Germans Celebrate European Club Championships Double

Paderborn and Court-Wiesel clinched the men's and women's titles, respectively, in the European Club Championships to claim a German double in Linz, Austria.

In a repeat of last year's final, Paderborn beat England champions Colets, from Thames Ditton in Surrey, in the semi-finals. However, like the 2003 final, the match finished at 2-2 after the teams' four players had battled it out - but in Linz it came down to a difference of points (91-89) to separate the two clubs.

Paderborn went on to defeat fellow Germans Court-Wiesel, from Bonn-Mulheim, 3-1 in the final.

In the women's final, England's Linda Elriani led Court-Wiesel to a 3-0 win over title-holders Pontefract, of England, in a reverse of the 2003 final. The maximum points victory was clinched by Germany's 17-times National champion Sabine Tillman, the former Miss Schoene, who beat Pontefract's Kirsty McPhee 9-7 7-9 9-4.

Men's semi-finals:
COURT WIESEL (Bonn-Mulheim, Germany) bt WR. NEUDORF (Austria) 3-1
Daniel Forslund lost to Alex Gough 4-9, 5-9, 5-9
Simon Frenz bt Andreas Fuchs 9-6, 9-2, 9-2
Oliver Pettke bt Leopold Czaska 10-8, 9-1, 9-1
Christian Drakenberg bt Andreas Freudensprung 9-1, 9-0, 9-1

PADERBORN (Germany) bt COLETS (Thames Ditton, England) 2-2 [Paderborn win 91-89 on points countback]
Ben Garner bt Lee Drew 9-3, 9-4, 9-1
Lars Harms lost to Scott Handley 8-10, 5-9, 9-2, 1-9
Tim Garner lost to Danny Meddings 1-9, 7-9, 2-9
Stefan Leifels bt Clive Ewins 9-7, 4-9, 9-3, 9-5

Final:
PADERBORN bt COURT WIESEL 3-1
Ben Garner bt Daniel Forslund 9-6, 9-2, 9-2
Lars Harms bt Simon Frenz 9-5, 9-1, 9-0
Tim Garner bt Oliver Pettke 5-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-2, 9-7
Stefan Leifels lost to Christian Drakenberg 3-9, 5-9, 6-9

3rd place play-off:
COLETS bt NEUDORF 3-1
Lee Drew bt Alex Gough 9-3, 9-7, 3-9, 9-4
Scott Handley bt Andreas Fuchs 9-5, 9-2, 9-3
Danny Meddings bt Leopold Czaska 9-2, 9-0, 4-9, 9-6
Greg Pearman lost to Andreas Freudensprung 9-5, 1-9, 4-9, 7-9

Women's semi-finals:
PONTEFRACT (England) bt AMSTELPARK (Netherlands) 2-1
Rebecca Botwright lost to Annelize Naude 5-9, 8-10, 7-9
Kirsty McPhee bt Anna McGeever 5-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-1
Sarah Bowles bt Ellie Pierce 9-3, 9-1, 9-6

COURT-WIESEL (Bonn-Mulheim, Germany) bt SAS (Vienna, Austria) 3-0
Linda Elriani bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 9-3, 9-1, 9-1
Sabine Tillman bt Birgit Coufal 9-3, 9-1, 9-0
Simone Korell bt Stephanie Windischbauer 9-1, 9-1, 9-1

Final:
COURT-WIESEL bt PONTEFRACT 3-0
Linda Elriani bt Rebecca Botwright 9-3, 9-2, 9-3
Sabine Tillman bt Kirsty McPhee 9-7, 7-9, 9-4
Karin Beriere bt Sarah Bowles 9-2, 9-0, 9-6

3rd place play-off:
SAS bt AMSTELPARK 2-1
Kathrin Rohrmueller lost to Annelize Naude 4-9, 5-9, 3-9
Pamela Pancis bt Anna McGeever 9-3, 9-5, 9-0
Birgit Coufal bt Ellie Pierce 4-9, 9-4, 9-5, 9-7