European Individual Championships 2005
15-18 June, Prague

18-Jun, Finals:

 Gregory Gaultier bt Jan Koukal      9/5, 9/0, 9/1 (49m)
 Vanessa Atkinson bt Linda Elriani   9/7, 9/7, 9/3 (40m

Gaultier and Atkinson
claim European crowns

France's top seed Grégory Gaultier successfully defended his European Individual title with a straight games win over local favourite Jan Koukal in the final in Prague. Koukal, winner of the last three PSA events held in the Czech capital, competed well in the first game but had no answer as the world number 12 pulled away in the final two games to end the local hero's unbeaten home run.

In the women's final, the Netherlands' Vanessa Atkinson added the European crown to her already-impressive list of titles, beating England's second seed Linda Elriani, also in straight games. For Atkinson the win was revenge for her defeat by Elriani in their last meeting, in last month's German League finals.
 

I won! It was a very hard first game, but I worked hard, accelerated the pace and Jan was dead ...  I'm happy!   See you later ... Gregory Gaultier

17-Jun, Semi-Finals:

   Gregory Gaultier bt Peter Barker        9/4, 9/2, 9/0
   Jan Koukal bt Bradley Ball                   9/5, 6/9, 9/3, 9/6

   Vanessa Atkinson bt Becky Botwright  9/1, 9/2, 9/1
   Linda Elriani bt Pamela Nimmo            9/3, 10/8, 9/5

Gregory through,
Becky loses crown
 
The defending champions had contrasting fortunes in today's semi-finals in Prague.

France's Gregory Gaultier beat England's fourth seed Peter Barker, and will defend his title against local hero Jan Koukal, the Czech number one who has won the last three PSA tournaments held in Prague and who today beat second seed Bradley Ball in four games.

In the women's event Becky Botwright found world champion Vanessa Atkinson too much to handle, leaving England's hopes of retaining the title with Linda Elriani, who cruised past Scotland's Pamela Nimmo to reach the final.
 

Hi Fram, Everything's fine here. I won my semi-final quite easily against Peter, so I should be really fresh for the final. I'll play Jan Koukal, the local hero who played well today to beat Bradley Ball, so there should be a good crowd to support a Czech playing in the final for the first time. Grégory Gaultier

16-Jun:
Round Two & Quarters

Men's quarterfinals:
  Gregory Gaultier bt Mark Krajcsak 9/2, 9/5, 9/0
  Peter Barker bt Julien Balbo 9/0, 10/8, 9/3
  Jan Koukal bt Laurent Elriani  4/9, 10/8, 10/9, 9/0
  Bradley Ball bt Dylan Bennett  9/1, 9/1, 9/2

Women's quarterfinals:
  Vanessa Atkinson bt Pamela Pancis  9/3, 9/3, 9/0
  Rebecca Botwright bt Ellen Petersen 1/9, 9/3, 9/7, 9/3
  Pamela Nimmo bt Line Hansen 10/8, 9/1, 9/4
  Linda Elriani bt Olga Puidgemont  9/0, 9/1, 9/4

MEN'S DRAW
WOMEN'S DRAW

Complete playoff results:
MEN   WOMEN
 

Hi fram, Tough day yesterday. played Mr Balbo in the evening, was a tough 3-0. Had to change courts because the floors got too slippery but was pleased to get through. I have greg today so that should be a little tougher but im now on the glass court so we will wait and see. Last time I played him in league I got a bit of a pasting so I'm up for it. I'll let you know how I do. Can I thank my mate Smeggy for kind words. Cheers fram, Pete ...

