Lavigne Upsets Lincou In European Semis

The men's final of the European Individual Championships will be an all-French affair - but not the line-up predicted by the seedings, after Renan Lavigne upset second-seeded compatriot Thierry Lincou in the semi-finals of the European Squash Federation event in the French town of Royan.

Lavigne, a 5/8 seed, made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he ousted England's higher-seeded Nick Matthew in five games.

In the next round, the 32-year-old from Marseille twice came from behind to beat former world number one Lincou 6-9, 9-5, 0-9, 9-2, 9-3.

"I'm divided between my happiness of winning and my sadness of seeing Thierry losing," said Lavigne to www.sitesquash.com after the first international competition win over his French team-mate. "He is such a great champion, and it's unusual to see him lose like that.

"In the third, I thought to myself that he was just too good, it's not that I was playing badly at all, he was just above me.

"But in the fourth, I took an excellent start, and that was I think the turning point. In the fifth, I played one point after the other, Thierry never let go, but I just went for shots I do not normally go for, and everything went in."

Lavigne will face defending champion Gregory Gaultier - the world No4 from Aix-en-Provence going for his fourth successive title. The top-seeded Frenchman beat England international Peter Barker 2-9, 9-2, 9-1, 9-5.

The women's event will climax in the all-English final predicted by the seedings. Favourite Tania Bailey will meet England team-mate Jenny Duncalf after Bailey beat France's Isabelle Stoehr 9-4, 9-3, 9-7, and Duncalf despatched Dutch opponent Annelize Naude 9-7, 9-1, 9-2.

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [5/8] Peter Barker (ENG) 2-9, 9-2, 9-1, 9-5
[5/8] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt [2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 6-9, 9-5, 0-9, 9-2, 9-3

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [3/4] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-4, 9-3, 9-7
[2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [3/4] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-7, 9-1, 9-2