England won the European Women’s Team Squash Championship for the fifth consecutive year today by beating France 2-1 in a hard-fought final in Denmark, but they were beaten 9-6 on games by the French in the men’s decider.
Despite missing world no.4 Laura Massaro, who is taking a break from competitive squash, England underlined their strength in depth by claiming the women’s title for an incredible 37th time in 38 attempts.
However, it was a different story for the men, who were without the injured Nick Matthew, as their 22-year stranglehold on the trophy was ended by the second seeds, who lifted it for the first time after seven successive final defeats.
England received the perfect start in the women’s final when Warwickshire’s Sarah-Jane Perry defeated Coline Aumard, the world no.43, in the second string match 3/1 – 11-4 11-6 2-11 11-6 – in 36 minutes.
However, France levelled when Camille Serme, the world no.6, repeated her recent Windy City open victory over Middlesex’s Alison Waters in four games in 45 minutes at the top of the order.
The world no.3’s 7-11 4-11 11-9 5-11 defeat was England’s first lost rubber in this year’s championship.
It then all came down to the no.3s and Warwickshire’s Emma Beddoes proved too strong for world no.56 Laura Pomportes as she powered home in straight games – 11-5 11-5 11-4 – in 29 minutes.
The Leeds-based world no.13 tweeted afterwards: “Very proud to win deciding tie to bring European Team Champs home for England.”
In the men’s final it was France who were quickest out of the blocks, with world no.3 Gregory Gaultier thwarting a brave four-game effort from Essex’s Peter Barker with a 12-10, 11-8, 10-12, 11-3 win in 64 minutes.
Mathieu Castagnet then put France 2-0 up by also beating Essex’s Daryl Selby in four games – 6-11, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12 – but he was helped by an injury to Selby at 1/1 which delayed the match by 15 minutes.
However, Yorkshire’s James Willstrop gave England a glimmer of hope of keeping the title when he pipped Gregoire Marche 11-5 7-11 6-11 11-8 11-8 in an 89-minute thriller to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
That meant Yorkshire’s Chris Simpson had to beat Lucas Serme 3/0 and by 13 points to keep the trophy in English hands.
The rubber began so well for the England debutant when he won the first game 11-5, but Serme fought back superbly to claim the second 11-7 and the title – at which point the match was halted after 53 minutes.
Simpson tweeted later: “We gave it our all,but it wasn’t quite enough.congrats to France.I feel proud 2have played for @englandsr with such a great bunch of guys.”