Nick Matthew and Sarah-Jane Perry lead England through
By ALAN THATCHER and HOWARD HARDING
England meet France in both men’s and women’s finals in the European Team Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
England beat Scotland 4-0 in the men’s semi-finals while France beat Germany by the same score. England’s women overcome The Netherlands, while France saw off a battling Welsh team, for whom Tesni Evans played out of her skin against world No.3 Camille Serme. Each time Serme won a game, Evans came back to draw level but it was the French star who edged home 11-8 in the fifth.
In the men’s semis, Nick Matthew came out out of the traps strongly against Alan Clyne, winning the opening game without dropping a point, while French number one Gregory Gaultier had to fight back from losing the opening game to Germany’s Simon Rösner.
Full results from www.squashinfo.com
European Team Championship 2017, Talihalli, Helsinki, Finland.
Men’s Final:
[1] ENGLAND v [2] FRANCE
3rd place play-off:
[3] SCOTLAND v [4] GERMANY
*****
Semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [3] SCOTLAND 4-0
Tom Richards bt Rory Stewart 11-2, 11-5, 11-4
Nick Matthew bt Alan Clyne 11-0, 11-3, 11-8
James Willstrop bt Douglas Kempsell 11-8, 13-11
Daryl Selby bt Kevin Moran 11-2, 12-10
[2] FRANCE bt [4] GERMANY 4-0
Lucas Serme bt Yannik Omlor 11-1, 11-9, 14-12
Gregory Gaultier bt Simon Rösner 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-0
Mathieu Castagnet bt Raphael Kandra 8-11, 11-4, 13-11
Gregoire Marche bt Valentin Rapp 11-4, 11-2, 11-1
5th – 8th place play-offs:
[5] SPAIN bt [7] CZECH REPUBLIC 3-1
Edmon Lopez bt Petr Martin 11-8, 9-11, 14-12, 11-1
Borja Golan bt Daniel Mekbib 11-7, 11-5, 11-8
Iker Pajares Bernabeu bt Jan Koukal 11-7, 11-6, 11-8
Carlos Cornes Ribadas lost to Martin Svec 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 6-11
[8] SWITZERLAND bt [6] FINLAND 2-2 (Switzerland win 150-149 on points countback)
Benjamin Fischer lost to Kristian Rautiainen 9-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 9-11
Nicolas Müller bt Olli Tuominen 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7
Dimitri Steinmann bt Henrik Mustonen 11-5, 12-10, 11-9
Patrick Miescher lost to Jami Äijänen 7-11, 2-11, 9-11
Women’s Final:
[1] ENGLAND v [2] FRANCE
3rd place play-off:
[3] NETHERLANDS v [4] WALES
*****
Women’s Semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [3] NETHERLANDS 2-0
Victoria Lust bt Tessa ter Sluis 11-9, 11-6, 11-4
Sarah-Jane Perry bt Milou van der Heijden 12-10, 11-3, 11-2
Fiona Moverley v Judith Diepeveen
[2] FRANCE bt [4] WALES 3-0
Coline Aumard bt Deon Saffery 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11
Camille Serme bt Tesni Evans 11-5, 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8
Laura Pomportes bt Jenny Haley 11-5, 11-7, 11-3
5th – 8th place play-offs:
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [5] BELGIUM 2/1
Zuzana Kubáňová bt Tinne Gilis 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12
Anna Serme lost to Nele Gilis 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 2-11
Tereza Svobodova bt Loreline Pira 11-7, 11-5, 17-15
[7] SPAIN bt [8] DENMARK 3/0
Xisela Aranda bt Sarah Lauridsen 11-7, 11-4, 11-4
Cristina Gomez bt Mathilde Lauridsen 11-4, 11-7, 11-5
Maria Gonzalez Velazquez bt Sissel Mygind Trap 3-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8
To play: [5] BELGIUM v [7] SPAIN
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC v [8] DENMARK
Pictures from Squash Mad archive (no media service supplied by the tournament)