2004 Event

 
Round One results:
Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Andrey Bratter (RUS) 9/0, 9/0, 9/0
Stuart Crawford (SCO) bt Ivan Djordjevic (SCG) 9/2, 9/3, 9/4
Martin Stepan (CZE) bt Atilla Dobai (SVK)  9/1, 9/1, 9/6
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Marek Zvoncek (SVK)  9/1, 9/0, 9/0
Julien Balbo (FRA) bt Andre Haschker (GER) 3/9,9/0,9/4, 9/0
Gerhard Schedlbauer (AUT) bt Alexei Severinov (RUS) 9/4,9/1, 9/0
Andras Torok (HUN) bt Pavel Sladecek (CZE)  9/5, 9/3, 9/4
Peter Barker (ENG) bt Robert Dobai (SVK)  9/0, 9/0, 9/0
an Koukal (CZE) bt Oleksandr Molodukha (UKR) 9/1,9/1,9/1
Klemen Gutman (SLO) bt Marton Szaboky (HUN)  9/7, 9/5, 9/0
Laurent Elriani (FRA) bt Alexander Pavulns (LAT) 9/3, 9/2, 9/1
Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Harry Gordon Leitch (SCO) 9/5, 9/3, 9/5
Stefan Leifels (GER) bt Josef Desira (MLT)  9/2, 9/0, 9/5
Milos Pokorny (CZE) bt Damir Bezan (SLO)  9/5, 9/6, 9/7
Bradley Ball (ENG) bt Dmytro Shcherbakov (UKR)  9/0, 9/0, 9/2

Men's qualification:
Robert Dobai (SVK) bt Artem Shandybin (UKR)   9/4, 9/3, 9/6
Dmytro Shcherbakov (UKR) bt Sergey Kostrikin (RUS) 9/4,9/0,9/2
Alexander Pavulns (LAT) bt Dmytro Kondratenko(UKR) 9/0,9/0,9/0
Andrey Bratter (RUS) bt Marcin Leszewicz (POL)   W/O
Oleksandr Molodukha (UKR) bt Artem Wawszczyk (POL)  W/O

Round One Results:
Ellen Petersen (DEN) bt Lotta Vuorela (FIN)   9/2, 9/3, 9/1
Pamela Pancis (AUT) bt Vaso Karasava (CYP)   9/7, 9/0, 9/3
Celia Allamargot (FRA) bt Lucie Fialova (CZE)   9/3, 9/5, 6/9, 9/4
Frania Gillen-Buchert (SCO) bt Olga Ertlova (CZE)   9/2, 9/0, 9/2
Laurence Bois (FRA) bt Aneta Paprnakova (SVK)   9/4, 9/5, 9/2
Pamela Nimmo (SCO) bt Ekaterina Glinchikova (RUS)   9/0, 9/0, 9/0
Milja Dorenbos (NED) bt Linda Hruzikova (SVK)   9/3, 9/4, 9/3
Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Edina Szombati (HUN)   9/1, 9/2, 9/1
Kathrin Rohrmuller (GER) bt Ayten Kececi (TUR)   9/0, 9/1, 9/0
Olga Puigdemont (ESP) bt Louise Philip (SCO)   9/3, 9/1, 9/0
Katharina Witt (GER) bt Zuzana Vackova (CZE)   9/3, 9/0, 9/0
Soraya Renai (FRA) bt Brigit Coufal (AUT)   9/2, 10/8, 5/9, 9/7
Line Hansen (DEN) bt Petra Vihar (SLO)   9/5, 9/1, 9/2

 

Hi Fram How are you? So far so good, I had some pretty easy matches... It's a shame that we don't have any time to visit the town, as the weather is now really nice, but then again, we came here to work, didn't we??? All the other French had very hard encounters, and all defended to the best of their abilities. Grégory Gaultier

 

Barker In Prague ... Hi fram, I really cant get away from you, can I? Prague is ok, a bit boring at the centre but I havent been into the city centre yet so I'm looking forward to that. I'm here with 'Brad attack' Ball who is keeping me company, he has just gone off to the supermarket to get his chocolate fix. The courts are very hard, it's like playing on concrete but we are all in the same boat. I think the players will start to feel it in the latter rounds but so far so good. I nearly missed my match today, I was reading in my room and looked at my phone, it said 11:10. I forgot that Prague is an hour on from london and was playing in five minutes! After a slow start, 9-0, I got myself out of bed and managed to win 3-1. first time playing these championships and I'm enjoying it, loads of guys and girls I haven't seen before so it's different but good fun. Speak to you later if you are lucky ... Best regards, Peter Barker

Hi Framboise, Yesterday was a 100% result day for the French contingency. Good matches to get into the tournament. The hard part starts this morning with the 2nd round. Well, apart from Greg who shouldn’t stay too long on court hopefully! Laurence Bois is playing Rebecca Botwright tomorrow, Soraya Renaï has got the priviledge of playing Linda Elriani, and I’m playing Pamela Pancis. I’ll let you know a bit later… PS. It rained all day yesterday, and we couldn’t visit the town at all…. Celia Allarmagot

Champion Botwright Bursts
Into European Semis

England's Rebecca Botwright, the women's title-holder, recovered from a game down to overcome Denmark's Ellen Petersen to reach the semi-finals of the European Individual Squash Championships in the Czech Republic capital Prague.

