RESULTS: European Team Squash Championships, Aix-en-Provence, France
Men's 2nd qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] FINLAND 4/0
Nick Matthew bt Olli Tuominen 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (81m)
Daryl Selby bt Arttu Moisio 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (23m)
James Willstrop bt Henrik Mustonen 11-3, 11-8, 11-4 (22m)
Peter Barker bt Matias Tuomi 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (37m)
[4] NETHERLANDS bt [5] GERMANY 3/1
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Simon Rosner 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (42m)
Sebastian Weenink lost to Rudi Rohrmuller 10-12, 5-11, 12-10, 8-11 (53m)
Dylan Bennett bt Jens Schoor 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6 (56m)
Piedro Schweertman bt Andre Haschker 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 (56m)
Pool B:
[3] WALES bt [6] SCOTLAND 3/1
Jethro Binns lost to Alan Clyne 3-11, 9-11, 4-11 (42m)
Alex Gough bt Harry Leitch 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7 (75m)
Peter Creed bt Stuart Crawford 9-11, 13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10 (73m)
David Evans bt Chris Small 11-8, 11-2, 11-2 (54m)
[2] FRANCE bt [7] IRELAND 4/0
Thierry Lincou bt Arthur Gaskin 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 (28m)
Gregoire Marche bt Neil Martin 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (24m)
Renan Lavigne bt Steve Richardson 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 (41m)
Mathieu Castagnet bt Niall Rooney 11-6, 11-3, 11-0 (14m)
Pool C:
[9] SPAIN bt [17] ISRAEL 4/0
Borja Golan bt Ido Avron 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (27m)
Ivan Flores bt Avner Geva 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (29m)
David Vidal bt Nir Arkin 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Nir Zisman 11-2, 11-1, 11-6 (17m)
[24] CROATIA bt [25] TURKEY 4/0
Filip Madaric bt Timur Arslan 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 (29m)
Srdan Maksimovic bt Huseyin Gumus 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (32m)
Vedran Svonja bt Ergul Yilmazel 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (29m)
Petar Galekovic bt Sinan Salih 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
[16] BELGIUM bt [17] ISRAEL 4/0
Stefan Casteleyn bt Ido Avron 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
Mark Burke bt Eran Wagner 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 (25m)
Gregory Lecerf bt Nir Arkin 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (35m)
Sam van Brusselen bt Avner Geva 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (21m)
[9] SPAIN bt [25] TURKEY 4/0
Borja Golan bt Timur Arslan 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (18m)
Hugo Varela Campo bt Huseyin Gumus 11-0, 11-1, 11-3 (16m)
Ivan Flores bt Ergul Yilmazel 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (21m)
Eduardo Gonzales De Chaves bt Atilla Mustafaoglu 11-1, 11-1, 11-6 (19m)
Pool D:
[10] DENMARK bt [18] AUSTRIA 3/1
Kristian Frost Olesen lost to Aqeel Rehman 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-3, 7-11 (55m)
Kim Povlsen bt Marcus Greslehner 8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (31m)
Rasmus Nielsen bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-8, 11-3, 16-14 (21m)
Caspar Grauball Nielsen bt Stefan Brauneis 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 (32m)
[23] POLAND bt [26] CYPRUS 3/1
Wojciech Nowisz lost to Panos Hadjiphilippou 3-11, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11 (26m)
Kamil Dominiak bt Stavros Eftychiou 11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 11-4 (28m)
Marcin Kozik bt Andreas Koufetas 13-11, 11-4, 11-6 (36m)
Maciek Maciantowicz bt Joel Meletiou 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (33m)
[15] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [18] AUSTRIA 4/0
Jan Koukal bt Aqeel Rehman 11-9, 11-8, 11-1 (26m)
Ondrej Ertl bt Rehan van der Merwe 13-11, 11-6, 11-5 (36m)
Lukas Jelinek bt Jakob Dirnberger 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (52m)
Petr Martin bt Stefan Brauneis 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 (25m)
[10] DENMARK bt [26] CYPRUS 4/0
Rasmus Nielsen bt Panos Hadjiphilippou 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (27m)
Tobias Portner bt Andreas Tsouris 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 (18m)
Caspar Grauball Nielsen bt Andreas Koufetas 11-3, 11-3, 11-3 (15m)
Kim Povlsen bt Joel Meletiou 11-4, 11-6, 11-0 (14m)
Pool E:
[11] SWEDEN bt [19] LUXEMBOURG 4/0
Rasmus Hult bt Nathan Sneyd 9-11, 11-2, 12-10, 11-4 (36m)
Carl-Johan Lofvenborg bt Daniel Kaiser 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (26m)
Christian Drakenberg bt Niall Woodger 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 (18m)
Joakim Larsson bt Stephane Ayache 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (22m)
[27] SLOVAKIA bt [22] GIBRALTAR 4/0
Tomas Toth bt Anthony Brindle 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-4 (51m)
Marek Zvoncek bt Nicholas de Haro 11-8, 11-4, 11-1 (17m)
Marek Manik bt Christian Navas 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (33m)
Peter Kviecinsky bt Stephen Shacaluga 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (24m)
[14] HUNGARY bt [19] LUXEMBOURG 4/0
Mark Krajcsak bt Sanjay Raval 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)
Daniel Cseffalvay bt Daniel Kaiser 18-16, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8 (42m)
Sandor Fulop bt Daniel Hutchines 11-7, 11-1, 11-6 (26m)
Marton Szaboky bt Stephane Ayache 11-8, 11-2, 12-10 (31m)
[11] SWEDEN bt [27] SLOVAKIA 4/0
Rasmus Hult bt Tomas Toth 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (32m)
Sebastian Victor bt Marek Zvoncek 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 (32m)
Christian Drakenberg bt Marek Manik 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 (29m)
