The Irish girls came desperately close to springing a major surprise, but it was England, the overwhelming favourites, who won both men’s and wome’s titles at the European Team Championships in Nuremburg.

EUROPEAN SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: European Team Championship, Nürnberg, Germany

Men final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [2] FRANCE 3/0
Daryl Selby bt Gregoire Marche 11-3, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9
James Willstrop bt Gregory Gaultier 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-1
Peter Barker bt Mathieu Castagnet 11-7, 11-5, 11-7
Nick Matthew v Thierry Lincou (match not played)

3rd place play-off:
[5] GERMANY bt [6] SCOTLAND 3/1
Simon Rosner bt Alan Clyne 11-6, 11-8, 11-4
Raphael Kandra bt Greg Lobban 11-2, 11-5, 11-5
Jens Schoor lost to Chris Small 7-11, 13-15, 6-11
Andre Haschker bt Stuart Crawford 11-3, 4-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8

5th place play-off:
[3] ITALY bt [8] DENMARK 2/2 (Italy win 9-7 on games countback)
Davide Bianchetti lost to Kristian Frost Olesen 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 4-11
Marcus Berrett bt Rasmus Nielsen 11-4, 11-7, 11-9
Amr Swelim bt Caspar Grauballe Nielsen 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8
Andrea Torricini lost to Morten W Sorensen 11-2, 4-11, 11-9, 4-11, 4-11

7th place play-off:
[4] NETHERLANDS bt [7] FINLAND 4/0
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Olli Tuominen 11-4, 11-6, 11-5
Piedro Schweertman bt Matias Tuomi 11-9, 11-4, 11-7
Sebastiaan Weenink bt Jaakko Vahamaa 11-8, 11-4, 11-6
Bart Ravelli bye

Women’s final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [3] IRELAND 2/1
Jenny Duncalf lost to Madeline Perry 11-13, 11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11
Laura Massaro bt Aisling Blake 11-1, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8
Alison Waters bt Laura Mylotte 11-2, 11-8, 11-2

3rd place play-off:
[4] FRANCE bt [6] GERMANY 3/0
Camille Serme bt Kathrin Hauck 11-5, 11-2, 11-4
Coline Aumard bt Pamela Hathway 11-3, 11-8, 11-5
Laura Pomportes bt Franziska Hennes 11-8, 11-2

5th place play-off:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [8] WALES 2/1
Natalie Grinham bt Tesni Evans 11-9, 11-1, 11-9
Milou van der Heijden lost to Deon Saffery 3-11, 11-13, 7-11
Milja Dorenbos bt Stacey Gooding 11-3, 11-6, 11-7

7th place play-off:
[5] SCOTLAND bt [7] SWITZERLAND 2/1
Frania Gillen-Buchert lost to Gaby Huber 9-11, 6-11, 13-15
Lisa Aitken bt Sara Guebey 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2
Alex Clark bt Julia Schmalz 11-5, 11-7, 11-6

European Team Championships, Division 2:

Men’s Final:
[3] SPAIN bt [6] SWITZERLAND 2/2 (Spain win 8-5 on games countback)
Borja Golan lost to Nicolas Mueller 11-9, 11-13, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11
David Vidal lost to Reiko Peter 9-11, 0-11
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Lukas Burkhart 11-5, 11-1, 11-6
Carlos Cornes Ribadas bt Patrick Miescher 11-7, 11-8, 17-15

3rd place play-off:
[5] IRELAND bt [4] SWEDEN 4/0
Arthur Gaskin bt Christian Drakenberg 5-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6
Derek Ryan bt Sebastian Viktor 6-11, 11-8, 11-3
Rory Byrne bt Joakim Larsson 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
Nigel Peyton bt Alex Christensson 15-13, 11-9

5th place play-off:
[2] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [1] WALES 4/0
Jan Koukal bt Peter Creed 12-10, 11-2, 11-8
Lukas Jelinek bt David Haley 12-14, 11-3, 11-6
Petr Martin bt Sam Fenwick 11-6, 11-8, 11-5
Ondrej Uherka bt Jordan Davies 11-8, 11-8, 11-5

7th place play-off:
[9] AUSTRIA bt [7] BELGIUM 3/1
Aqeel Rehman bt Jan van den Herrewegen 11-6, 11-2, 8-11, 15-13
Leopold Czaska bt Mark Burke 11-8, 11-6, 11-7
Jakob Dirnberger bt Jan de Smet 11-2, 11-4, 11-4
Marcus Greslehner lost to Gregory Lecerf 11-6, 11-1, 7-11, 3-11, 5-11

