt Andrea Torricini 9-7, 9-4, 3-9, 10-9 (67m)

Tomer Noach bt Matteo Vaccari 9-6, 1-9, 9-3, 9-7 (63m)

Nir Arkin bt Domenico Cerabona 9-3, 9-4, 10-8 (54m)

19th place play-off:

[21] SLOVAKIA bt [19] UKRAINE 3-1

Roman Celler bt Roman Dolynych 9-7, 7-9, 9-6, 9-2 (55m)

Andrej Schmidtmayer bt Dmytro Shcherbakov 9-0, 9-2, 9-6 (27m)

Marek Manik bt Oleksandr Molodukha 3-9, 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (45m)

Martin Kostolansky lost to Artem Shandybin 9-1, 5-9, 3-9, 3-9 (52m)

21st place play-off:

[22] TURKEY bt [24] GIBRALTAR 3-1

Zulfi Kan bt Anthony Brindle 9-4, 9-2, 9-4

Hursit Kara bt Stephen Shacaluga 9-2, 9-7

Selahattin Kara bt Christian Navas 10-8, 9-6, 9-0

Gunal Gunsav lost to Nicholas de Haro 5-9, 1-9, 4-9

23rd place play-off:

[20] RUSSIA bt [23] ISLE OF MAN 4-0

Alexei Severinov bt David Norman 9-6, 8-10, 9-7, 9-0

Roman Fetisov bt Kevin Watterson 9-6, 7-9, 9-8, 9-8

Pavel Sergeev bt Richard Corlett 4-9, 9-4, 10-8, 9-0

Andrey Bratter bt Robert Smith 9-7, 8-9, 9-7

Women's 3rd place play-off:

[6] GERMANY bt [5] FRANCE 2-1

Daniela Schumann lost to Isabelle Stoehr 2-9, 3-9, 2-9

Karin Beriere bt Camille Serme 9-6, 9-7, 7-9, 3-9, 9-2 (59m)

Kathrin Rohrmueller bt Celia Allamargot 9-2, 9-2, 9-4

5th place play-off:

[7] DENMARK bt [12] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1

Line Hansen bt Jana Smeralova 9-7, 9-5, 9-0

Ellen Petersen bt Zuzana Vackova 9-3, 9-1, 9-3

Marie-Louise Krag lost to Lucie Fialova 6-9, 9-0, 6-9

7th place play-off:

[10] SWITZERLAND bt [8] SPAIN 2-1

Agnes Muller bt Chantal Moros-Pitarch 9-3, 9-1, 9-0

Gaby Schmohl lost to Elisabet Sado 3-9, 5-9, 6-9

Olivia Hauser bt Alicia Alvarez 9-2, 9-0, 9-3

9th place play-off:

[16] WALES bt [3] IRELAND 2-1

Tegwen Malik bt Aisling Blake 1-9, 9-1, 9-0, 9-3

Jenny Wright bt Eleanor Lapthorne 9-10, 5-9, 9-5, 9-7, 9-2 (64m)

Gemma Davies lost to Tanya Owens 2-9, 9-2, 5-9

11th place play-off:

[14] ITALY bt [4] SCOTLAND 2-0

Manuela Manetta bt Frania Gillen-Buchert 5-9, 0-9, 9-3, 9-0, 9-3

Sonia Pasteris bt Louise Philip 9-3, 9-3, 9-0

Chiara Ferrari v Lisa McKenna (dead rubber - match not played)

13th place play-off:

[9] BELGIUM bt [11] AUSTRIA 2-1

Charlie de Rycke bt Pamela Pancis 9-4, 9-6, 9-1 (22m)

Annabel Romedenne bt Birgit Coufal 3-9, 9-5, 10-8, 9-4 (46m)

Julie de Bellefroid lost to Bettina Greslehner 4-9, 9-2, 6-9 (17m)

15th place play-off:

[13] FINLAND bt [15] NORWAY 2-0

Lotta Vuorela bt Lotte Eriksen 6-9, 9-6, 6-9, 9-6, 9-2

Eevamaria Vuolo bt Nina Martinsen 9-0, 9-2, 9-3

Elina Kononen v Maren Myhre (dead rubber - match not played)

17th place: [17] SLOVAKIA

Men's semi-finals:

