Holland Positions Itself for Medal
April 26, 2005, by Howard Harding
SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

England Men Steamroll Ahead

Dutch win over Ireland Positions Them for Mens Medal Round

Holland rested Anjema and Berden in their England Pool contest. photo © 2005 Debra Tessier.

Netherlands, the fourth seeds, conceded their morning contest against England when they rested their top two players, Laurens Jan Anjema and Tommy Berden, but it paid off in the afternoon when they crushed fifth seeds Ireland 4/0 later in the day at the Frans Otten Stadion in Amsterdam in the European Team Championships.

In the women's event, world champion Vanessa Atkinson led the hosts to an emphatic double victory - the second seeds beating both third seeds France and seventh seeds Ireland by 3/0 margins.

Led by world No3 Lee Beachill, England's men were in devastating form in defeating Netherlands. The top seeds followed this victory by securing a second 4/0 win in Pool A over eighth seeds Finland - who had earlier drawn 2/2 with Ireland.

But spirits in the Dutch camp were high after their full-strength squad - featuring reigning Dutch champion Tommy Berden and fast-improving 22-year-old world No31 Laurens Jan Anjema - maintained a clean sheet in games in their victory over Ireland.

"We were very pleased with our performance in the evening," said Dutch men's team manager Peter Berden. "Lucas Buit, a nine-times Dutch champion who has played in countless European Championships, showed that he has still got what it takes to beat Irishman Steve Richardson (himself, a former Irish champion) and squad No1 Tommy Berden lasted well in a 31-minute first game against Liam Kenny to go through to win in straight games, taking the second 9/0!

"It was a great help to us that Ireland and Finland drew in the morning - so we should qualify for the semi-finals without too much trouble tomorrow," added Berden senior.

Second seeds France, runners-up to England for the past five years, kicked off their 2005 campaign with 4/0 wins over third seeds Wales and seventh seeds Germany in Pool B. Wales, who rested their numbers one and two Alex Gough and David Evans, respectively, against France, recalled Evans in the later tie against Spain, the sixth seeds. Evans beat the Spanish No1 Borja Golan 9-5 9-4 9-0, but Golan's team-mate Albert Codina twice came from behind to beat Welshman Ricky Davies 7-9 9-3 4-9 9-5 9-2 to deny the third seeds a maximum points victory.

EVENT DIVIDED FOR FIRST TIME INTO TWO DIVISIONS
This year's men's event introduces a 'Premier Division' for the top eight seeds competing in Pools A & B. The winners and runners-up after two days of qualifying go through to the semi-finals - and a guaranteed place in next year's Premier Division - leaving the remaining four teams to compete in play-offs with the winners of Pools C, D, E and F to fight for the other positions in next year's top division.

The two top seeds in the women's event sailed through their opening day opposition. The two triumphs by the Netherlands were matched by favourites England, who beat fourth seeds Belgium and eighth seeds Scotland 3/0 in Pool A.

Arguably the clash of the day took place on courts 14 and 15 where the mighty Russia faced men's event newcomers Ukraine - a cross-border battle between the 20th and 21st seeds which could well ultimately decide the competition's 'wooden spoon'.

Alexei Severinov put Russia ahead with a 9-4 9-3 9-7 win over the Ukraine No1 Roman Dolynych - but the squash minnows bravely fought back to clinch an unlikely victory when the Ukraine No4 Ilya Onishko sealed a 3/1 triumph by coming back from a game down to beat Russia's Andrey Brattner 7-9 9-0 9-3 4-9 10-8 in 65 minutes.

"To be honest, it was a closer match than we expected," said Dolynych, the 27-year-old from Kiev who has only been playing squash for some three years. "We beat them a few months ago in the European Nations Challenge Cup in Slovenia, so we thought we would win - but this time it was a tougher battle.

"I have beaten Alexei twice before, but not recently - as he has been playing more regularly while I have been playing less, concentrating my time on setting up the new Squash federation in Ukraine," Dolynych explained.

Ukraine's next opponents will be Scotland, the 12th seeds led by world No11 John White, a former world No1. "I've played John once before - in the European Individual Championships in Bratislava last September - so I know his game now," said an optimistic Dolynych!

