Castagnet & De Rycke Win Tour Association Memberships In ESF Awards
As number ones in the European Squash Federation (ESF) Junior (U19) rankings for the 2004/05 season, France's Mathieu Castagnet and Belgium's Charlie de Rycke have won annual memberships to the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA), respectively.
Castagnet, from Le Mans, won the French Junior Open and Germany's Pioneer Junior Open to end the season at No1 – ahead of second-placed Englishman Chris Simpson, the British National, Welsh Open and European Junior Champion this year.
Both players receive prizes of full membership to the PSA, donated by the men's organisation, for the year beginning January 2006.
Charlie de Rycke topped the women's list for the third year in a row. The 18-year-old from Ghent won her second European junior title this year, and also claimed the Pioneer and Dutch Junior Open trophies. Second-placed Camille Serme, from France, won the Belgian Junior Open title last November and reached the French Junior Open final in February.
The pair receive full WISPA memberships, provided by the women's association, for the year beginning January 2006.
In pioneering new agreements between the ESF and the two professional associations, the prizes stretch across the top eight players in the end-of-season rankings – with players in third and fourth place receiving full membership of the PSA or WISPA (also donated by the associations) for six months; fifth and sixth receiving provisional membership for 12 months (provided by the ESF); and seventh and eighth receiving provisional membership for six months (also provided by the ESF).
Both Castagnet and De Rycke received their awards following the Dutch Junior Open, the final tournament of the season. The ESF was represented at the ceremony by Vice-President Martin Wren, who was delighted to welcome Mark Chaloner, President of the PSA, and Natalie Grinham, a member of the WISPA board, who presented the awards on behalf of the two professional bodies.
Men's U19 End-of-Season rankings:
1 Mathieu Castagnet (France)
2 Chris Simpson (England)
3 Sebastiaan Weenink (Netherlands)
4 Gustav Detter (Sweden)
5 Nicolas Mueller (Switzerland)
6 Shaun le Roux (England)
7 Sebastian Victor (Sweden)
8 Tom Hoevenaars (Netherlands)
Women's U19 End-of-Season rankings:
1 Charlie de Rycke (Belgium)
2 Camille Serme (France)
3 Leonie Holt (England)
4 Tereza Dufkova (Czech Republic)
5 Soraya Renai (France)
6 Suzannah King (England)
7 Lotte Eriksen (Norway)
8 Sary Carmen Diaz (Mexico)