[1] ENGLAND bt [3] NETHERLANDS 4-0

Peter Nicol bt Laurens Jan Anjema 6-9, 9-6, 9-2, 9-2 (65m)

Nick Matthew bt Tommy Berden 9-5, 8-10, 9-3 (40m)

Reports

Ian McKenzie reports from Vienna
French threaten England's title
England men won the European Team Championships in Vienna coming back from 2-1 down in the final to beat the second seeded French. An England win was predictable but the quality of the French challenge was a surprise. There was no margin for error when Lee Beachill, playing at third string, went on against Renan Lavigne and had to come out with a win in the last match on. The game score was 6-6. Victory for the French would have been a tumultuous achievement and they would have had the enthusiastic support of their continental neighbours against the long dominant English. Defeat for the English would have been a humiliation.

Peter Barker, the team no.5, came in at fourth string as Nick Matthew was stood down with an aggravated gluteus muscle injury. Barker did the job asked of him superbly dispatching Laurent Elriani for half a dozen points and putting 3 games on the board for England. From then on it was always going to be hard for the French.

"Peter is maturing into a good professional player. It's a coming of age for him. It was a very professional performance," said England Squash Performance Director Peter Hirst.

England wins at 3 and 4 were really a foregone conclusion but at 1 and 2 there was a challenge on. The ESF (European Squash Federation) in their wisdom had changed the playing order of the finals putting the no.1 on second so they would not play a dead rubber if on last. James Willstrop at no.1 for England didn't get the start he wanted against Thierry Lincou going down 9-5 but the Frenchman ventured short too incessantly in the second to be punished by Willstrop shots. The third was pivotal with Lincou finding his length and clinging to it as if his life depended on it. Willstrop was now dragged out of the middle and he had work to do, hard work and he had mistakes to make. Willstrop performed spectacular recoveries but you could feel the pain and when he was pinned back Lincou came in with a whole variety of volleys that meant more pain. Lincou took the third 9-4 and playing with aggression and passion played superbly to torture Willstrop all around the court. He held the ball, played deceptively and with fine variation he had Willstrop spinning like a top at times but the Englishman hung on, by his finger nails at times, got back to 4-all in the fourth and although his retrieving was brilliant Lincou gave him no relief or the time to conjure a fuller recovery.

"Against James you can't afford to step back. You must be aggressive and make him move. The key is to get tight length and take each opportunity to attack. If you play too slow he will kill you. I tried to keep the pressure on so he can't completely return to the T and have time on the ball," said Lincou.

"I enjoyed the game. It was a great performance, a great game."

Lincou won 9-5, 2-9, 9-4, 9-6 and they finished to a standing ovation, well deserved.

Nicol could put the English back on course but young Gaultier is becoming a handful. He beat Nicol in the TOC in February but lost to him in Bermuda. This was a great battle. Gaultier was to say latter that he was not happy with his hitting until half way through the match but there was not much evidence of that to the observer. In the end it must be said that he outplayed Nicol. His tactics must have been a nightmare for Nicol. He played him exactly how opponents should play him varied the pace so as not to get drawn into challenging Nicol at a race, attacked in fast bursts reverting to the slow game whenever he needed and hit high and wide to get past Nicol's snapping volley that invariably frustrated opponent's trying to play the left-hander on his backhand. At the end Nicol was tired but he kept going kept looking for a way back but Gaultier was impressive in holding his game together to see off the Commonwealth Gold medalist 6-9, 9-4, 6-9, 9-1, 9-3.

"I tried to keep my head. You can get frustrated because he gets so many balls back. It was painful but I did it, said Gautier with some satisfaction afterwards.

"At the TOC I won, but lost in Bermuda and I wanted to play him one more time before he retires."

The French had a 2-1 lead in matches and with 6 games apiece it was all on Beachill. Renan Lavigne ran his heart out but Beachill was superb in controlling the game and gave his opponent little chance although he tried as hard as he could. Beachill won 9-2, 9-4, 9-4 to secure the title for England. Lincou and Gaultier were superb, Gaultier giving a glimpse of what he is capable of but the honours went to England.

