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Finals:
U15: England 3-0 Israel
U17: England 3-0 France
Semi-Finals:
U15:
France 1-2 Israel, England 3-0 Czech Republic
U17:
France 3-0 Germany, England 3-0 Spain
Lee Drew reports
The under 15 & 17 England teams have had an
entertaining five days in Girona for the European Junior
Team Championships.
We were made to feel very welcome by everyone involved in
Catalonia. For the first few days the weather even made us
feel at home, although we would have preferred the more
traditional hot Spanish weather to the rain from England.
It was very easy to settle down at the venue because
everything the players needed was within walking distance.
England U15 captain Harry Falconer commented "it was
great to have so many activities to keep players busy apart
from the squash, although we never did get to have our beach
football or mini golf challenge".
There was not much spare time for activities. because there
was a lot of squash to be packed into the four days of
playing. U17 captain Patrick Rooney said "when we weren't
playing, we were either supporting the other team or
preparing for the next match".
The number two seeded England U15 team played Switzerland,
Netherlands and Sweden in the group stages before being
matched up in the quarter finals against a strong German
team that had scared the number one seeds France in their
respective group.
The England team of Kyle Finch, Stuart Macgregor & Elise
Lazarus put in a good performance to win 3-0.
Next up for the 15's was another strong side in the third
seeds the Czech Republic in the semi final. This time
England fielded Kyle Finch, Harry Falconer & Elise Lazarus
who all performed well to secure another 3-0 victory for
England.
In the final, England faced an ecstatic Israeli team that
had ousted the French number one seeds 2-1 in their semi
final. This was the 1st time that Israel had reached a
European final.
The England team for the final was Kyle Finch, Harry
Falconer & Grace Gear, again all three performed well
against their opponents to retain the Under 15 trophy for
England.
U17
The number 1 seeded England Under 17 team faced Italy,
Finland, Czech Republic and Belgium in their pool; the squad
of Patrick Rooney, James Peach, Jack Cooper, Lucy Beecroft
and Lily Taylor all rotated and shared the work load to
secure the group, winning all the respective matches 3-0.
On the day of the quarter finals, the shock news came
through the England camp, that Lucy Beecroft had been unwell
during the evening and would be unable to play that day,
meaning the squad was a player down.
In the quarters the 17's played Ireland who had the
impressive David Ryan at number one. Ryan put Ireland in the
lead with a win over Patrick Rooney, before James Peach and
Lily Taylor secured the win for England.
The semis saw England up against a potentially very strong
Spanish team. Unfortunately for the crowd, the Spanish had a
number of injury worries and were not able to field any of
their three 1st string players for the match. This meant
that Patrick Rooney, James Peach and Lily Taylor all
recorded 3-0 victories to see England into the final.
In the final, England played France. The 1st match proved to
be an exciting and entertaining contest between Rooney and
Adrien Grondin, with Rooney eventually claiming it 3-2.
James Peach then won versus Mathias Grondin, before Lily
Taylor won the last match to retain the Under 17 title.
All in all, it has been a very successful and enjoyable trip
for the England teams who are definitely up for the
challenges that will be posed by all of the other teams in
next years Europeans, that will be hosted in Prague; see you
there next year...
Off to
Gerona for the Euro Juniors
Preview from Margaux M.Pitarch
The European Team Championship Under-17 and Under-15 is
taking place in the eight-court Complex Más San Josep, in
Gerona, Spain.
The Tournament will be played from Thursday, 16th of May
till Sunday 19th of May, with around two hundred players
coming from more than twenty different European countries.
For the first two days of competition, for both categories,
teams will play a league distributed in four pools. On the
last two days all the teams will fight through the play offs
for their final places.
Semi-finals will take place on Saturday evening and Finals
on Sunday morning.
The event starts on Wednesday with the arrival day for
everyone, an Opening Ceremony at the swimming pool in the
Complex, and will end on Sunday evening, with the prize
giving.
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