After competing in all but one of the events since 1978, Italy celebrated their first appearance in the men's semi-finals of the European Team Squash Championships after beating Czech Republic 4/0 in the final Division 1 qualifying round of the European Squash Federation event at the Esport Center in Espoo, Finland.
Earlier in the day, the Italians went down 4/0 to defending champions England - but will now face second seeds France for a place in the final. Following comfortable 4/0 victories over both Italy and Wales, favourites England will take on third seeds Netherlands in the other semi.
And England also made a notable breakthrough in the Women's Division 1 event where the third seeds beat No2 seeds France 3/0 to finish as Pool B winners. Winners of the title every year until 2010, England will now face fourth seeds Ireland for a place in the final.
In one of the most dramatic clashes in the history of the championships, Spain beat Belgium in the Men's Division 2 quarter-finals. The matches ended 2-2, the games ended 7-7, but Spain ultimately clinched victory by a 124/122 points margin!
RESULTS: European Team Championship, Espoo, Finland
Division 1 - Men's final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [5] ITALY 4/0
Nick Matthew bt Davide Bianchetti 11-5, 11-6, 11-6
Daryl Selby bt Andrea Torricini 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8
Jonathan Kemp bt Mirko Pareccini 11-1, 11-6, 11-2
Peter Barker bt Amr Swelim 11-8, 11-3, 11-4
[4] WALES bt [8] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/1
Peter Creed lost to Jan Koukal 8-11, 8-11, 7-11
Alex Gough bt Jaroslav Cech 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
Nic Birt bt Pavel Sladecek 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
David Evans bt Petr Martin 11-5, 11-5, 11-2
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] WALES 4/0
James Willstrop bt Peter Creed 11-9, 11-7, 11-9
Daryl Selby bt Alex Gough 11-8, 11-4, 11-7
Jonathan Kemp bt David Haley 11-2, 11-2, 11-6
Peter Barker bt David Evans 11-6, 11-6, 11-4
[5] ITALY bt [8] CZECH REPUBLIC 4/0
Stephane Galifi bt Petr Martin 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5
Marcus Berrett bt Roman Svec 11-1, 11-3, 11-3
Amr Swelim bt Pavel Sladecek 11-6, 11-5, 11-8
Davide Bianchetti bt Jaroslav Cech 11-9, 11-3, 11-9
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Italy, 3 Wales, 4 Czech Republic
Pool B:
[2] FRANCE bt [6] GERMANY 4/0
Gregory Gaultier bt Jens Schoor 11-1, 15-13, 11-4
Yann Perrin bt Andre Haschker 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8
Julien Balbo bt Raphael Kandra 11-7, 11-7, 13-11
Gregoire Marche bt Rudi Rohrmuller 11-4, 11-8, 14-12
[3] NETHERLANDS drew with [7] SCOTLAND 2/2
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Alan Clyne 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9
Piedro Schweertman lost to Chris Small 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11
Rene Mijs lost to Lyall Paterson 4-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 12-14
Dylan Bennett bt Stuart Crawford 11-6, 11-7, 11-6
[6] GERMANY bt [7] SCOTLAND 4/0
Simon Rosner bt Alan Clyne 11-3, 11-4, 11-3
Andre Haschker bt Chris Small 4-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5
Raphael Kandra bt Harry Leitch 11-8, 11-6, 11-5
Jens Schoor bt Stuart Crawford 7-11, 16-14, 11-1, 11-9
[2] FRANCE bt [3] NETHERLANDS 3/1
Mathieu Castagnet lost to Laurens Jan Anjema 9-11, 6-11, 7-11
Yann Perrin bt Piedro Schweertman 11-1, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10
Julien Balbo bt Sebastian Weenink 11-7, 11-2, 11-6
Gregoire Marche bt Dylan Bennett 11-4, 11-3, 11-5
Final positions: 1 France, 2 Netherlands, 3 Germany, 4 Scotland
Division 1 - Women's final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] NETHERLANDS bt [5] GERMANY 3/0
Vanessa Atkinson bt Sina Wall 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
Natalie Grinham bt Pamela Hathway 11-1, 11-7, 11-3
Milja Dorenbos bt Franziska Hennes 11-9, 11-6, 11-5
[4] IRELAND bt [8] SPAIN 2/1
Madeline Perry bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-5, 11-6, 13-11
Aisling Blake bt Stela Carbonell 11-3, 11-5, 11-9
Claire O'Brien lost to Chantal Moros-Pitarch 3-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-14
[1] NETHERLANDS bt [4] IRELAND 2/1
Vanessa Atkinson lost to Madeline Perry 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, 9-11
Natalie Grinham bt Aisling Blake 11-6, 11-5, 11-7
Orla Noom bt Claire Staunton 11-7, 11-2, 11-2
[5] GERMANY bt [8] SPAIN 2/1
Sina Wall bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5
Pamela Hathway lost to Stela Carbonell 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 10-12
Eva Brauckmann bt Laura Alonso Perez 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8
Final positions: 1 Netherlands, 2 Ireland, 3 Germany, 4 Spain
