England Celebrate European Championships Double In Amsterdam

It took well over four hours in just three matches for England to beat long-time rivals France 3/0 in today's men's final of the European Team Championships after the England women's team also defeated Netherlands 3/0 in the other final at Frans Otten Stadion in Amsterdam to record the double for the 16th successive year.

Hosts Netherlands made up for the disappointment of losing to France in yesterday's men's semi-finals to beat Germany in the bronze medal play-off, while the women's bronze medal went to France who beat Ireland 2/1.

With France now boasting two players in the men's top five, the stage was set for a dramatic men's final which would go to the wire. Both countries' national coaches had acknowledged on the eve of the final that France - runners-up for eight of the past nine years - had a good chance to win the title for the first time after building up a two-match lead by their world top five stars.

But powerful and focussed performances by England players meant that the script failed to materialise. First on were the second strings - with England left-hander Peter Barker facing Thierry Lincou, the former worlds champion from Marseille whom he had never before beaten.

Barker, ranked 12 in the world, earned a game ball in the first game - but his experienced opponent, the world No5, came back to take the game and the expected lead. But Barker was in defiant mood - and after 90 gruelling minutes battled to an 8-10, 9-7, 9-1, 10-8 victory to put England in the lead.

James Willstrop led England's next attack - the world number three taking on long-time rival Gregory Gaultier, ranked one place higher. It was another high-octane encounter in which the Englishman's opening game lead was cut back when Gaultier, the reigning British Open champion, took the next two.

Midway through the fourth, Gaultier collapsed with cramp in his left leg. After treatment by the team's physio, the 25-year-old limped back onto court only to throw away the game shortly thereafter.

Despite cutting back a 5-1 lead by Willstrop in the decider, Gaultier was clearly hampered by his injury and Willstrop went on to claim a 9-7, 2-9, 7-9, 9-1, 9-3 win after the 101-minute marathon.

It was left to fourth string Adrian Grant to clinch overall victory for England when he beat Julien Balbo 9-1, 9-2, 9-6 in 65 minutes in his first ever meeting with the Frenchman.

"I think the results speak for themselves," said team captain Lee Beachill, the squad number three whose match against Frenchman Renan Lavigne was not played. "The performances by Peter and James were just outstanding - and, although we were all ready to perform when we needed to, those guys really pulled out something special and thoroughly deserved the wins they achieved.

"It just proves what a great team spirit we've got - no-one wanting to let anybody down and everybody so focussed.

"It was also a great debut for Joey (Barrington) who has really made himself a strong member of the team and, although he's only just joined us for the first time, he's fitted in as if he's been with us for years," added Beachill, the former world No1 appearing in his ninth European Championships."

Netherlands team manager Peter Berden was delighted with his squad's performance in taking the men's bronze medal. "I am very happy - especially as ours is a young squad. Our fifth player Piedro Schweertman was 8-2 down in the fourth game of his match, and fought back to win it and then take a 5-0 lead in the decider.

"It was also an emotional occasion for us as it was Sjef van der Heijden's last appearance as our National coach. A podium finish was what he wanted and it was good that we achieved that for him."

Despite losing to the Netherlands, fourth place marked Germany's best finish since 1996. But notable too was the outcome for Switzerland, who lost to Wales in the play-off for fifth place - but secured their first time in the top six since 1990.

Luxembourg recorded the highest finish by a non-seeded country by finishing in 18th place. Serbia, in their maiden appearance in the event, finished an impressive 23rd.

The England women's team extended their remarkable record to 31 titles since the inaugural women's event in the Netherlands in 1978. The top seeds - in their sixth successive final against Netherlands - showed their determination in the first match when third string Alison Waters, ranked 11 in the world, despatched Dutch opponent Karen Kronemeyer 9-0, 9-5, 9-0 in just 24 minutes.

The second match featured Vanessa Atkinson, a ten-time Dutch national champion, ranked nine in the world, and Vicky Botwright, the England number one ranked one place lower and also trailing 3-8 in the pair's head-to-head tally.

Putting behind her a rare England defeat in the earlier qualifiers, Botwright took the first game for just a single point, then maintained her composure to clinch the second after a late comeback by Atkinson.

Botwright continued to pile on the pressure - and disappoint the partisan local crowd - and finally beat Atkinson 9-1, 10-8, 9-3 after 36 minutes to win the match - and secure the title for England.

Squad number three Jenny Duncalf made it maximum points for England when she beat Annelize Naude 9-4, 9-1 in the best-of-three dead rubber.

"What really pleased me was that the coaches had faith to pick me - and that gave me extra confidence," said a jubilant Vicky Botwright, the England captain, after her triumph. "This week's been a bit of a turnaround for me - as I haven't been playing that well recently.

"And I wanted to do my best to win, to take the pressure off the others. If Vanessa had got a game, it could have turned things around."

When asked about the pressure of maintaining England's supremacy in the event, Botwright explained: "We don't take anything for granted - we don't underestimate anyone. Yesterday's semi-final against France was a good example. That could have been a tricky tie, but we were very professional and did what we had to do."

