RESULTS European Team Championships, Nottingham, England Men's semi-finals: [1]ENGLAND 4 [3]WALES 0 (Peter Nicol bt Alex Gough 9-4, 9-1, 9-1; Lee Beachill bt David Evans 9-4, 9-7, 9-1; Simon Parke bt Scott Fitzgerald 9-3, 9-1, 9-1; James Willstrop bt Greg Tippings 9-1, 9-0, 9-6) [2]FRANCE 3 [4]NETHERLANDS 1 (Thierry Lincou bt Tommy Berden 9-4, 1-9, 9-5, 9-6; Gregory Gaultier lost to Lucas Buit 4-9, 1-9, 9-1, ret; Renan Lavigne bt Laurens Jans Anjema 9-7, 2-9, 9-5, 9-2; Jean-Michel Arcucci bt Michael Fiteni 9-10, 9-6, 9-6, 9-2) Women's semi-finals: [1]ENGLAND 3 [2]SCOTLAND 0 (Cassie Jackman bt Pamela Nimmo 9-1, 9-4, 9-0; Linda Charman bt Senga Macfie 9-0, 9-1, 9-0; Jenny Tranfield bt Frania Gillen-Buchert 9-0, 9-0, 9-3) [6]NETHERLANDS 3 [4]DENMARK 0 (Vanessa Atkinson bt Ellen Petersen 9-2, 9-6, 9-1; Annelize Naude bt Line Hansen 8-10, 9-3, 5-9, 10-8, 9-3; Margriet Huisman bt Mette Jorgensen 9-6, 9-4 (best of three)) Men's 5th - 12th place play-offs: [9]IRELAND 2 [5]SCOTLAND 2 (Ireland win 75-74 on points countback) (Liam Kenny lost to John White 4-9, 2-9, 2-9; Derek Ryan lost to Martin Heath 4-9, 7-9, 2-9; John Rooney bt Peter O'Hara 9-2, 9-3, 9-2; Steve Richardson bt Stuart Crawford 9-5, 9-6, 9-2) [11]SPAIN 3 [6]GERMANY 1 (Borja Golan bt Simon Frenz 10-9, 7-9, 9-3 (best of three); Oriol Salvia bt Stefan Leifels 8-10, 9-4, 9-2, 9-6; Iago Cornes lost to Edgar Schneider 9-3, 5-9, 6-9, 3-9; Victor Montserrat bt Lars Osthoff 9-1, 9-0, 9-1) [10]SWEDEN 4 [8]SWITZERLAND 0 (Daniel Forslund bt Lars Harms 9-7, 9-7 (best of three); Christian Drakenberg bt Andre Holderegger 9-7, 9-1, 9-1; Badr Abdel Aziz bt Marco Eggenberger 9-2, 9-2, 7-9, 9-3; Joakim Karlsson bt Kevin Villiger 10-9, 9-1, 9-7) [12]DENMARK 2 [7]FINLAND 2 (Denmark win 72-67 on points countback) (Mikkel Korsbjerg lost to Olli Tuominen 3-9, 2-9, 0-9; Mads Korsbjerg lost to Mika Monto 3-9, 4-9, 6-9; Michael Hansen bt Toni Wallin 9-3, 9-1, 9-5; Morten Sorenson by Tatu Murronmaa 9-0, 9-4, 9-0) Men's 5th - 8th place play-offs: [9]IRELAND 3 [11]SPAIN 1 (Liam Kenny lost to Borja Golan 6-9, 0-9, 5-9; Derek Ryan bt Oriol Salvia 9-0, 9-5, 9-2; John Rooney bt Constantino Casas 9-6, 9-0, 9-1; Steve Richardson bt Victor Montserrat 5-9, 9-6, 9-2, 9-6) [10]SWEDEN 2 [12]DENMARK 2 (Sweden win 7-6 on games countback) (Daniel Forslund bt Mikkel Korsbjerg 9-4, 9-7, 9-0; Christian Drakenberg bt Danny Knudsen 9-0, 9-0, 9-3; Badr Abdel Aziz lost to Michael Hansen 5-9, 5-9, 6-9; Joakim Karlsson lost to Morten Sorenson 8-10, 4-9, 9-5, 5-9) Men's 9th - 12th place play-offs: [5]SCOTLAND 2 [6]GERMANY 2 (Scotland win 8-7 on games countback) (John White bt Simon Frenz 8-10, 9-2, 9-5, 9-1; Martin Heath bt Stefan Leifels 10-9, 9-5, 9-1; Peter O'Hara lost to Edgar Schneider 6-9, 9-0, 5-9, 4-9; Stuart Crawford lost to Christian Radeke 8-10, 9-4, 7-9, 7-9) [8]SWITZERLAND 2 [7]FINLAND 2 (Switzerland win 7-6 on games countback) (Lars Harms lost to Olli Tuominen 1-9, 4-9, 6-9; Andre Holderegger lost to Mika Monto 0-9, 4-9, 9-3, 1-9; Marco Eggenberger bt Toni Wallin 9-0, 9-2, 9-3; Kevin Villiger bt Hameed Ahmed 9-3, 9-6, 9-7) Men's 13th - 16th place play-offs: [13]BELGIUM 2 [16]HUNGARY 2 (Belgium win 87-82 on points countback) (Peter Pastijn bt Andras Torok 9-5, 9-5, 3-9, 9-2; Olivier van Heghe lost to Mark Krajcsak 8-10, 5-9, 9-2, 5-9; Wim van Asten lost to