Ian McKenzie reports from Vienna
Atkinson forced to retire injured
Dutch hopes of knocking England women off the top spot in Europe took a tumble in the opening match of the final at the European Team Championships in Vienna when world no.1 Vanessa Atkinson crashed on court and had to retire. It was in the first rally of the fourth game that Atkinson
chased a forehand drop from England no.1 Vicky Botwright into the front right court, slipped and caught her foot in the nick. With her foot jammed Atkinson fell, her body weight twisting her ankle. There was a stunned silence for 10 seconds and then as the pain hit her Atkinson sobbed
with sharp intact of breath.

"It's gone, I think I've broken it," said Atkinson.

That was her initial reaction as assistance rushed to her side. Eventually she was assisted to hop off court and received physiotherapy for a badly sprained ankle. The referee announced that the Netherlands had conceded the match.

It was a pity. There was a real match on. Botwright had never played better. She was 7-1 up in the first but faltered into error and lost it but in the second and third she was superb. She speed to the ball, frequently catching Atkinson out with her early striking and did not give up
on anything. In contrast Atkinson was caught flatfooted by Botwright's long drops varied with occasional change of direction and disguise. Sudden volley drops from the English girl kept catching her opponent out.

Atkinson, lost concentration after a bad decision early in the second and her behaviour was petulant and distracted. She fluctuated between trying to get back into the rallies and venturing short in an attempt to catch up as her opponent accumulated points. In the rallies Botwright
showed considerable enterprise in picking the opportunities to attack and when her opponent went short she was quick to counter short or smash the ball away.

It was up to the world no.1 to come up with something better than a bad case of head shaking in the fourth but then she crashed and dutch hopes went with it.

Ian McKenzie reports from Vienna
Elriani puts England in Final and bids farewell
Top seeds England moved a step closer to double European titles with convincing semi-finals wins in both the men's and women's events to back up their pool topping performances from earlier in the week.

In the men's semi-final the Netherlands team, who had pipped the Germans for second place in Pool B, were never going to have the players or the strength in depth to take out the World Team Champions. Dylan Bennet (3) first up put up little resistance against Lee Beachill. Laurens Jan Anjema however threatened an out of sorts Peter Nicol (2) with crisp hitting and pacy movement to snatch the first game and them go 4-2 up in the second but increasingly his shots left him out of position or found the tin and the match slipped away from him with Nicol never forced to play his best. His performance will leave a little question mark in the minds of England's coaches. He will be selected though. Peter Barker is the no.5 player and he is not ready for a final. Nicol should face Gregory Gaultier in the final, a player he lost to in the TOC in New York but whom he put away in Bermuda earlier this month.

Barker put down the spirited resistance of the fair-headed Tom Hoevenaars and Matthews did the same with the durable Lucas Buit to set up the clash with the French.

Wales did not put Alex Gough out against France bowing to the inevitable, in what has now become a familiar Welsh tactic, preferring to keep the powder of their big guns dry for the battle for third place ' a battle they could win.

The French men won 4/0 with Binns Jethro going down to Renan Lavigne 3/0 in 39 minutes; Gavin Jones scoring with a few tricky angles and some enterprise against Thierry Lincou for eight points in half-an-hour with Robert Sutherland and Julien Balbo squaring up for a massive 10-9, 6-9, 3-9, 9-1, 9-3 battle over 82 minutes which the Frenchman won. It all seemed out of context but that was because they would not be playing on the Saturday. Gaultier, won the best of three dead rubber against David Evans for two points.

So it is the French and English battling out the final again. England have overwhelming strength at 3 and 4 with Nick Matthew and Lee Beachill (against probably Lavigne and Laurent Elriani) and it will take not one but two disasters for the English to be threatened _ and that is so unlikely as to be squash fantasy. The French though will have their blood up and make it a drama. Lincou is in fair form and Gaultier improving all the time.

In the women's event England were impressive again their semi-final opponent's Germany. Linda Elriani, serving with precision established her length at the beginning of each rally which lengthened the court for her fine shots and conceded only six points in dispatching Kathrir Rohrueller; Vicky Botwright did the same to Daniela Schumann and Tania Bailey at second string just one point in the dead rubber against Katharina Witt.

Bailey strengthens the England line-up considerably. Last year against the Netherlands world no.1 Atkinson put out Linda Elriani as would be expected and Botwright had a real battle on her hands before seeing off Annelize Naude. Admittedly Botwright tactics fell into South African hands as she set up volley opportunity after volley opportunity before her hitting hard and running tactics saw her home to much relief in the England camp. There should be one such anxiety attack this time with Botwright, Bailey and Jenny Duncalf the England line-up. Elriani's semi-final contribution was evidently her last England outing, strange she was not called upon for a grand title finale in a battle she would surely have won.