Carl-Johan Lofvenborg bt Peter Kviecinsky 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (43m)
Pool F:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [21] GREECE 4/0
Nicolas Mueller bt Fabian Kalaitzis 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 (23m)
Patrick Miescher bt Konstantinos Kargiotis 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (21m)
Benjamin Fischer bt Petros Tzamaloukas 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (26m)
Lukas Burkhart bt Declan Christie 11-2, 11-9, 11-8 (24m)
[20] UKRAINE bt [13] ITALY 0/4
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko lost to Davide Bianchetti 3-11, 2-11, 2-11 (20m)
Valeriy Fedoruk lost to Mirko Pareccini 8-11, 4-11, 3-11 (26m)
Ruslan Sorochinskiy lost to Amr Swelim 7-11, 5-11, 2-11 (25m)
Artem Shandybin lost to Stephane Galifi 3-11, 3-11, 7-11 (20m)
Women's 1st qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] ITALY 3/0
Dominique Lloyd-Walter bt Veronica Favero Camp 11-1, 11-1, 11-0 (16m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Manuela Manetta 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (22m)
Sarah Kippax bt Chiara Ferrari 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 (22m)
[4] IRELAND bt [5] GERMANY 3/0
Laura Mylotte bt Pamela Hathway 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 (25m)
Madeline Perry bt Sina Wall 11-3, 11-3, 11-3 (18m)
Aisling Blake bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 15-13, 11-6, 11-3 (27m)
Pool B:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [7] SWITZERLAND 3/0
Margriet Huisman bt Agapi Kazamia 11-8, 14-12, 11-8 (28m)
Annelize Naude bt Gaby Schmohl 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-2 (53m)
Orla Noom bt Jasmin Ballman 11-6, 11-9, 11-1 (28m)
[3] FRANCE bt [6] DENMARK 3/0
Coline Aumard bt Cecilie Mayer 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (24m)
Camille Serme bt Line Hansen 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (30m)
Isabelle Stoehr bt Marie-Louise Feddern 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (20m)
Pool C:
[16] SWEDEN bt [17] POLAND 3/0
Jennie Lindstrom bt Vanessa Geroska 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (19m)
Anna-Carin Forstadius bt Dominika Witkowska 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (20m)
Josefa Bertilsson bt Anna Jurkun 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-2 (26m)
Pool D:
[15] FINLAND bt [18] LUXEMBOURG 3/0
Michaela Bjornstrom bt Francoise Donven 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (25m)
Saara Valtola bt Sandra Denis 13-11, 11-8, 11-4 (23m)
Elina Kononen bt Claudia Mich 11-2, 11-2, 11-0 (12m)
Pool E:
[14] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [19] GREECE 3/0
Anna Klimundova bt Zeta Tzamalouka 11-2, 11-0, 11-3 (12m)
Lucie Fialova bt Eliza Kargioti 11-4, 11-2, 11-1 (17m)
Veronika Koukalova bt Nikoleta Pozidi 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (15m)
Pool F:
[12] BELGIUM bt [20] CYPRUS 3/0
Yara Delagrange bt Christina Vrahimi 11-3, 12-10, 11-1 (16m)
Annabel Romedenne bt Vaso Karasava 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (22m)
Liesbeth Dries bt Antonia Aristodemou 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 (15m)
[13] AUSTRIA bt [21] TURKEY 3/0
Judith Gradnitzer bt Aynur Yilmaz 11-4, 11-1, 11-7 (16m)
Birgit Coufal bt Ayten Kececi 11-0, 11-0, 11-0 (13m)
Sandra Polak bt Zeynep Kocakavak 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 (13m)
Hosts France made sure of representation in the semi-finals of the European Team Squash Championships after straightforward wins in the second qualifying round of both the men's and women's events in the premier European Squash Federation event in Aix-en-Provence.
Second seeds in the men's event - and expected to contest the final with title-holders England for the tenth time in the last 11 years - France cruised to a 4/0 victory over Ireland, the seventh seeds, in Pool B.
While 20-year-old Gregoire Marche beat Irishman Neil Martin in straight games in his maiden appearance in the event for France, 32-year-old team-mate Renan Lavigne battled to a 41-minute win over Steve Richardson in what he expects to be his final French appearance after making his debut in the event in 1996 and competing in all 15 championships since then.
"Playing in my last Europeans 'at home' is a perfect way to end that story," said the former world No17 from Marseille.
In the women's event, France are the No3 seeds and defeated sixth seeds Denmark without dropping a game – squad number one Camille Serme overcoming top Dane Line Hansen 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 in 30 minutes.
The team now has its toughest qualifying test when they take on Pool B rivals Netherlands, the second seeds who have competed in the final for the past seven years. The Dutch team beat seventh seeds Switzerland 3/0 – but only after top string Annelize Naude survived a tough test against Gaby Schmohl before beating the Swiss number one 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-2 in 53 minutes.
Defending champions England also made sure of their place in the last four of the knockout stage of the events. The top-seeded men's team beat eighth seeds Finland 4/0 – but England number one Nick Matthew was given a scare by flying Finn Olli Tuominen. The 29-year-old Yorkshireman - at two in the world, the highest-ranked player in the event - overcame a two-game deficit before beating 11-time Finnish national champion Tuominen 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 in 81 minutes.
England's European championship debutantes Dominique Lloyd-Walter and Sarah Kippax were again in action in their 3/0 win over Italy in the women's qualifying tie in Pool A. The pair scored straight games wins - as did team number one Jenny Duncalf, the world No2, who despatched top Italian Manuela Manetta 11-7, 11-5, 11-4.