Sandar Fulop 2-9, 0-9, 1-9; Marc Christie bt Gergely Joo 9-1, 9-1, 9-2) [15]AUSTRIA 3 [14]CZECH REPUBLIC 1 (Clemens Wallishauser bt Jan Koukal 9-5, ret.; David Huck lost to Milos Pokorny 7-9, 9-4, 9-3, 9-10, 1-9; Michael Scharrer bt Martin Stepan 9-5, 9-1, 9-4; Jakob Dirnberger bt Jan Zemlicka 9-5, 9-7, 9-2) Men's 17th - 21st place play-offs: ISRAEL 2 [17]NORWAY 2 (Israel win 9-6 on games countback) (Ilan Oren lost to Richard Larsson 8-9, 1-9, 9-6, 7-9; Tomer Noach lost to Morton Mandt 9-0, 3-9, 9-3, 5-9, 7-9; Dovic Druckman bt Tom Andre 9-1, ret.; Ron Levy bt Rashid Younis 9-1, 9-2, 9-0) GREECE 4 [18]RUSSIA 0 (Fabian Kalaitzis bt Alexei Severinov 9-4, 9-0, 9-4; Paul Gregory bt Serguei Kostrykine 9-4, 9-3, 9-5; Nikos Moustroutis bt Maxim Shokin 9-2, 9-0, 9-2; Petros Tzamaloukas bt Andrey Bratter 9-0, 9-1, 9-1) Men's 19th - 21st place play-off: [17]NORWAY 3 ISLE OF MAN 1 (Richard Larsson lost to David Norman 5-9, 9-3, 0-9, 9-4, 3-9; Morton Mandt bt Richard Corlett 10-8, 9-0, 9-1; Rashid Younis bt Austin Lowe 9-6, 9-2, 9-5; Hans Torgersen bt Steve Morley 9-0, 9-4, 9-1) Women's 5th - 12th place play-offs: [5]BELGIUM 3 [12]AUSTRIA 0 (Katline Cauwels bt Ines Gradnitzer 9-4, 9-1, 9-4; Michou Cauwels bt Sissi Colli 9-2, 9-3, 9-3; Charlie de Rycke bt Theresa Gradnitzer 9-0, 9-1 (best of three)) [7]FRANCE 3 [11]SPAIN 0 (Isabelle Stoehr bt Olga Puigdemont 9-1, 9-4, 9-5; Corinne Castets bt Elisabet Sado 2-9, 6-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-2; Karine Fouchet bt Margaux Moros 9-4, 9-5 (best of three)) [9]IRELAND 3 [8]WALES 0 (Madeline Perry bt Hayley James 9-1, 9-0, 9-3; Aisling Blake bt Stacey Preece 9-4, 9-5, 9-4; Anna McGeever bt Julia Wells 9-0, 9-6 (best of three)) [3]GERMANY 2 [10]SWITZERLAND 1 (Simone Korell lost to Manuela Zehnder 8-10, 4-9, 1-9; Karin Beriere bt Olivia Hauser 7-9, 9-1, 9-4, 9-3; Katharina Witt bt Melanie Scarlato 9-2, 9-3, 9-1) Women's 5th - 8th place play-offs: [7]FRANCE 2 [5]BELGIUM 1 (Isabelle Stoehr bt Kim Hannes 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Corinne Castets bt Katline Cauwels 9-3, 9-7, 9-5; Laurence Bois lost to Charlie de Rycke 1-9, 4-9 (best of three)) [9]IRELAND 2 [3]GERMANY 1 (Madeline Perry bt Simone Korell 9-2, 9-1, 9-3; Aisling Blake lost to Karin Beriere 4-9, 2-9, 2-9; Anna McGeever bt Katharina Witt 6-9, 9-6, 6-9, 9-3, 9-0) Women's 9th - 12th place play-offs: [11]SPAIN 3 [12]AUSTRIA 0 (Olga Puigdemont bt Ines Gradnitzer 9-1, 9-2, 9-1; Elisabet Sado bt Birgit Coufal 9-3, 9-1, 9-1; Margaux Moros bt Sissi Colli 9-1, 9-1 (best of three)) [10]SWITZERLAND 3 [8]WALES 0 (Manuela Zehnder bt Stacey Preece 9-3, 10-8, 9-7; Olivia Hauser bt Julia Wells 9-7, 9-6, 9-4; Gabi Hegi bt Jessica Bevan 9-0, 9-2 (best of three)) Women's 13th - 16th place play-offs: [13]SLOVAKIA 2 [14]ITALY 1 (Henrieta Loksova lost to Manuela Manetta 3-9, 6-9, 4-9; Aneta Paprnakova bt Katiuscia Grossi 9-5, 9-4, 7-9, 9-6; Sona Moravkova bt Susanna Mezzadri 10-8, 9-6, 9-6) [15]FINLAND 2 [16]ISRAEL 1 (Kia Paasivirta lost to Jackie Goldberg 6-9, 8-10, 9-3, 9-7, 3-9; Nana Niskanen bt Nadine Mizrahi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0; Elina Kononen bt Michal Keidar 5-9, 10-9, 10-8, 9-2) England In European Finals England whitewashed their British opponents in the semi-finals of the European Team Championships in Nottingham to remain