9th place play-off:
[8] SLOVAKIA bt [10] PORTUGAL 2/2 (Slovakia win 8-6 on games countback)
Marek Manik lost to Rui Soares 9-11, 10-12, 6-11
Tomas Toth bt Claudio Pinto 11-9, 11-4, 12-10
Peter Kviecinsky lost to Joao Caiano 11-1, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11
Miroslav Celler bt Andre Lima 11-4, 11-7, 11-6

Women’s final qualifying rounds:
[4] AUSTRIA bt [7] POLAND 3/0
Birgit Coufal bt Dominika Witkowska 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8
Sandra Polak bt Anna Jurkun 11-3, 11-8, 11-5
Anja Kaserer bt Magdalena Kaminska 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
[6] BELGIUM bt [5] FINLAND 3/0
Kim Hannes bt Saara Valtola 11-7, 11-3, 11-9
Nele Gilis bt Emilia Soini 11-9, 11-5, 11-6
Loreline Pira bt Emilia Korhonen 11-5, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5
[3] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [4] AUSTRIA 2/1
Lucie Fialova bt Birgit Coufal 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8
Olga Ertlova bt Sandra Polak 11-7, 11-5, 11-4
Klara Janoskova lost to Anja Kaserer 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 11-13
[1] SPAIN bt [2] ITALY 3/0
Xisela Aranda Nunez bt Katiuscia Grossi 11-2, 11-3, 11-6
Stela Carbonell bt Monica Menegozzi 11-1, 11-6, 11-6
Sara Esperon bt Elisabetta Priante 4-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9

Final positions: 1 Czech Republic, 2 Belgium, 3 Spain, 4 Austria, 5 Finland, 6 Italy, 7 Poland

England Celebrate European Championship Double

England successfully retained their titles in the European Team Squash Championships after a 3/0 men’s victory overFrance and a 2/1 women’s win over Ireland in the 40th staging of the European Squash Federation event at theSportpark Nord in Nürnberg, Germany.

But the favourites were taken the full distance by third-seeded Ireland in the women’s final after Belfast’s Madeline Perry, ranked three in the world, fought back from 2/1 down to beat world No2 Jenny Duncalf 13-11, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-8.

But British champion Laura Massaro steered the England ship back on course by beating Aisling Blake 11-1, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, before Londoner Alison Waters, runner-up to her team-mate in February’s National Championship, clinched victory by defeating Laura Mylotte 11-2, 11-8, 11-2.

While England were celebrating their 34th European title since 1978, there was also cause for celebration in the Irish camp. The team’s surprise appearance in the final gave Ireland their best finish since 1989.

Top seeds England lined up against cross Channel rivals France in the men’s final for the 12th time since 2000.

Experienced fourth string Daryl Selby gave his team the best start with an 11-3, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9 win over 22-year-old Frenchman Gregoire Marche.

Fierce rivals James Willstrop and Gregory Gaultier then took to the court for their seventh meeting in the last seven months. But since the first of the first of those, Englishman Willstrop has become world number one – and the Yorkshireman had to play like the best player in the world to see off world No3 Gaultier 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-1 to give England a 2/0 lead.

Londoner Peter Barker then clinched the title after a straightforward 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 win over Mathieu Castagnet.

The victory marks England’s 20th success in a row – and the 37th in total since the inaugural championships in 1976,

Hosts Germany beat Scotland 3/1 in the play-off for third place to achieve their best finish since 1994. But Scotland, the sixth seeds, were also celebrating their best finish since reaching the final in 1999.

Germany lost out in the women’s third place play-off to France – but still recorded their best finish for five years.

Wales, who gained promotion into the elite championship from Division 2 last year, lost out to second seeds Netherlandsin the women’s fifth place play-off – but not only cemented their place in the top division for next year but also celebrated this best finish since 1988.

Denmark, also in the elite event this year after success in Division 2 last year, finished in sixth place in the men’s championship after losing the playoff to Italy. But the Danes, who have been out of the top eight since 2003, return home after achieving their best finish since 1976!

The 2012 Division 2 championships saw Spain and Switzerland gain promotion in the men’s event and Czech Republicand Belgium in the women’s.

The men’s qualifiers will both ensure top eight status next year for the first time since 2008, while Czech Republic can look forward to a top eight finlsh in next year’s women championship for the first time since 2006.

Event website: http://etc2012.squash-events.de/