Botwright's smiles were even wider as she revealed that she was now engaged to Australian international Stewart Boswell. "We were out for a walk on a lovely sunny Sunday some weeks ago when I noticed that Stewart was rummaging around in his coat - and I wondered what he was doing. To my complete surprise, he asked me to marry him! We're hoping to find a date next May, if there is suitable gap in both of our squash commitments!"

In the play-off for third place, seventh seeds France beat Ireland 2/1 to win the bronze medal for only the second time - and Germany defeated Denmark 2/1 to take fifth place.

But perhaps the most notable achievement in the lower order was recorded by Wales, the eight seeds who beat Belgium 2/0 in the play-off for seventh place to record their highest finish of all-time.

Men's Final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [3] FRANCE 3-0
Peter Barker bt Thierry Lincou 8-10, 9-7, 9-1, 10-8 (90m)
James Willstrop bt Gregory Gaultier 9-7, 2-9, 7-9, 9-1, 9-3 (101m)
Adrian Grant bt Julien Balbo 9-1, 9-2, 9-6 (65m)
Lee Beachill v Renan Lavigne (dead rubber - match not played)
3rd place play-off:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [5] GERMANY 3-1
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Simon Rosner 9-1, 9-6, 9-4
Piedro Schweertman lost to Patrick Gaessler 5-9, 9-2, 3-9, 9-8, 5-9
Dylan Bennett bt Tim Weber 9-4, 9-5, 7-9, 9-1
Tom Hoevenaars bt Stefan Leifels 9-1, 9-1, 9-1
5th place play-off:
[4] WALES bt [10] SWITZERLAND 4-0
Alex Gough bt John Williams 10-9, 9-3 ret.
Lewys Hurst bt Benjamin Fischer 9-1, 9-5, 10-8
David Evans bt Marco Datwyler 9-3, 9-2
Rob Sutherland bt Marcel Straub 9-1, 9-5
7th place play-off:
[8] SCOTLAND bt [11] SPAIN 3-1
Alan Clyne lost to Borja Golan 5-9, 1-9, 1-9
Jamie MacAulay bt Victor Montserrat 9-1, 7-9, 9-2, 9-1
Stuart Crawford bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 9-1, 9-4, 9-5
Chris Small bt Eduardo Gonzalez 10-8, 9-0, 9-0
9th place play-off:
[6] IRELAND bt [12] FINLAND 2-2 (Ireland win 8-6 on games countback)
Liam Kenny lost to Olli Tuominen 9-7, 7-9, 1-9 ret.
Steve Richardson lost to Heikki Kononen 5-9, 9-5, 7-9, 7-9
Derek Ryan bt Matias Tuomi 9-0, 9-5, 9-6
Arthur Gaskin bt Erno Teitti 6-9, 9-6, 9-5, 9-0
11th place play-off:
[9] DENMARK bt [7] SWEDEN 4-0
Morten W Sorensen bt Badr Abdel Aziz 9-7, 9-4, 9-0
Kim Poulsen bt Carl-Johan Lofvenborg 5-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-2
Rasmus Nielsen bt Christian Drakenberg 9-3, 9-4, 9-0
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Rasmus Hult 9-3, 9-0, 9-0
13th place play-off:
[13] ITALY bt [16] BELGIUM 4-0
Jose Facchini bt Wim van Asten 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Andrea Torricini bt Sam van Brusselen 9-2, 9-6, 9-1
Andrea Capella bt Gregory Lecerf 9-1, 9-5
Simone Rocca bt Mats Raemen 9-3, 9-3
15th place play-off:
[14] AUSTRIA bt [15] HUNGARY 2-2 (Austria win 8-7 on games countback)
Aqeel Rehman lost to Mark Krajcsak 5-9, 5-9, 0-9
Christian Coufal lost to Daniel Varga 9-3, 9-1, 8-10, 4-9, 1-9
Jakob Dirnberger bt Marton Szaboky 9-2, 9-2, 9-4
Stefan Brauneis bt David Reiser 9-6, 9-1, 8-10, 9-7
17th place play-off:
[18] CZECH REPUBLIC bt LUXEMBOURG 3-1
Pavel Sladecek bt Nathan Sneyd 9-4, 9-2, 9-0
Ondrej Ertl bt Vincent Pauli 9-2, 9-3, 9-0
Lukas Jelinek lost to Daniel Hutchines 9-5, 6-9, 1-9
Jaroslav Cech bt Daniel Kaiser 9-0, 9-3
19th place play-off:
[17] ISRAEL bt [19] SLOVAKIA 3-1
Nadav Wilensky bt Marek Manik 9-4, 9-3, 9-3
Nir Zisman bt Marek Zvoncek 9-2, 6-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-0
Nir Arkin bt Peter Kviecinsky 9-5, 9-6, 9-6
Ari Gitelband lost to Tomas Toth 5-9, 3-9
21st place play-off:
PORTUGAL bt SLOVENIA 3-1
Andre Lima lost to Klemen Gutman 2-9, 2-9, 3-9
Ivo Mendes bt Rozie Langus 1-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-7
Joao Caiano bt Miha Kavas 10-8, 9-2, 9-1
Matthew Theodoris bt Martin Mosnik 9-0, 9-5
23rd place play-off:
SERBIA bt [20] UKRAINE 2-2 (Serbia win 7-6 on games countback)
Dennis Drenjovski bt Roman Dolynych 9-7, 10-8, 9-1
Vukasin Petrovic bt Rusian Sorochynskvi 10-8, 10-8, 9-4
Ivan Djordjevic lost to Dmytro Shcherbakov 1-9, 1-9, 1-9
Bratislav Zivadinovic lost to Oleksiy Davydenko 8-10, 9-7, 9-10, 6-9
25th place play-off:
[21] LATVIA bt [23] RUSSIA 3-1
Alexander Pavulans bt Alexei Severinov 8-10, 9-5, 9-3, 9-6
Margers Zeitmanis lost to Pavel Sergeev 9-2, 5-9, 9-5, 7-9, 9-10
Arnis Tihvinskis bt Roman Fetisov 9-1, 9-4, 9-7
Kaspars Purgailis bt Viacheslav Perfiliev 9-2, 9-2, 9-3
27th place play-off:
[22] GIBRALTAR bt [24] ISLE OF MAN 2-2 (Gibraltar win 7-6 on games countback)
Anthony Brindle lost to David Norman 6-9, 9-10, 1-9
Christian Navas lost to Richard Corlett 9-3, 4-9, 4-9, 7-9
Stephen Shacaluga bt Kevin Watterson 9-5, 9-2, 9-1
Nicholas de Haro bt Lyndon Cheetham 9-1, 9-4, 9-3

