EUROPEAN SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: European Individual Squash Championships, Prague, Czech Republic.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [9/16] Stuart Crawford (SCO) 9-0, 9-1, 9-3
[5/8] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [9/16] Martin Stepan (CZE) 9-0, 9-3, 9-2
[5/8] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [9/16] Gerhard Schedlbauer (AUT) 9-10, 9-2, 9-1, 9-0
[3/4] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [9/16] Andras Torok (HUN) 0-9, 9-0, 9-2, 2-9 ret.
[3/4] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Domagoj Spoljar (CRO) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[5/8] Laurent Elriani (FRA) bt [9/16] Klemen Gutman (SLO) 9-3, 10-8, 9-0
[5/8] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt [9/16] Stefan Leifels (GER) 5-9, 10-8, 4-9, 9-6, 9-1
[2] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [9/16] Milos Pokorny (CZE) 9-4, 9-6, 9-1
    Quarter-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [5/8] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 9-2, 9-5, 9-0
[3/4] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [5/8] Julien Balbo (FRA) 9-0, 10-8, 9-3
[3/4] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [5/8] Laurent Elriani (FRA) 4-9, 10-8, 10-9, 9-0
[2] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [5/8] Dylan Bennett (NED) 9-1, 9-1, 9-2

Women's 2nd round:
[1] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Frania Gillen-Buchert (SCO) 9-1, 9-1, 9-2
[5/8] Pamela Pancis (AUT) bt [9/16] Celia Allamargot (FRA) 9-7, 9-0, 9-4
[5/8] Ellen Petersen (DEN) bt [9/16] Milja Dorenbos (NED) 9-0, 9-6, 5-9, 9-5
[3/4] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt [9/16] Laurence Bois (FRA) 9-4, 9-3, 9-0
[3/4] Pamela Nimmo (SCO) bt [9/16] Kathrin Rohrmueller (GER) 9-0, 9-5, 9-4
[5/8] Line Hansen (DEN) bt [9/16] Katharina Witt (GER) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
[5/8] Olga Puigdemont Sola (ESP) bt [9/16] Margriet Huisman (NED) 2-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-2
[2] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [9/16] Soraya Renai (FRA) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
    Quarter-finals:
[1] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [5/8] Pamela Pancis (AUT) 9-3, 9-3, 9-0
[3/4] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt [5/8] Ellen Petersen (DEN) 1-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-3
[3/4] Pamela Nimmo (SCO) bt [5/8] Line Hansen (DEN) 10-8, 9-1, 9-4
[2] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [5/8] Olga Puigdemont Sola (ESP) 9-0, 9-1, 9-4

Champion Botwright Bursts Into European Semis

England's Rebecca Botwright, the women's title-holder, recovered from a game down to overcome Denmark's Ellen Petersen to reach the semi-finals of the European Individual Squash Championships in the Czech Republic capital Prague.

Botwright, the 23-year-old from Manchester who won the 2004 title in Slovakia, achieved her 2005 seeding after her 1-9 9-3 9-7 9-3 win over Petersen, the Dane who combines her squash-playing with her new career as a full-time doctor.

The defending champion now meets her toughest task - world champion Vanessa Atkinson, the No1 seed from the Netherlands who despatched Austrian champion Pamela Pancis, a semi-finalist in Bratislava, 9-3 9-3 9-0.

Then other women's semi-final will be an all-British affair between England's Linda Elriani and Scotland's Pamela Nimmo.  Elriani, the No2 seed from Eastbourne, despatched Spain's 5/8 seed Olga Puigdemont Sola 9-0 9-1 9-4, while Edinburgh-born Nimmo, the other 3/4 seed, survived a close-fought opening game against Line Hansen before beating the Dane 10-8 9-1 9-4.

The men's competition will also boast a semi-final line-up featuring the top four seeds.  France's defending champion Gregory Gaultier continued his ruthless pursuit of a second successive title with a 9-2 9-5 9-0 victory over Hungary's 5/8 seed Mark Krajcsak.  The top seed from Aix-en-Provence will now face England's Peter Barker, a 3/4 seed who defeated Frenchman Julien Balbo 9-0 10-8 9-3. 

Local interest is centred on the other 3/4 seed Jan Koukal, who was fully stretched by France's Laurent Elriani, the husband of the second seed in the women's event.  Koukal, a 22-year-old from Prague who has won three successive PSA Tour titles in his home city over the past 15 months, fought back from a game down, then survived two close games before storming to a 4-9 10-8 10-9 9-0 victory over the French international.

Koukal now meets England's No2 seed Bradley Ball, who wasted little time in dismissing his Netherlands opponent Dylan Bennett 9-1 9-1 9-2.