RESULTS: European Team Championships, Frans Otten Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Men's 1st qualifying rounds - Premier Division Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] NETHERLANDS 4-0 (Lee Beachill bt Lucas Buit 9-1, 9-0, 9-1; Nick Matthew bt Dylan Bennett 9-6, 9-4, 9-4; James Willstrop bt Marc Reus 9-4, 9-2, 9-1; Simon Parke bt Gabor Marges 9-1, 9-0, 9-3)
[5] IRELAND drew with [8] FINLAND 2-2 (Liam Kenny lost to Olli Tuominen 6-9, 4-9, 9-7, 6-9; Derek Ryan bt Matias Tuomi 7-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-5; Steve Richardson lost to Juha Raumolin 8-10, 1-9, 4-9; Niall Rooney bt Erno Teitti 9-4, 9-3, 9-2)
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] FINLAND 4-0 (Peter Nicol bt Olli Tuominen 9-5, 9-3, 9-0; Nick Matthew bt Matias Tuomi 9-1, 9-3, 9-1; James Willstrop bt Erno Teitti 9-3, 9-2, 9-1; Simon Parke bt Tatu Murronmaa 9-1, 9-0, 9-1)
[4] NETHERLANDS bt [5] IRELAND 4-0 (Tommy Berden bt Liam Kenny 9-6, 9-0, 9-7; Laurens Jan Anjema bt Derek Ryan 9-3, 9-1, 9-3; Lucas Buit bt Steve Richardson 9-7, 9-6, 9-6; Marc Reus bt Niall Rooney 9-3, 9-7, 9-0)
Premier Division Pool B:
[2] FRANCE bt [3] WALES 4-0 (Thierry Lincou bt Gavin Jones 9-5, 9-3, 9-4; Gregory Gaultier bt Ricky Davies 9-7, 9-0, 9-4; Renan Lavigne bt Greg Tippings 9-7, 9-2, 10-8; Jean-Michel Arcucci bt Jethro Binns 7-9, 9-1, 2-9, 9-2, 9-1)
[7] GERMANY bt [6] SPAIN 3-1 (Simon Frenz lost to Borja Golan 1-9, 0-9, 3-9; Stefan Leifels bt Iago Cornes 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Simon Rosner bt Constantino Casas 9-4, 9-0, 9-7; Oliver Post bt Albert Codina 9-5, 9-0, 9-3)
[2] FRANCE bt [7] GERMANY 4-0 (Thierry Lincou bt Stefan Leifels 10-8, 9-5, 9-0; Gregory Gaultier bt Simon Rosner 9-0, 9-2, 9-0; Renan Lavigne bt Johannes Voit 9-0, 9-3, 9-2; Laurent Elriani bt Oliver Post 9-1, 9-5, 9-3)
[3] WALES bt [6] SPAIN 3-1 (David Evans bt Borja Golan 9-5, 9-4, 9-0; Gavin Jones bt Constantino Casas 9-2, 9-1, 9-3; Ricky Davies lost to Albert Codina 9-7, 3-9, 9-4, 5-9, 2-9; Greg Tippings bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 9-6, 9-4, 9-3)
Pool C:
[9] DENMARK bt [16] CZECH REPUBLIC 3-1 (Morten W Sorensen lost to Jan Koukal 0-9, 0-9, 0-9; Mads Korsbjerg bt Martin Stepan 9-6, 3-9, 9-6, 4-9, 9-3; Michael Frilund bt Milos Pokorny 9-7, 6-9, 9-5, 9-5; Rene Jepsen bt Pavel Sladecek 9-7, 9-0, 9-1)
Pool D:
[10] SWITZERLAND bt [15] ISRAEL 4-0 (Marco Datwyler bt Ilan Oren 9-7, 9-4, 9-2; Andre Holderegger bt Tomer Noach 4-9, 9-3, 9-1, 9-7; Kevin Villiger bt Dove Haruzi 9-4, 9-1, 3-9, 9-6; Marcel Straub bt Nadav Wilensky 9-2, 9-7, 6-9, 9-3)
Pool E:
[11] SWEDEN bt [14] AUSTRIA 3-1 (Badr Abdel Aziz bt Andreas Fuchs 9-7, 8-10, 9-7, 9-1; Christian Drakenberg bt David Sabitzer-Huck 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Henrik Lofwenborg lost to Gerhard Schedlbauer 9-4, 5-9, 10-9, 5-9, 5-9; Joakim Karlsson bt Aqeel Rehman 9-1, 9-1, 9-1)
Pool F:
[12] SCOTLAND bt [13] BELGIUM 4-0 (John White bt Steve Dries 9-1, 9-5, 9-6; Martin Heath bt Wim van Asten 9-3, 9-0, 9-2; Stuart Crawford bt Rik Smet 9-1, 9-1, 9-1; Harry Gordon Leitch bt Ben Vandezande 9-7, 9-3, 9-0)
[21] UKRAINE bt [20] RUSSIA 3-1 (Roman Dolynych lost to Alexei Severinov 4-9, 3-9, 7-9; Dmytro Shcherbakov bt Pavel Sergeev 10-8, 9-2, 10-9; Oleksandr Molodukha bt Sergey Kostrikin 9-0, 9-2, 9-2; Ilya Onishko bt Andrey Brattner 7-9, 9-0, 9-3, 4-9, 10-8)