Women's Final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [2] NETHERLANDS 3-0
Alison Waters bt Karen Kronemeyer 9-0, 9-5, 9-0 (24m)
Vicky Botwright bt Vanessa Atkinson 9-1, 10-8, 9-3 (36m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Annelize Naude 9-4, 9-1 (17m)
3rd place play-off:
[7] FRANCE bt [5] IRELAND 2-1
Maud Duplomb lost to Laura Mylotte 7-9, 10-8, 3-9, 2-9
Isabelle Stoehr bt Madeline Perry 9-4, 9-2, 0-9, 3-9, 10-8
Camille Serme bt Aisling Blake 9-2, 9-7, 9-4
5th place play-off:
[4] GERMANY bt [3] DENMARK 2-1
Katharina Witt bt Marie-Louise Feddern 9-5, 9-4, 9-5
Kathrin Rohrmueller bt Line Hansen 9-5, 10-8, 2-9, 3-9, 9-7
Sina Wall lost to Ellen Petersen 4-9, 3-9
7th place play-off:
[9] WALES bt [11] BELGIUM 2-0
Stacey Preece bt Ankie Nedee 7-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-5
Deon Saffery bt Charlie de Rycke 9-6, 9-3, 9-1
Natalie Pritchard v Annabel Romedenne (dead rubber - match not played)
9th - 11th place play-offs:
[8] SPAIN bt [6] SWITZERLAND 2-1
Xisela Aranda Nunez bt Gabriela Hegi 9-6, 9-5, 9-0
Elisabet Sado Garriga bt Olivia Hauser 9-1, 9-7, 9-3
Stela Carbonell lost to Gaby Schmohl 3-9, 1-9, 0-9
[10] ITALY bt [8] SPAIN 2-1
Veronica Favero Camp lost to Alicia Alvarez Riaza 1-9, 6-9, 1-9
Manuela Manetta bt Elisabet Sado Garriga 9-7, 9-6, 9-2
Sonia Pasteris bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 7-9, 9-7, 9-2, 9-2
Final positions: 9: Italy; 10: Spain; 11: Switzerland
12th place play-off:
[15] SCOTLAND bt [13] AUSTRIA 2-0
Lisa Aitken bt Theresa Gradnitzer 9-3, 9-0, 9-1
Frania Gillen-Buchert bt Birgit Coufal 3-9, 10-9, 9-3, 10-9
Claire Kidd v Pamela Pancis (dead rubber - match not played)
14th place play-off:
[12] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [14] FINLAND 3-0
Hana Vagnerova bt Pia Ojata 4-9, 9-2, 6-9, 9-3, 9-1
Lucie Fialova bt Lotta Vuorela 10-8, 9-3, 9-6
Olga Ertlova bt Saara Valtola 5-9, 9-5, 9-0
16th place play-off:
SWEDEN bt [16] RUSSIA 3-0
Lovisa Forstadius bt Olga Petrukhina 9-3, 9-0, 9-0
Anna-Carin Forstadius bt Irina Assal 9-6, 9-3, 9-0
Anna Detter bt Ekatarina Glinchikova 9-3, 9-4
18th place play-off:
GREECE bt UKRAINE 3-0
Nikol Pozidou bt Anastasiya Netrebchuk 9-0, 9-2, 9-1
Zeta Tzamalouka bt Nina Taraschkevych 9-1, 9-1, 9-0
Eliza Kargioti bt Anastasia Spivak 9-2, 9-1