Rosner Leads Germany To European Championship Breakthrough

Former European Junior champion Simon Rosner led Germany through to the semi-finals of the European Team Championships for the first time in 12 years after the fifth seeds forced a draw with fourth seeds Wales in today's final men's qualifying round at Frans Otten Stadion in Amsterdam.

The teams faced the clash having both beaten Italy and Finland in the first day of qualifying in Pool D - but Germany boasted a superior 'matches won' rating and therefore only required a draw against their higher-seeded opponents.

While Rosner, ranked 63 in the world, was battling with Gough - ranked more than 40 places higher - his team-mate Stefan Leifels put the country ahead with a 7-9, 9-4, 9-1, 9-7 win over Welshman Jethro Binns.

Rosner, just 20, built up a 2/0 lead over Gough on the three-sided-glass showcourt at the impressive 21-court centre. But, belying his 37 years, former world No5 Gough fought back to force the match into a fifth game decider.

Rosner dug deep and, after 97 minutes, celebrated a magnificent 9-5, 10-8, 6-9, 2-9, 9-2 victory - which not only avenged his straight games loss to Gough in the same championships 12 months ago, but also brought cheers of jubilation from his team-mates!

"That's a big win for me," said Rosner. "I've played Alex twice before and only taken one game off him, so to beat a player of his stature and experience in this event is just great.

"In the third he was just better than me - I made a couple of mistakes in the middle of the game and that gave him the impetus to win it. When he went 6-1 up in the fourth, I let it go to concentrate on the fifth.

"I'm happy to win for myself, but more for the team - to give us a chance to make the semi-finals for the first time in a long time."

Gough, a veteran of numerous European Team Championships, was hugely disappointed with the outcome: "I was half asleep in the first two games and was really negative. But I thought I'd got him after the fourth - he seemed really tired.

"But all credit to him for coming back in the fifth."

Hosts Netherlands - seeded two in both the men's and women's championships - continued their winning ways after a sound start on day one. The Dutch men crushed seventh seeds Sweden 4/0 - though third and fourth strings Dylan Bennett and Rene Mijs both had to come back from behind to beat experienced Swedes Christian Drakenberg and Anders Thoren, respectively, in five games to ensure their country's third successive 4/0 win in Pool B.

The day marked a notable milestone for Dutch National Coach Sjef van der Heijden who celebrated his 400th appearance for the hosts since taking up his role in September 1994.

"The whole team wanted to make sure it was another 4/0 win today - especially for Sjef," said team manager Peter Berden. "It was another great performance from the team and we're now looking forward to tomorrow's semi-finals."

Vanessa Atkinson led the Dutch women's team through to the semi-finals for the sixth year in a row. The former world champion beat Line Hansen 9-6, 9-6, 9-4 to ensure a 3/0 win over Denmark, the third seeds.

England, the favourites and defending champions in both events, also comfortably reached the semi-finals. The men's squad beat British rivals Scotland 4/0 and will now go on to face Germany in the semi-finals, while England's women defeated Germany 3/0 to set up a surprise semi against France.

After finishing in seventh place last year, France confirmed their place in the last four after beating sixth seeds Switzerland 3/0.

But Ireland also upset the form book by clinching an unexpected place in the women's semi-finals. Led by world number 15 Madeline Perry, fifth seeds Ireland despatched Spain 3/0 and will now meet last year's runners-up Netherlands for a place in the women's final.

Men's final qualifying rounds - Pool A:

[1] ENGLAND bt [8] SCOTLAND 4-0
James Willstrop bt Alan Clyne 9-5, 9-3, 9-0
Lee Beachill bt Alistair Gorrie 9-1, 9-3, 9-3
Peter Barker bt Stuart Crawford 9-3, 9-1, 9-2
Joey Barrington bt Lyall Paterson 9-1, 9-2, 9-2

[9] DENMARK drew with [16] BELGIUM 2-2
Rasmus Nielsen lost to Wim van Asten 7-9, 9-5, 5-9, 9-1, 5-9
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Mats Raemen 9-0, 9-1, 9-4
Kasper Gross Jeppesen bt Gregory Lecerf 9-3, 9-6, 3-9, 9-3
Kim Poulsen lost to Sam van Brusselen 5-9, 9-5, 7-9, 1-9
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Scotland, 3 Denmark, 4 Belgium

