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European
Junior U19 Team Championship,
Oporto, Portugal
England Retain
European Junior Crown
England
successfully defended their title in the European Junior U19 Team Squash
Championship, beating second seeds Belgium in the final for the
second year in a row to win the mixed European Squash Federation event in
Oporto, Portugal.
The triumph
marks the third successive win for England and their 26th overall since the
inaugural competition in 1983.
Newly-crowned
men's individual champion Declan James led the team to their 3/0 result.
The 18-year-old from Nottingham beat Tom de Mulder 11-9, 11-6, 11-8,
before team-mate Emily Whitlock despatched Belgian Nele Gilis
11-6, 11-7, 11-4 to clinch the title.
Whitlock was
rounding off her junior career in stunning style. The 18-year-old world No31
from Colwyn Bay won the women's individual title for the second year in a row
last week and came through nine matches in Oporto without dropping a single
game.
In the final
match, Cheltenham's Tom Ford beat Jan van den Herrewegen 11-6,
11-7 to ensure a clean sweep.
After
celebrating their first appearance in the semi-finals since 1988, 11th seeds
Scotland went down 2/1 to third seeds France in the play-off for
third place. It was France's best finish for two years, but Scotland's most
successful for 24 years.
Hosts
Portugal, appearing in the championship for only the third time, celebrated
their best ever finish. The fourth seeds took on Wales, the No7 seed, in
the play-off for seventh place, losing 2/1 to record a highest ever eighth
finish.
Final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [2] BELGIUM 3/0
Declan James bt Tom de Mulder 11-9, 11-6, 11-8
Emily Whitlock bt Nele Gilis 11-6, 11-7, 11-4
Tom Ford bt Jan van den Herrewegen 11-6, 11-7
3rd place
play-off:
[3] FRANCE bt [11] SCOTLAND 2/1
Damien Volland lost to Douglas Kempsell 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11
Julia Lecoq bt Rosie Allan 13-11, 11-5, 11-4
Alexandre Cogno bt Christopher Leiper 11-8, 11-9, 11-8
5th place
play-off:
[5] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [8] SPAIN 2/1
Martin Svec bt Aitor Zunzunegui 11-5, 11-6, 11-6
Kristina Alexova bt Marina de Juan 11-6, 12-10, 11-5
Jakub Solnicky lost to Pascal Gomez 5-11, 9-11
7th place
play-off:
[7] WALES bt [4] PORTUGAL 2/1
Jordan Davies lost to Rui Soares 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11
Fiona Murphy bt Camille Lanier 8-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-6
Joel Makin bt Pedro Pinto 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7
9th place
play-off:
[6] GERMANY bt [9] FINLAND 2/1
Sven Lemmermann lost to Jaakko Vahamaa 6-11, 11-13, 8-11
Caroline Sayegh bt Emilia Soini 13-11, 11-2, 11-4
Felix Auer bt Kristian Rautiainen 11-6, 11-6, 11-5
11th place
play-off:
[10] ISRAEL bt [12] HUNGARY 2/1
Daniel Poleshchuk bt Benedek Sebok 11-9, 12-10, 11-6
Ronny Kesten lost to Gabriella Csokasi 7-11, 2-11, 2-11
Roee Avraham bt Lenard Puski 11-9, 4-11, 11-2, 4-11, 11-7
13th place
play-off:
[13] IRELAND bt [15] SWITZERLAND 3/0
Sean Conroy bt Yannick Lindemann 10-12, 11-5, 2-11, 11-5, 11-5
Breanne Flynn bt Milena Penkov 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-4, 15-13
Conor O'Shea bt Michael Shpakov 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9
15th place
play-off:
[16] SWEDEN bt [14] NETHERLANDS 2/1
Bjorn Angtoft bt Tom Lucas 12-10, 11-3, 11-5
Linnea Wallsten lost to Tessa ter Sluis 2-11, 8-11, 9-11
Jesper Skarman bt Nick Kuys 11-2, 13-11, 11-5
17th place
play-off:
[18] AUSTRIA bt [17] NORWAY 2/1
Florian Mader lost to Hakon Standal 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11
Jacqueline Peychaer bt Alvilde Sonju 11-9, 11-8, 11-5
Paul Mairinger bt Trym Akerstrom Aasness 11-6, 11-9, 11-3
19th place:
[19] POLAND
England &
Belgium To Contest European Junior Final
For the second
year in a row, England will face Belgium in the final of the
European Junior U19 Team Squash Championship, the mixed European Squash
Federation event being staged in Oporto, Portugal, for the first
time.
