English Players Gatecrash European Junior Finals
Men's semi-finals:
[1] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [5/8] Oliver Pett (ENG) 9-5, 9-6, 9-5
[3/4] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [2] Adrian Waller (ENG) 9-4, 9-5, 9-5
Women's semi-finals:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [3/4] Sina Wall (GER) 9-4, 9-2, 9-4
[3/4] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [9/16] Kimberley Hay (ENG) 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
The two top seeds Nicolas Mueller and Camille Serme will face unexpected English challenges in the finals of the European Junior U19 Squash Championships after 3/4 seeds Joe Lee and Victoria Lust came through the semi-finals in Herentals, Belgium.
Joe Lee, 17, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, upset No2 seed and England team-mate Adrian Waller 9-4, 9-5, 9-5 to avenge his defeat by the 17-year-old British Junior champion from Enfield in the final of the national championship in February.
Like Lee, Swiss favourite Nicolas Mueller has also reached the final without dropping a game in the tournament. The 17-year-old from Hirzel, near Zurich, ended the run of England's 5/8 seed Oliver Pett, who reached the semis after upsetting higher-seeded Dane Kristian Frost Olesen in the previous round.
Muller beat the 18-year-old from Billingshurst in Sussex 9-5, 9-6, 9-5 to reach the final for the first time in his third appearance in the event.
There was also an all-English semi-final clash in the women's event when Victoria Lust took on 'giant-killer' Kimberley Hay, the 15-year-old 9/16 seed from Newcastle-upon-Tyne who ousted No2 seed Lucie Fialova in the third round before despatching 5/8 seed Gabrielle de Lavison in the quarter-finals.
Lust, the 17-year-old British Junior Champion from Maulden in Bedfordshire, beat Hay 9-2, 9-0, 9-4 and will now face Serme for the first time since losing to the event favourite in last year's third round.
In the other semi-final, defending champion Serme cruised into her second successive final after beating Germany's 3/4 seed Sina Wall 9-4, 9-2, 9-4.