Pool B:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [7] SWEDEN 4-0
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Badr Abdel Aziz 9-2, 9-1, 9-1
Tom Hoevenaars bt Rasmus Hult 9-5, 9-2, 9-5
Dylan Bennett bt Christian Drakenberg 3-9, 3-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-4
Rene Mijs bt Anders Thoren 7-9, 9-7, 2-9, 9-4, 9-0
[10] SWITZERLAND bt [15] HUNGARY 4-0
Nicolas Mueller bt Mark Krajcsak 5-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-1
Marco Datwyler bt Daniel Varga 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
Andre Holderegger bt Marton Szaboky 9-4, 9-0, 9-2
Benjamin Fischer bt Daniel Cseffalvay 9-1, 9-1, 9-4
Final positions: 1 Netherlands, 2 Switzerland, 3 Sweden, 4 Hungary
Pool C:
[11] SPAIN bt [14] AUSTRIA 3-1
Borja Golan bt Aqeel Rehman 9-1, 9-2, 9-5
David Vidal bt Stefan Brauneis 9-1, 9-3, 9-0
Alejandro Garbi Caro lost to Jakob Dirnberger 9-5, 4-9, 3-9, 5-9
Victor Montserrat bt Klaus Pfeifer 9-0, 9-7, 9-0
[3] FRANCE bt [6] IRELAND 4-0
Gregory Gaultier bt Liam Kenny 4-9, 9-1, 9-0, 9-6
Julien Balbo bt Niall Rooney 9-1, 9-0, 9-5
Renan Lavigne bt Arthur Gaskin 9-1, 9-5, 9-0
Mathieu Castagnet bt Steve Richardson 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
Final positions: 1 France, 2 Spain, 3 Ireland, 4 Austria
Pool D:
[5] GERMANY drew with [4] WALES 2-2
Simon Rosner bt Alex Gough 9-5, 10-8, 6-9, 2-9, 9-2
Stefan Leifels bt Jethro Binns 7-9, 9-4, 9-1, 9-7
Tim Weber lost to David Evans 4-9, 1-9, 1-9
Patrick Gaessler lost to Rob Sutherland 7-9, 6-9, 3-9
[12] FINLAND drew with [13] ITALY 2-2
Olli Tuominen bt Jose Facchini 9-5, 9-1, 9-3
Henrik Mustonen bt Simone Rocca 9-5, 9-3, 7-9, 9-2
Matias Tuomi lost to Andrea Capella 0-9, 9-1, 7-9, 7-9
Hameed Ahmed lost to Andrea Torricini 9-6, 4-9, 7-9, 2-9
Final positions: 1 Germany, 2 Wales, 3 Finland, 4 Italy
Pool E:
PORTUGAL bt [24] ISLE OF MAN 3-1
Andre Lima lost to David Norman 0-9, 9-5, 0-9, 2-9
Matthew Theodoris bt David Hedley 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
Joao Caiano bt Kevin Watterson 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
Carlos Mendes bt Lyndon Cheetham 10-8, 9-1, 9-2
[17] ISRAEL bt [24] ISLE OF MAN 4-0
Nadav Wilensky bt Kevin Watterson 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Ari Gitelband bt Richard Corlett 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
Nir Arkin bt David Hedley 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Nir Zisman bt Francis Thoday 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
Final positions: 1 Israel, 2 Portugal, 3 Isle of Man
Pool F:
SERBIA bt [23] RUSSIA 3-1
Dennis Drenjovski bt Alexei Severinov 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 9-5
Bratislav Zivadinovic bt Viacheslav Perfiliev 8-10, 9-6, 9-1, 9-0
Ivan Djordjevic bt Roman Fetisov 9-3, 9-0, 7-9, 9-3
Vukasin Petrovic lost to Pavel Sergeev 5-9, 2-9, 3-9
[18] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [23] RUSSIA 4-0
Pavel Sladecek bt Alexei Severinov 9-4, 9-2, 10-9
Ondrej Ertl bt Sergey Kostrykin 9-1, 9-1, 9-3
Lukas Jelinek bt Roman Fetisov 9-4, 9-1, 9-2
Patrik Neuwirth bt Andrey Bratter 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
Final positions: 1 Czech Republic, 2 Serbia, 3 Russia
Pool G:
SLOVENIA bt [22] GIBRALTAR 4-0
Klemen Gutman bt Anthony Brindle 9-2, 9-0, 9-1
Martin Mosnik bt Carl Gomez 9-2, 9-2, 9-6
Miha Kavas bt Stephen Shacaluga 9-1, 9-4, 9-4
Rozie Langus bt Nicholas de Haro 9-4, 9-4, 9-0
[19] SLOVAKIA bt [22] GIBRALTAR 4-0
Marek Manik bt Anthony Brindle 9-3, 5-9, 9-6, 10-8
Tomas Toth bt Carl Gomez 9-0, 10-8, 9-0
Peter Kviecinsky bt Stephen Shacaluga 9-1, 9-1, 9-0
Martin Kostolansky bt Christian Navas 9-3, 10-9, 9-1
Final positions: 1 Slovakia, 2 Slovenia, 3 Gibraltar
Pool H:
LUXEMBOURG bt [21] LATVIA 3-1
Nathan Sneyd lost to Alexander Pavulans 1-9, 9-6, 2-9, 2-8 disq.
Stephane Ayache bt Kaspars Purgailis 10-8, 9-4, 10-8
Sanjay Raval bt Arnis Tihvinskis 9-1, 9-3, 9-3
Daniel Hutchines bt Gunars Prizevoits 10-8, 9-2, 9-2
[20] UKRAINE bt [21] LATVIA 3-1
Roman Dolynych lost to Alexander Pavulans 0-9, 2-9, 0-9
Artem Shandybin bt Kaspars Purgailis 9-2, 9-3, 10-8
Dmytro Shcherbakov bt Arnis Tihvinskis 9-6, 9-2, 9-1
Kostyantyn Rybalchenko bt Margers Zeitmanis 9-2, 9-0, 9-0
Final positions: 1 Luxembourg, 2 Ukraine, 3 Latvia