After
dismissing Wales 3/0 in the quarter-finals, favourites England overcame
British rivals Scotland to maintain their unbroken presence in the final
since the inaugural competition in 1983, 29 years ago.
But the
defending champions were taken to a decider by Scotland - the 11th seeds who
were celebrating their first appearance in the semi-finals since 1988 after a
3/0 upset over fifth seeds Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.
Tom Ford's
11-3, 11-8, 11-6 win over Christopher Leiper was cancelled out by a 7-11
11-4, 11-0, 11-0 victory by Scot Douglas Kempsell over England's
Oliver Holland.
But a
commanding performance by Emily Whitlock saw England through. The
18-year-old from Cheshire, who successfully defended her European singles title
last week in Oporto, defeated Rosie Allan 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.
Belgium
maintained the same form which saw the nation record its first ever appearance
in the final last year. A 3/0 victory over eighth seeds Spain took the
No2 seeds into the semi-finals against Gallic rivals France.
Jan van den
Herrewegen
led the way with an 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 victory over Alexandre Cogno, and
Tom de Mulder clinched victory after beating Damien Volland 11-7,
11-6, 11-9. In the best-of-three third match, Nele Gilis ensured maximum
points for Belgium by beating Julia Lecoq 10-12, 11-7, 13-11.
Quarter-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [7] WALES 3/0
Tom Ford bt Robert Luke 11-3, 11-6, 11-0
Declan James bt Jordan Davies 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4
Victoria Temple Murray bt Fiona Murphy 11-6, 11-9
[2]
BELGIUM bt [8] SPAIN 3/0
Jan van den Herrewegen bt Pascal Gomez 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
Tom de Mulder bt David Antolin 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
Nele Gilis bt Marina de Juan 3-11, 11-6, 11-9
[11]
SCOTLAND bt [5] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/0
Christopher Leiper bt Jakub Solnicky 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9
Douglas Kempsell bt Martin Svec 11-4, 11-8, 11-0
Rosie Allan bt Kristina Alexova 11-6, 11-6
[3]
FRANCE bt [4] PORTUGAL 2/1
Alexandre Cogno lost to Claudio Pinto 4-11, 11-5, 9-11, 6-11
Damien Volland bt Rui Soares 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9
Melissa Alves bt Camille Lanier 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9
Semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [11] SCOTLAND 2/1
Tom Ford bt Christopher Leiper 11-3, 11-8, 11-6
Oliver Holland lost to Douglas Kempsell 11-7, 4-11, 0-11, 0-11
Emily Whitlock bt Rosie Allan 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
[2]
BELGIUM bt [3] FRANCE 3/0
Jan van den Herrewegen bt Alexandre Cogno 11-6, 11-4, 11-5
Tom de Mulder bt Damien Volland 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Nele Gilis bt Julia Lecoq 10-12, 11-7, 13-11
5th - 8th
place play-offs:
[5] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [7] WALES 2/1
Jakub Solnicky bt Joel Makin 4-11, 13-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-5
Martin Svec bt Jordan Davies 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4
Kristina Alexova lost to Fiona Murphy 4-11, 4-11
[8]
SPAIN bt [4] PORTUGAL 2/1
Pascal Gomez bt Pedro Pinto 14-12, 11-8, 11-9
Aitor Zunzunegui lost to Claudio Pinto 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 3-11,
4-11
Christina Gomez bt Camille Lanier 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5
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