Pool B:
[2] FRANCE bt [7] SCOTLAND 2/1
Isabelle Stoehr bt Frania Gillen-Buchert 12-10, 11-6, 11-8
Camille Serme bt Senga Macfie 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8
Coline Aumard lost to Lisa Aitken 6-11, 7-11, 8-11
[3] ENGLAND bt [6] ITALY 3/0
Sarah Kippax bt Grossi Katiuscia 11-4, 11-2, 11-5
Jenny Duncalf bt Manuela Manetta 11-1, 4-11, 13-11, 11-5
Emma Beddoes bt Monica Menegozzi 11-2, 11-4, 11-4
[3] ENGLAND bt [7] SCOTLAND 3/0
Sarah Kippax bt Senga Macfie 11-9, 11-2, 11-3
Dominique Lloyd-Walter bt Lisa Aitken 11-5, 11-2, 11-1
Emma Beddoes bt Alex Clark 11-9, 11-5, 11-5
[2] FRANCE bt [6] ITALY 3/0
Camille Serme bt Manuela Manetta 11-9, 11-6, 11-8
Isabelle Stoehr bt Grossi Katiuscia 11-7, 11-2, 11-7
Maud Duplomb bt Simona Fedeli 11-2, 11-1, 11-2
[3] ENGLAND bt [2] FRANCE 3/0
Jenny Duncalf bt Camille Serme 15-13, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5
Sarah Kippax bt Isabelle Stoehr 12-10, 11-9, 11-4
Emma Beddoes bt Coline Aumard 11-7, 11-9, 11-1
[7] SCOTLAND bt [6] ITALY 2/1
Senga Macfie lost to Manuela Manetta 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 7-11
Frania Gillen-Buchert bt Grossi Katiuscia 11-4, 11-4, 11-3
Lisa Aitken bt Monica Menegozzi 11-4, 11-1, 11-2
Final positions: 1 England, 2 France, 3 Scotland, 4 Italy
Division 2 - Men's quarter-finals:
1] SPAIN bt [7] BELGIUM 2/2 (Spain win 124-122 on points countback)
Borja Golan lost to Stefan Casteleyn 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 2-11
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Mark Burke 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5
Hugo Varela lost to Jan van den Herrewegen 1-11, 8-11, 7-11
David Vidal bt Tom de Mulder 12-10, 11-7, 11-3
[6] DENMARK bt [5] SWITZERLAND 3/1
Kristian Frost Olesen lost to Nicolas Mueller 5-11, 6-11, 1-11
Morten W Sorensen bt Lukas Burkhart 11-4, 11-5, 11-3
Michael Frilund bt Patrick Miescher 7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6
Rasmus Nielsen bt Reiko Peter 12-10, 11-4, 11-6
[4] SWEDEN bt [3] IRELAND 3/1
Rasmus Hult bt Arthur Gaskin 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8
Christian Drakenberg bt Steve Richardson 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-1
Romain Tenant bt Conor O'Hare 13-11, 11-2, 11-7
Gustav Detter lost to Derek Ryan 11-7, 8-11, 13-15, 9-11
[2] FINLAND bt [8] HUNGARY 2/2 (Finland win 9-5 on games countback)
Olli Tuominen lost to Mark Krajcsak 3-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 4-11
Matias Tuomi bt Sandor Fulop 11-7, 11-4, 11-1
Erno Teitti lost to Andras Torok 9-11, 11-5, 9-11
Henrik Mustonen bt Marton Szaboky 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
9th - 11th place play-offs:
[11] AUSTRIA bt [10] UKRAINE 4/0
Aqeel Rehman bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Daniel Haider bt Valeriy Fedoruk 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9
Marcus Greslehner bt Denis Podvornyi 11-9, 11-7, 11-6
Jakob Dirnberger bt Kostiantyn Rybalchenko 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7
Division 2 - Women's 2nd Qualifying rounds:
[3] AUSTRIA bt [5] FINLAND 2/1
Birgit Coufal bt Saara Valtola 11-7, 13-11, 7-11, 10-12, 11-3
Sandra Polak bt Elina Kononen 11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10
Sabrina Rehman lost to Pia Ojala 11-9, 4-11, 4-11, 7-11
[1] SWITZERLAND bt [6] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/0
Gaby Schmohl bt Lucie Fialova 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6
Sara Guebey bt Veronika Koukalova 7-11, 11-4, 11-2, 6-11, 11-6
Agapi Kazamia bt Klara Janoskova 17-15, 11-5, 11-7
[2] WALES bt [4] BELGIUM 2/1
Deon Saffery bt Kim Hannes 11-6, 11-7, 12-10
Tesni Evans bt Liesbeth Dries 11-1, 11-8, 11-3
Hannah Jane Davies lost to Nele Gilis 20-22, 8-11, 9-11
[4] BELGIUM bt [5] FINLAND 2/1
Kim Hannes bt Saara Valtola 11-6, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7
Yara Delagrange bt Emilia Soini 11-9, 11-9, 11-8
Nele Gilis lost to Jutta Tuunanen 13-11, 5-11, 9-11, 6-11
[2] WALES bt [6] CZECH REPUBLIC 2/1
Deon Saffery lost to Lucie Fialova 11-4, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 6-11
Tesni Evans bt Veronika Koukalova 12-10, 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-5
Hannah Jane Davies bt Eva Fertekova 11-5, 11-3, 11-5
[1] SWITZERLAND bt [3] AUSTRIA 2/1
Gaby Schmohl lost to Birgit Coufal 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 5-11, 8-11
Sara Guebey bt Sandra Polak 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-6
Agapi Kazamia bt Judith Gradnitzer 11-7, 11-6, 11-6
Men's Division 1 - Semi-finals line-up:
[1] ENGLAND v [3] NETHERLANDS
[2] FRANCE v [5] ITALY
Women's Division 1 - Semi-finals line-up:
[1] NETHERLANDS v [2] FRANCE
[3] ENGLAND v [4] IRELAND
Men's Division 2 - Semi-finals line-up:
[1] SPAIN v [6] DENMARK
[2] FINLAND v [4] SWEDEN