After being seeded to finish outside the top eight for the first time since 2004, Switzerland secured a place in the quarter-finals of the European Junior U19 Team Squash Championships after beating eighth seeds Finland 2/1 in the final qualifying round of the European Squash Federation event in Germering, Germany.
With the tie poised at one-all, 16-year-old Fabienne Oppliger clinched the Swiss victory by beating Finn Saara Saloranta 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 - elevating ninth seeds Switzerland to second place in Pool A, behind defending champions England.
Switzerland will join fellow 'outsiders' Scotland in the last eight. The tenth seeds made sure of their place in the top eight for the second successive year with a 3/0 win over Ireland - thereby finishing in second place in Pool B, behind hosts Germany.
Scotland will face favourites England for a place in the semi-finals, while Switzerland will take on second seeds Germany.
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] ENGLAND v [10] SCOTLAND
[4] WALES v [6] BELGIUM
[3] FRANCE v [5] CZECH REPUBLIC
[2] GERMANY v [9] SWITZERLAND
9th - 16th place play-offs:
[8] FINLAND v [15] IRELAND
[13] SPAIN v [14] AUSTRIA
[11] DENMARK v [12] SWEDEN
[7] NETHERLANDS v [16] HUNGARY
EUROPEAN SQUASH NEWS
RESULTS: European Junior U19 Team Squash Championships, Germering, Germany
Final Qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [17] ITALY 3-0
Alex Ingham bt Alberto Matteazzi 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
Chris Fuller bt Dimitri Diamadopoulos 11-1, 11-0, 11-5
Kimberley Hay bt Elisabetta Priante 11-5, 11-1, 11-4
[9] SWITZERLAND bt [16] HUNGARY 2-1
Patrick Miescher bt Peter Hoffman 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
Marco Graziotti bt Mate Vass 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9
Fabienne Oppliger lost to Fatime Farkas 11-8, 4-11, 11-13, 11-9, 7-11
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] FINLAND 2-1
Chris Fuller lost to Henrik Mustonen 2-11, 11-8, 11-6, 3-11, 9-11
Anthony Graham bt Ville Hiltunen 11-3, 11-6, 11-6
Sarah-Jane Perry bt Saara Saloranta 11-2, 11-4, 11-1
[9] SWITZERLAND bt [8] FINLAND 2-1
Patrick Miescher lost to Henrik Mustonen 7-11, 0-11, 6-11
Marco Graziotti bt Ville Hiltunen 11-4, 11-9, 15-13
Fabienne Oppliger bt Saara Saloranta 11-6, 11-4, 11-5
[16] HUNGARY bt [17] ITALY 3-0
Peter Hoffman bt Alberto Matteazzi 11-8, 11-8, 11-7
Mate Vass bt Dimitri Diamadopoulos 11-9, 11-7, 11-7
Fatime Farkas bt Monica Menegozzi 11-8, 13-11, 11-6
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Switzerland, 3 Finland, 4 Hungary, 5 Italy
Pool B:
[2] GERMANY bt [7] NETHERLANDS 3-0
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Tim van der Pluijm 11-4, 11-1, 11-7
Raphael Kandra bt Michael Ernst 11-2, 11-7, 11-3
Lisa-Marie Sedlmeier bt Anne Jongerden 11-6, 11-8, 11-6
[10] SCOTLAND bt [15] IRELAND 3-0
Christopher Ferguson bt Neil Martin 11-6, 11-8, 12-10
Kevin Moran bt Joey Roberts 10-12, 11-3, 17-15, 12-10
Mhairi Charlton bt Niamh O'Hare 11-7, 11-5, 11-2
Final positions: 1 Germany, 2 Scotland, 3 Netherlands, 4 Ireland
Pool C:
[3] FRANCE bt [6] BELGIUM 2-1
Antoine-Camille Petrucci lost to Sam van Brusselen 6-11, 8-11, 8-11
Lucas Serme bt Tom de Mulder 11-2, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8
Melissa Alves bt Nathalie Philipsen 12-10, 11-3, 11-4
[11] DENMARK bt [14] AUSTRIA 2-1
Mark Povlsen lost to Marcus Greslehner 11-6, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 10-12
Rasmus Jessen Petersen bt Martin Schober 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6
Bine Lind bt Sandra Polak 10-12, 8-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-9
Final positions: 1 France, 2 Belgium, 3 Denmark, 4 Austria
Pool D:
[4] WALES bt [5] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1
Hywel Robinson bt Roman Svec 11-5, 12-10, 11-3
David Haley lost to Zbynek Standera 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11
Natalie Pritchard bt Anna Klimondova 11-3, 11-7, 11-3
[13] SPAIN bt [12] SWEDEN 2-1
Daniel Pascual lost to Johan Detter 6-11, 8-11, 9-11
Hugo Varela Campo bt Alex Christensson 13-11, 11-7, 11-9
Ana Arosa Rodriguez bt Jenny Lindstrom 11-6, 12-10, 11-5
Final positions: 1 Wales, 2 Czech Republic, 3 Spain, 4 Sweden