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Pioneer
Junior Open Squash Championships,
Cologne, Germany
James &
Whitlock Celebrate English Pioneer Double
Declan
James
and Emily Whitlock celebrated a rare English double in the U19 finals
of the Pioneer Junior Open Squash Championships, the long-established
European Squash Federation Super Series Junior Circuit event at the
ACR Sportcenter in Cologne, Germany.
James, the
18-year-old favourite, comfortably reached the men's final without dropping
a game - as did his opponent Tom de Mulder, the 18-year-old No2 seed
from Belgium.
But
Nottingham-born James, who beat the Belgian in the final of the German
Junior U19 Open in March in four games, went one better in Cologne by
despatching De Mulder 11-3, 11-8, 11-9.
The win
will be a confidence-booster for the Englishman on the eve of the WSF
World Junior Championship later this month in Belgium. James is a 5/8
seed - in the opposite half of the draw from 9/16 seed De Mulder.
With the
English, French and European Junior titles to her credit already this year,
Emily Whitlock came to Cologne as firm favourite for the women's
Pioneer trophy. And the 17-year-old from Colwyn Bay in Wales did not
disappoint - romping through to the final after the loss of just 32 points
in four rounds.
But her
opponent Maria Elena Ubina had battled through to the climax unseeded,
after stunning upsets over the sixth and seventh seeds - and England's No2
seed Brogan Lane in the quarter-finals.
European
champion Whitlock was too strong for Ubina in the final, however, beating
the New York-born 16-year-old 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.
Whitlock
too will be boosted by her win as she looks forward to making her debut in
the WSF Women's World Junior Championship later this month at
Harvard University in Boston, USA, where she is seeded to make
the last eight.
Men's
U19 quarter-finals:
[1] Declan James (ENG) bt [5/8] Tom Ford (ENG) 11-7, 13-11,
11-8
[4] Michael McCue (CAN) bt Daniel Hockborn (ENG) 11-7, 11-4,
8-11, 11-7
[3] Jerome Dadot (FRA) bt [5/8] Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL)
11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8
[2] Tom de Mulder (BEL) bt [5/8] Valentin Rapp (GER) 11-7,
11-8, 3-11, 11-9
Semi-finals:
[1] Declan James (ENG) bt [4] Michael McCue (CAN) 11-4, 11-3,
11-7
[2] Tom de Mulder (BEL) bt [3] Jerome Dadot (FRA) 11-5, 11-6,
11-9
Final:
[1] Declan James (ENG) bt [2] Tom de Mulder (BEL) 11-3, 11-8,
11-9
Third place play-off:
[3] Jerome Dadot (FRA) bt [4] Michael McCue (CAN) 14-16, 11-4,
11-4, 11-6
Women's
U19 quarter-finals:
[1] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [8] Enora Villard (FRA) 11-1,
11-5, 11-2
[5] Hannah Williams (ENG) bt [4] Tereza Svobodova (CZE) 13-11,
6-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-9
[6] Elvira Bedjai (FRA) bt [3] Oxane Ah Hu (FRA) 3-11, 16-14,
11-8, 11-9
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [2] Brogan Lane (ENG) 11-8, 11-9,
11-2
Semi-finals:
[1] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [5] Hannah Williams (ENG) 11-4,
11-2, 11-3
Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [6] Elvira Bedjai (FRA) 11-8, 11-5,
11-5
Final:
[1] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt Maria Elena Ubina (USA) 11-6,
11-4, 11-5
Third place play-off:
[5] Hannah Williams (ENG) bt [6] Elvira Bedjai (FRA) 8-11,
11-9, 11-9, 11-5
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