France & Germany Reach Women's Semi-Finals In Austria

While the four top-seeded nations eased into men's semi-finals of the 34^th European Team Squash Championships in Austria, the final qualifying rounds at the Wellness Park Oberlaa in Vienna saw France and Germany claim unexpected place in the last four of the women's event.

France, the fifth seeds, battled to 3/0 wins over Scotland and Spain in Pool A to set up a semi-final clash with second seeds Netherlands, whose world number one Vanessa Atkinson-led squad took top place in Pool B without dropping a game.

Sixth seeds Germany clinched second place in Pool B after a 2/1 upset over third seeds Ireland, followed by a 2/1 win over seventh seeds Denmark in a closely-fought tie in which all three games lasted over 50 minutes.

Defending women's champions England, the top seeds making a bid to win the European title for a 29^th successive time, crushed Scotland in just 51 minutes of playing time – with their north-of-the-border rivals securing just four points in three matches! England take on Germany in the other semi-final.

In the men's event, title-holders England appear on course to meet second seeds France in the final for a record seventh consecutive time. Favourites England maintained their clean sheet throughout the qualifying rounds with 4/0 wins over Spain and Wales to finish at the top of Pool A, while France dropped one match en-route to winning Pool B, beating Germany 4/0 and Netherlands 3/1.

Men's semi-final line-up:

[1] ENGLAND v [3] NETHERLANDS; [2] FRANCE v [4] WALES

Women's semi-finals:

[1] ENGLAND v [6] GERMANY; [2] NETHERLANDS v [5] FRANCE

Top Seeds Overcome Early Obstacles InEuropean Championships In Austria
The top seeds safely came through their first tests on the opening day of qualifying action in the 34^th European Team Squash Championships at the Wellness Park Oberlaa in Vienna, Austria.

But the English and Welsh men's number ones were fully stretched in marathon encounters against lower-ranked opponents. James Willstrop, who led defending champions and top seeds England, was taken to five games by John White before beating the Scot 5-9, 9-4, 5-9, 10-8, 9-5 in 79 minutes as the favourites triumphed 4/0 over the fifth seeds in Pool A.

In the other tie in Pool A, Welshman Alex Gough had to battle for 95 minutes against Borja Golan before defeating the Spaniard 9-1, 0-9, 9-6, 9-0 in fourth seeds Wales' 3/1 victory over Spain, the eighth seeds.

Second seeds France, runners-up to England for the past six years, beat sixth seeds Sweden 4/0 with second string Renan Lavigne the only player to be taken to more than three games before winning 6-9, 9-2, 4-9, 9-1, 9-0 against Christian Drakenberg.

There was an early surprise in the women's event when third seeds Ireland went down 2/1 to Denmark, the seventh seeds, in Pool B. Laura Mylotte, the new number one in the absence of the injured world No6 Madeline Perry, was Ireland's only winner, beating the Danish top string Line Hansen 9-1, 9-4, 4-9, 9-6.

Also in Pool B, last year's runners-up Netherlands comfortably beat sixth seeds Germany 3/0 while favourites England, seeking their 29^th successive title in the event, coasted to a 3/0 win over fifth seeds France in Pool A.

England In Bid For European Double In Austria

England are seeded to retain both the men's and women's titles in the 34^th European Team Squash Championships which get underway in the Austrian capital Vienna today.

Debutants Turkey will join a total of 25 nations competing in the four-day event being staged in the Wellness Park Oberlaa, which was the venue for the Men’s World Team Championships in 2003 and the European Team Championships in 2000 and 1987.

England's men, holders of the European title since 1993 and now also reigning World Team Champions, take on old foes Scotland, the fifth seeds, in the opening tie in Pool A.

Fierce rivals France, the No2 seeds who clashed with England in the past six European finals, meet sixth seeds Sweden in their opening tie.

England and Netherlands are seeded to meet in the women's final for the fourth successive year. Favourites England, winners of the title every year since the inaugural women's event in 1978, face fifth seeds France in today's opening tie in Pool A, while second seeds Netherlands – led by world number one Vanessa Atkinson – meet Germany, the sixth seeds, in the Pool B opener.