Gaultier On Course For Fifth European Title In Slovakia

France's Gregory Gaultier successfully began his bid to win the men's European Individual Championship title for the fifth successive year when he beat Ukraine's Roman Dolynych in straight games in the second round of the flagship European Squash Federation event in the Slovakian capital city Bratislava.

Fresh from winning the ATCO Super Series Finals title in London last month, top-seeded Gaultier beat the Ukrainian number one 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 and will now take on Italian Andrea Capella - the only unseeded player in the men's last sixteen - for a place in the quarter-finals.

But perhaps the most notable aspect of the ESF championships in their fifth year is the use of the 'point-a-rally' (PAR) scoring system for the first time - both for the men's and women's competitions.

Experienced national players Pamela Pancis, from Austria, and Kim Hannes-Teunen, from Belgium - both champions of their countries on numerous occasions - surprisingly fell at the first hurdle, perhaps affected by the new scoring system.

England's 19-year-old former British Junior champion Victoria Lust was also a surprise first round casualty - the 9/16 seed beaten 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10 by unseeded German Pamela Hathway.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Roman Dolynych (UKR) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5
Andrea Capella (ITA) bt [9/16] David Vidal (ESP) 3-11, 11-7, 11-4, 12-10
[9/16] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Domagoj Spoljar (CRO) 11-8, 11-4, 11-3
[5/8] Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Tomas Toth (SVK) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3
[5/8] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Michelangelo Bertocchi (ITA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
[9/16] Simon Rosner (GER) bt Roman Celler (SVK) 11-4, 11-3, 11-6
[9/16] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Piedro Schweertman (NED) 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-8
[3/4] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Peter Kviecinsky (SVK) 11-3, 11-2, 11-5
[3/4] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Andre Lima (POR) 11-2, 11-1, 11-6
[9/16] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt Pavel Sladecek (CZE) 10-12, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5
[9/16] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Wim van Asten (BEL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7
[5/8] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Alexei Severinov (RUS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-2
[5/8] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Anthony Brindle (GIB) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7
[9/16] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Marek Manik (SVK) 11-8, 11-2, 11-5
[9/16] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Rene Mijs (NED) 11-4, 11-7, 11-8
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Dmytro Shcherbakov (UKR) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4

Women's 1st round:
[9/16] Elisabet Sado Garriga (ESP) bt Olga Ertlova (CZE) 11-9, 11-6, 12-10
[9/16] Maud Duplomb (FRA) bt Andrea Malinova (SVK) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6
[5/8] Milja Dorenbos (NED) bt Vaso Karasava (CYP) 11-6, 11-5, 11-4
[5/8] Lauren Siddall (ENG) bt Liliana Hruzikova (SVK) 11-3, 11-5, 11-3
[9/16] Birgit Coufal (AUT) bt Dominika Witkowska (POL) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3
Linda Hruzikova (SVK) bt [9/16] Kim Hannes-Teunen (BEL) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7
[3/4] Manuela Manetta (ITA) bt Isabell Schoor (IOM) 11-6, 11-2, 11-7
[3/4] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt Aneta Paprnakova (SVK) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5
Margaux Moros-Pitarch (ESP) bt [9/16] Pamela Pancis (AUT) 11-5, 11-6, 11-5
[9/16] Kerri Shields (IRL) bt Diana Leguss (EST) 11-2, 11-5, 11-2
[5/8] Orla Noom (NED) bt Ekatarina Glinchikova (RUS) w/o
[5/8] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Ivana Blazekova (SVK) 11-3, 11-0, 11-3
[9/16] Dagmar Vermeulen (NED) bt Eliza Kargioti (GRE) 11-3, 11-1, 11-5
Pamela Hathway (GER) bt [9/16] Victoria Lust (ENG) 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10