Women's final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] GERMANY 3-0
Jenny Duncalf bt Simone Korell 9-1, 9-1, 9-5
Vicky Botwright bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 9-6, 9-0, 9-0
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro bt Sina Wall 9-0, 9-0, 9-1
[5] IRELAND bt [8] SPAIN 3-0
Aisling Blake bt Stela Carbonell 9-4, 9-2, 9-1
Madeline Perry bt Elisabet Sado Garriga 9-2, 9-1, 9-2
Laura Mylotte bt Alicia Alvarez Riaza 9-1, 9-1, 9-1
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Ireland, 3 Germany, 4 Spain
Pool B:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [3] DENMARK 3-0
Annelize Naude bt Marie-Louise Feddern 9-2, 9-2, 9-1
Vanessa Atkinson bt Line Hansen 9-6, 9-6, 9-4
Dagmar Vermeulen bt Cecilie Mayer 9-3, 9-5, 9-2
[7] FRANCE bt [6] SWITZERLAND 3-0
Camille Serme bt Gabriela Hegi 9-1, 9-0, 9-3
Isabelle Stoehr bt Gaby Schmohl 9-4, 9-0, 9-2
Maud Duplomb bt Sara Guebey 9-2, 9-2, 9-3
Final positions: 1 Netherlands, 2 France, 3 Denmark, 4 Switzerland
Pool C:
[9] WALES bt [14] FINLAND 3-0
Natalie Pritchard bt Lotta Vuorela 9-10, 9-1, 9-1, 9-7
Deon Saffery bt Elina Kononen 9-6, 9-2, 9-1
Stacey Preece bt Saara Valtola 10-8, 9-1, 9-3
Final positions: 1 Wales, 2 Finland, 3 Scotland
Pool D:
[10] ITALY bt UKRAINE 3-0
Veronica Favero Camp bt Anastasia Spivak 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Sonia Pasteris bt Nina Taraschkevych 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Chiara Ferrari bt Anastasiya Netrebchuk 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[13] AUSTRIA bt [16] RUSSIA 3-0
Pamela Pancis bt Ekatarina Glinchikova 9-2, 9-2, 9-0
Birgit Coufal bt Irina Assal 9-3, 10-8, 9-1
Sandra Polak bt Olga Petrukhina 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
[16] RUSSIA bt UKRAINE 3-0
Olga Petrukhina bt Anastasia Spivak 10-8, 9-0, 9-2
Ekatarina Glinchikova bt Nina Taraschkevych 9-0, 9-0, 9-1
Alina Tuzlukova bt Natalia Spivak 9-1, 9-1, 9-0
[10] ITALY bt [13] AUSTRIA 2-1
Sonia Pasteris lost to Pamela Pancis 9-7, 9-6, 0-9, 6-9, 7-9
Manuela Manetta bt Birgit Coufal 9-2, 9-2, 9-7
Veronica Favero Camp bt Theresa Gradnitzer 9-2, 9-3, 9-3
Final positions: 1 Italy, 2 Austria, 3 Russia, 4 Ukraine
Pool E:
[11] BELGIUM bt GREECE 3-0
Annabel Romedenne bt Eliza Kargioti 9-0, 9-3, 9-0
Kim Hannes-Teunen bt Zeta Tzamalouka 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Ankie Nedee bt Nikol Pozidou 9-1, 9-1, 9-0
[12] CZECH REPUBLIC bt SWEDEN 2-1
Olga Ertlova bt Anna Detter 9-2, 9-4, 9-3
Lucie Fialova lost to Anna-Carin Forstadius 9-7, 8-10, 2-9, 5-9
Veronica Koukalova bt Lovisa Forstadius 0-9, 9-3, 10-8, 9-4
SWEDEN bt GREECE 3-0
Anna Detter bt Eliza Kargioti 9-3, 9-2, 9-1
Anna-Carin Forstadius bt Zeta Tzamalouka 9-4, 9-0, 9-1
Josefa Bertilsson bt Nikol Pozidou 9-1, 9-6, 9-1
[11] BELGIUM bt [12] CZECH REPUBLIC 2-1
Charlie de Rycke lost to Olga Ertlova 8-10, 6-9, 5-9
Kim Hannes-Teunen bt Lucie Fialova 9-7, 9-6, 9-6
Annabel Romedenne bt Hana Vagnerova 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
Final positions: 1 Belgium, 2 Czech Republic, 3 Sweden, 4 Greece