Essex hero finishes his junior career with Euro U-19 titles
Richie Fallows captured the biggest title of his career when he was crowned European Under-19 Champion in Finland. And the Essex and England number one completed a magnificent week in Helsinki by leading England to the team title as well.
In the singles, Richie defeated team-mate Angus Gillams 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 in the final adding the Euro trophy to the English, French and Welsh titles he has captured in the past 12 months. And it was sweet revenge for the PSA world ranked number 116 after losing in the final last year to Ollie Holland.
Richie, from Stratford and who plays at Connaught and Redbridge, was beyond happy when he spoke to Essex Junior Squash.com afterwards. “I wanted that so much, ” he admitted. “Angus beat me in the final of the British Under-19’s in November and I really owed him one.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am. I phoned my dad back home in England because I know he would have been too nervous to watch on the live streaming. He was so excited, and to be honest, so am I. It has been a tough tournament, particularly playing George Parker in the semis. I beat him 3-1 which was a battle. But to have four English players in the semi finals is a great achievement for the whole team.”
Top Essex coach Lee Drew from Ardleigh is the joint lead England coach alongside Fioona Geaves in charge of the teams in Finland. He said:” We are all proud of Richie. He has worked hard to get where he is. For England to get four players into the semi-finals of a major tournament gives us great encouragement. Our girls are also on track. Nada Elkalaawy and Lily Taylor went so close to making the final, both narrowly losing tough five game semis.”
Essex’s Owain Taylor from Colchester, representing Wales, finished 22nd in an U-19 field of 64 players.
After a day’s rest, Richie joined forces with the rest of the England team as they attempted to retain the title they have won 27 times in the competition’s 31 year history.
The squad of Richie Fallows, Angus Gillams, George Parker, Nada Elkalaawy and Lily Taylor did not lose a rubber in all four days in Helsink.
Having overcome Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic 3-0 in the group stages, they repeated their domination in the knockout rounds, overwhelming Israel in the quarter-finals, Hungary in the semi-finals and Spain in the final.
In the final Fallows defeated Edmon Lopez-Moller 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 and Gillams beat Bernat Jaume 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 to clinch victory, leaving Elkalaawy with a dead rubber against Cristina Gomez, which she also won without dropping a game 11-5, 11-4.