on course for an 11th successive European double. World No1 Peter Nicol led the men to a 4-0 demolition of Wales while former world No1 Cassie Jackman steered the women to a 3-0 victory over Scotland. Wales, runners-up in 1997, were no match for their opponents in the first European Championships in England for 25 years. Nottingham-based Simon Parke and 19-year-old James Willstrop, the world junior champion, claimed convincing 3-0 wins over Scott Fitzgerald and Greg Tippings, respectively, to put the hosts 2-0 up by the time Nicol took to the court against world No17 Alex Gough. "After battling for the first few points, I think Alex knew it was a tall order to pull back the deficit - and after I won the first game, we both eased off," said Nicol after the 9-4 9-1 9-1 triumph which secured England's win. England will face No2 seeds France in the final for the fourth year in a row. "It's the final everybody wants and there should be a fantastic atmosphere," added Nicol. France, however, were fully stretched in their semi-final against fourth seeds Netherlands before claiming a 3-1 win when top string Thierry Lincou, the world No6, overcame Dutch champion Tommy Berden 9-4 1-9 9-5 9-6. There was high drama on the adjacent court when rising French star Gregory Gaultier, a double European Junior champion, fought back from 2-0 down against Lucas Buit, then abandoned his challenge after taking the third game when he collapsed with severe cramp in his leg. In a replay of the 2002 final, England's women crushed Scotland 3-0 to reach their 27th successive final since 1977. With four world top ten players in the women's squad, England are head and shoulders above the competition on paper - and prove so on court! England No1 Cassie Jackman faced her toughest test in the event so far against world No15 Pamela Nimmo. The world No9 from Norwich, who underwent back surgery for the second time in her career only eight months ago, despatched Nimmo 9-1 9-4 9-0 in just 27 minutes to put the title-holders ahead. Squad No2 Linda Charman then demonstrated the gulf between the England girls and the rest when she powered her way to a 9-0 9-1 9-0 win over Scotland's Senga Macfie - conceding only her fourth point in three matches! Yorkshire's England newcomer Jenny Tranfield, who has a PhD in sports psychology, 'out-psyched' her opponent Frania Gillen-Buchert for the loss of just three points to give England a maximum points win. England face surprise opponents Netherlands in the final after the sixth seeds claimed victory over fourth seeds Denmark. Annelize Naude, making her European debut, clinched the win which put the Dutch team into the final for the first time since 1995 after twice fighting back from behind to beat Line Hansen 8-10 9-3 5-9 10-8 9-3. Irish eyes were smiling in Nottingham when both squads exceeded their seeded anticipations by guaranteeing simultaneous finishes in the top eight for the first time for ten years. Ireland's men began their run with the narrowest of wins over fifth seeds Scotland - drawing 2-2 in matches but progressing as a result of a 75-74 countback on points! The team went on to beat Spain 3-1 and will now meet Sweden in the play-off for 5th place. The Ireland women, also ninth seeds, beat Wales 3-0, then Germany 2-1 and now face France for a fifth-place finish.