Women's 1st qualifying rounds - Premier Division Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] BELGIUM 3-0 (Linda Elriani bt Katline Cauwels 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Vicky Botwright bt Michou Cauwels 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Alison Waters bt Sonja Schrijvers 9-2, 9-0, 9-2)
[8] SCOTLAND bt [5] GERMANY 2-1 (Pamela Nimmo bt Karin Beriere 9-3, 9-6, 9-1; Louise Philip lost to Kathrin Rohrmueller 0-9, 9-6, 6-9, 3-9; Frania Gillen-Buchert bt Daniela Schumann 9-2, 9-5, 9-10, 9-7)
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] SCOTLAND 3-0 (Linda Elriani bt Pamela Nimmo 9-0, 9-5, 9-1; Jenny Duncalf bt Louise Philip 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Alison Waters bt Lizzie Leitch 9-3, 9-0, 9-0)
[5] GERMANY bt [4] BELGIUM 2-1 (Karin Beriere bt Charlie de Rycke 9-4, 9-1, 6-9, 9-1; Kathrin Rohrmueller bt Katline Cauwels 9-3, 9-4, 9-4; Daniela Schumann lost to Michou Cauwels 9-10, 4-9, 5-9)
Premier Division Pool B:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [3] FRANCE 3-0 (Vanessa Atkinson bt Isabelle Stoehr 9-3, 9-3, 5-9, 9-5; Margriet Huisman bt Celia Allamargot 9-7, 9-0, 9-0; Karen Kronemeyer bt Laurence Bois 9-1, 9-4, 8-10, 9-3)
[7] IRELAND bt [6] DENMARK 3-0 (Madeline Perry bt Ellen Petersen 1-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-6; Aisling Blake bt Line Hansen 8-10, 9-0, 9-4, 9-3; Laura Mylotte bt Ditte Nielsen 9-1, 9-5, 9-0)
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [7] IRELAND 3-0 (Vanessa Atkinson bt Aisling Blake 9-3, 9-3, 9-2; Annelize Naude bt Laura Mylotte 9-2, 9-1, 9-6; Margriet Huisman bt Eleanor Lapthorne 9-6, 9-4, 9-4)
[3] FRANCE bt [6] DENMARK 2-1 (Isabelle Stoehr lost to Ellen Petersen 5-9, 9-4, 10-9, 8-10, 7-9; Celia Allamargot bt Line Hansen 9-5, 9-4, 8-10, 9-7; Laurence Bois bt Ditte Nielsen 9-5, 9-4, 9-4)
Pool C:
[9] SPAIN bt [12] ITALY 2-1 (Olga Puigdemont Sola lost to Manuela Manetta 9-1, 5-9, 4-9, 9-0, 4-9; Margaux Moros-Pitarch bt Evelyn Panizzi 9-3, 9-2, 9-2; Elisabet Sado bt Katiuscia Grossi 9-1, 9-1, 9-0)
Pool D:
[10] SWITZERLAND bt [11] AUSTRIA 2-1 (Manuela Zehnder lost to Pamela Pancis 2-9, 4-9, 1-9; Gaby Schmohl bt Birgit Coufal 9-6, 2-9, 4-9, 9-3, 9-1; Olivia Hauser bt Judith Gradnitzer 9-1, 9-2, 9-0)

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