EUROPEAN SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: European Junior U15 & U17 Team Championships, Boblingen, Germany

U15 Final:
[2/3] ENGLAND bt [1] GERMANY 2-1
Jane Allman bt Sharon Sinclair 9-0, 6-9, 3-9, 9-7, 9-4 (56m)
Alex Ingham bt Raphael Kandra 9-5, 9-5, 2-9, 9-3 (47m)
Chris Fuller lost to Rudi Rohrmuller 6-9, 9-5, 8-9 (48m)
    3rd place play-off:
[4] WALES bt [2/3] FRANCE 2-1
Natalie Pritchard bt Emilie Lamilongo 9-5, 9-1, 3-9, 9-3 (22m)
Hywel Robinson bt Lucas Vauzelle 9-3, 9-5, 9-3 (29m)
Frazer Richards lost to Antoine Dauzac 4-9, 0-9
    5th place play-off:
[10] BELGIUM bt [5] SCOTLAND 2-1
Toke Vanwesemael bt Claire Gray 9-2, 9-4, 9-4
Sam van Brusselen bt Kevin Moran 9-2, 6-9, 9-7, 9-5
Joeri Hapers lost to Ian Jubb 8-10, 9-10
    7th place play-off:
[7/9] DENMARK bt [6] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1
Anna Sophie Ornfeldt lost to Anna Klimondova 1-9, 1-9, 1-9
Philip Tran bt Roman Svec 9-1, 8-9, 9-4, 9-4
Casper Grauballe bt Jiri Prochazka 9-4, 9-1, 9-0
    9th place play-off:
[14] HUNGARY bt [7/9] NETHERLANDS 2-1
Andrea Balazs lost to Milou van der Heijden 1-9, 6-9, 9-5, 2-9
Peter Hoffman bt Justin van Zandvliet 9-1, 9-5, 9-7
Mate Vass bt Tim van der Pluijm 9-1, 9-1, 9-6
    11th place play-off:
[7/9] SWITZERLAND bt [11] SWEDEN 2-1
Agapi Kazamia bt Anna Bostrom 1-9, 9-7, 9-2, 9-5
David Gloor lost to Johan Detter 6-9, 1-9, 10-8, 3-9
Marco Graziotti bt Alex Christenson 9-7, 10-9, 9-1
    13th place play-off:
[13] FINLAND bt [15/16] SLOVAKIA 2-1
Katarina Kauppi lost to Andrea Malinova 1-9, 0-9, 0-9
Henrik Mustonen bt Miroslav Celler 9-0, 9-5, 9-1
Ville Hiltunen bt Marek Sindelar 5-9, 9-6, 9-0, 9-6
    15th place play-off:
[15/16] ISRAEL bt [12] IRELAND 2-1
Mor Berkovsky bt Sarah Murphy 9-2, 9-0, 9-1
Orr Pridan lost to Ben Craig 0-9, 0-9, 0-9
Ran Nagler bt Rohan Ramasubbu 9-6, 9-3, 9-5

