Germany Shock England To Win European Junior Championship Title
13 Apr 2009
Hosts Germany shocked favourites England in the final of the European Junior U19 Team Championships in Germering to win the European Squash Federation title for the second time in four years.
Only days after winning both the individual trophies, defending champions England looked certain to pick up the team title. But, in the opening battle between the second string boys, it was the scond seeds' Raphael Kandra who took the early advantage with an 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 victory over the England number two Chris Fuller.
Much to the delight of the exuberant local crowd, the German number one Rudi Rohrmuller then recovered from a game down to beat Alex Ingham 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 - stunningly reversing the result of their earlier quarter-final clash in the Individual championship.
England's new women's European individual champion Sarah-Jane Perry then gained a consolation point for the former title-holders - but the 18-year-old had to fight back from a game down before beating Lisa-Marie Sedlmeier 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 in the best of three 'dead rubber',
It was the dream result for the hosts who have reached the final nine times - and now beaten England twice after first winning the battle in the 2006 climax in Switzerland.
England, finalists in all 26 championships since 1984, surprisingly did not play their men's European individual champion Anthony Graham after missing the deadline for team selection and being forced to play their squad's No1 and No2 listed boys. Graham was unbeaten in nine matches in his last major junior championships before turning 19 today (Monday).
Fourth seeds Wales claimed the bronze medal after upsetting France, the third seeds, 2/1.
Scotland, the tenth seeds, claimed their best finish since 1995 when they beat fifth seeds Czech Republic in the play-off for fifth place.
Final:
[2] GERMANY bt [1] ENGLAND 2-1
Raphael Kandra bt Chris Fuller 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Alex Ingham 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-2
Lisa-Marie Sedlmeier lost to Sarah-Jane Perry 11-6, 4-11, 4-11
3rd place play-off:
[4] WALES bt [3] FRANCE 2-1
David Haley bt Geoffrey Demont 11-9, 4-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5
Hywel Robinson bt Lucas Serme 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4
Tesni Evans lost to Emilie Lamilango 9-11, 4-11
5th place play-off:
[10] SCOTLAND bt [5] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1
Kevin Moran bt Daniel Mekbib 11-8, 4-11, 11-5, 11-6
Christopher Ferguson bt Roman Svec 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4
Mhairi Charlton lost to Anna Klimondova 6-11, 8-11
7th place play-off:
[9] SWITZERLAND bt [6] BELGIUM 2-1
Marco Graziotti bt Tom de Mulder 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10
Patrick Miescher lost to Sam van Brusselen 6-11, 7-11, 9-11
Fabienne Oppliger bt Gaetane Hitchins 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
9th place play-off:
[7] NETHERLANDS bt [13] SPAIN 2-1
Michael Ernst lost to Fausto Gomez 10-12, 11-2, 11-8, 8-11, 10-12
Rick Penders bt Daniel Pascual 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5
Milou van der Heijden bt Sara Esperon 11-5, 11-2, 11-3
11th place play-off:
[11] DENMARK bt [8] FINLAND 2-1
Mark Povlsen bt Ville Hiltunen 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5
Philip Tran lost to Henrik Mustonen 4-11, 9-11, 4-11
Bine Lind bt Saara Saloranta 11-3, 11-2, 11-4
13th - 17th place play-off:
[15] IRELAND bt [16] HUNGARY 2-1
Joey Roberts bt Mate Vass 11-13, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4
Neil Martin bt Peter Hoffman 11-9, 11-3, 11-7
Rachel Black lost to Fatime Farkas 3-11, 4-11
13th place play-off:
[12] SWEDEN bt [15] IRELAND 2-1
Alex Christensson bt Hugo Diamond 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6
Johan Detter lost to Neil Martin 4-11, 11-9, 5-11, 8-11
Matilda Ravn-Holm bt Niamh O'Hare 11-8, 11-7, 11-3
15th place: [16] HUNGARY
16th place play-off:
[14] AUSTRIA bt [17] ITALY 2-1
Martin Schober lost to Marco d'Adam 10-12, 6-11, 4-11
Marcus Greslehner bt Alberto Matteazzi 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6
Sandra Polak bt Monica Menegozzi 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6