Botwright, the 23-year-old from Manchester who won the 2004 title in Slovakia, achieved her 2005 seeding after her 1-9 9-3 9-7 9-3 win over Petersen, the Dane who combines her squash-playing with her new career as a full-time doctor.

The defending champion now meets her toughest task - world champion Vanessa Atkinson, the No1 seed from the Netherlands who despatched Austrian champion Pamela Pancis, a semi-finalist in Bratislava, 9-3 9-3 9-0.

Then other women's semi-final will be an all-British affair between England's Linda Elriani and Scotland's Pamela Nimmo. Elriani, the No2 seed from Eastbourne, despatched Spain's 5/8 seed Olga Puigdemont Sola 9-0 9-1 9-4, while Edinburgh-born Nimmo, the other 3/4 seed, survived a close-fought opening game against Line Hansen before beating the Dane 10-8 9-1 9-4.

The men's competition will also boast a semi-final line-up featuring the top four seeds. France's defending champion Gregory Gaultier continued his ruthless pursuit of a second successive title with a 9-2 9-5 9-0 victory over Hungary's 5/8 seed Mark Krajcsak. The top seed from Aix-en-Provence will now face England's Peter Barker, a 3/4 seed who defeated Frenchman Julien Balbo 9-0 10-8 9-3.

Local interest is centred on the other 3/4 seed Jan Koukal, who was fully stretched by France's Laurent Elriani, the husband of the second seed in the women's event. Koukal, a 22-year-old from Prague who has won three successive PSA Tour titles in his home city over the past 15 months, fought back from a game down, then survived two close games before storming to a 4-9 10-8 10-9 9-0 victory over the French international.

Koukal now meets England's No2 seed Bradley Ball, who wasted little time in dismissing his Netherlands opponent Dylan Bennett 9-1 9-1 9-2.

Day ONE:

15-Jun-05:
EIC under way in Prague:         

There were no surprise results as the European Individual Championships got under way in Prague's Cechi Hotel complex.

Men's defending champion Gregory Gaultier turned in a perfect performance against Russian qualifier Andre Bratter, one of three whitewashes on the day. All of France's six representatives safely made the last sixteen, with Julien Balbo and Soraya Renai the only day one winners to drop a game.

Women's defending champion Becky Botwright eased through her first round match, with top seeds Vanessa Atkinson and Linda Elriani enjoying byes.

England's second seed Bradley Ball, fresh from his victory in the Mamut Dutch Open, completed the English contingent in round two with a comfortable victory over Ukranian qualifier Dmytro Shcherbakov.

Day two sees two rounds of action as the field is reduced to the final four in each event.

Atkinson & Gaultier Tipped
For European Glory In Prague

France's world No12 Gregory Gaultier and Netherlands' world champion Vanessa Atkinson head the men's and women's draws in the European Individual Championships, which will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, from 15-18 June, featuring players from 22 European countries.

The 2005 championships follow the successful re-launch of the European Squash Federation event last year in Slovakia.

Atkinson, the world No2 from The Hague, is expected to meet England's defending champion Rebecca Botwright, a 3/4 seed, in the semi-finals, en-route to a final showdown with No2 seed Linda Charman, the England No1 from Eastbourne in Sussex.

Frenchman Gaultier is seeded to retain the title he won twelve months ago in Bratislava. The 22-year-old from Aix-en-Provence meets the winner of a qualifying match between Russia's Andrey Bratter and Poland's Marcin Leszewicz in the first round - before a likely clash with 3/4 seed Peter Barker, from England, in the semi-finals.

Gaultier's anticipated opponent in the final is England's No2 seed Bradley Ball, the world No24 from Ipswich who clinched the Dutch Open title last week. Ball is likely to face two local opponents on his way to the climax - 9/16 seed Milos Pokorny in the second round, and Czech No1 Jan Koukal, the other 3/4 seed, in the semi-finals.