U17 Final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [2] GERMANY 2-1
Rachel Willmott bt Sina Wall 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 (16m)
Jim Bristow bt Norman Junge 6-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-1 (67m)
Joe Lee lost to Carsten Schoor 3-9, 9-4, 9-10 (50m)
    3rd place play-off:
[5] SWITZERLAND bt [3/4] FRANCE 3-0
Vanessa Isola bt Coline Aumard 9-2, 7-9, 10-8, 9-3
Nicolas Mueller bt Gregoire Marche 9-4, 8-10, 9-5, 9-7
Reiko Peter bt Florent Pontiere 9-4, 9-5
    5th place play-off:
[9] DENMARK bt [7] WALES 2-1
Sally Skarrenborg lost to Bethan Williams 0-9, 0-9, 0-9
Kristian Frost bt Alistair Mutch 4-9, 9-7, 9-1, 10-8
Kasper Gross Jeppesen bt Jonathan Jones 9-6, 5-9, 9-4, 9-0
    7th place play-off:
[3/4] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [14] HUNGARY 3-0
Tereza Ctvrtnickova bt Linda Paj 9-2, 9-0, 9-6
Petr Martin bt Aron Balogh 9-5, 9-1, 9-2
Jakub Kosinka bt David Lukacs 6-9, 9-0, 9-1
    9th place play-off:
[6] NETHERLANDS bt [13] ISRAEL 3-0
Melissa Meulenbelt bt Daniella Barak 9-1, 9-2, 9-3
Sander Kock bt Ido Avron 9-3, 9-6, 9-6
Charles Veerkamp bt Ariel Lewis 9-7, 10-9
    11th place play-off:
[15/17] FINLAND bt [10] BELGIUM 2-1
Tiia Knuutila bt Elodie Mahieu 9-6, 9-1, 3-9, 9-2
Pyry Poikolainen lost to Mats Raemen 2-9, 2-9, 0-9
Roni Berg bt Mathias Mostmann 5-9, 9-4, 9-3, 9-2
    13th place play-off:  [15/17] SLOVAKIA bt [8] IRELAND w/o
    15th place play-off:  [15/17] ITALY bye
    16th place play-off:
[12] SWEDEN bt [11] AUSTRIA 2-1
Jonna Milton lost to Lena Gnauer 1-9, 4-9, 0-9
Pontus Olsson bt Matthias Stur 9-2, 9-1, 9-2
Christoffer Olsson bt Martin Furtner 9-1, 9-6, 9-0

England Celebrate European Double Over Hosts In Germany

England celebrated a double victory over hosts Germany in the finals of the European Junior U15 & U17 Team Championships in the southern German town of Boblingen.

Defending champions and top seeds in the U17 event, England beat the second-seeded German team 2-1 in the final - while in the U15 event, England first had to overcome fellow 2/3 seeds France in the semi-finals before striking a notable upset over the top-seeded hosts in the final.

England's heroine in the U15 final was Jane Allman.  Beaten in a hard five-game encounter in the previous day's semi-finals, 14-year-old Allman bravely fought back from 1/2 down in games, and 4-7 down in the fourth game, to beat her higher-ranked German opponent Sharon Sinclair 9-0 6-9 3-9 9-7 9-4 in 56 minutes to clinch the title for England. 

Earlier 14-year-old Alex Ingham had put the team into the lead with an impressive 9-5 9-5 2-9 9-3 win over the German No1 Raphael Kandra - before Germany gained a consolation point in the best-of-three 'dead rubber' when the England team captain Chris Fuller was pipped 9-6 5-9 9-8 by Rudi Rohrmuller in 48 minutes.  It was only 24 hours earlier that Fuller, the England No2, played a 'captain's innings' when he secured the team's place in the final with a four-game win over his French opponent in the semi-final decider.

England reached the final of the U17 event without dropping a match, but were severely tested by a German team eager to provide the packed and partisan crowd with a long-awaited victory after losses to their rivals in the previous two finals.  Team No1 Jim Bristow had to be at his best to overcome a strong German No1 Norman Junge - in the third game having 12 game-balls before clinching the game, and ultimately the match 6-9 9-2 9-5 9-1 in 67 minutes. 

Making her seventh appearance in different events for England was 16-year-old Rachel Willmott - who clinched the title for the team with a confident and comprehensive 9-1 9-0 9-1 win in just 16 minutes over the hitherto unbeaten German girl Sina Wall.  Willmott, the England captain, enjoyed a magnificent tournament in Boblingen, conceding only ten points in three successive match victories from the quarter-final stage.

In the final best-of-three rubber, 15-year-old Joe Lee battled for 50 minutes against German Carsten Schoor - and had a match-ball in the decider - before going down 9-3 4-9 10-9.

In the U15 third place play-off, fourth seeds Wales upset 2/3 seeds France 2/1, while tenth seeds Belgium claimed an impressive fifth place finish after beating fifth seeds Scotland in the play-off.

Switzerland, the fifth seeds in the U17 event, finished strongly by beating 3/4 seeds France in the play-off for third place.