Hosts Happy On Opening Day In Malmo

Hosts Sweden recorded two convincing victories on the opening day of action in the European Team Championships in Malmo as a record-equalling 27 countries lined up for the 37th men's European Squash Federation championship and a record-making 21 nations prepared to do battle in the 32nd staging of the ESF women's tournament.

Sweden's men - the 12th seeds hoping to emulate the title-winning success of their 1983 squad - despatched Ukraine, the 21st seeds, 4/0 in Pool F, while the 16th-seeded women's team beat Russia, seeded just one position below, 3/0.

England, seeded to win the men's title for the 17th year in a row, beat eighth seeds Spain 4/0 in Pool A - with team newcomers Alister Walker and Daryl Selby both recording straight games wins. In the other tie in Pool A, fifth seeds Wales claimed a notable 2/2 draw (but an 8/7 games advantage) over fourth seeds Germany to boost their chances of a place in the semi-final play-offs.

Second seeds France - expected to meet England in the men's final for the ninth time over the last ten years - comfortably defeated Scotland 4/0 in Pool B. Meanwhile, third seeds Netherlands - without the injured four-time Dutch national champion Laurens Jan Anjema - were made to work hard for a 3/1 win over Switzerland, the sixth seeds.

Women's favourites England - title-holders in all previous 31 events since the inaugural championship in 1978 - cruised to a 3/0 win over eighth seeds Belgium.

But all eyes were fixed on England's rivals Netherlands, the second seeds who are due to face the title-holders in the final for the seventh year in a row. Making her debut in the Dutch squad will be former Australian Natalie Grinham, the world No4 and highest-ranked player in the event.

However Grinham, who became a Dutch national in February 2008, was rested in her new team's opening tie when Netherlands beat seventh seeds Wales 3/0 in Pool B.

Men's Qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[5] WALES drew with [4] GERMANY 2-2
David Evans lost to Simon Rosner 8-11, 4-11, 6-11 (30m)
Jethro Binns lost to Andre Haschker 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 6-11 (65m)
Alex Gough bt Stefan Leifels 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (41m)
Rob Sutherland bt Jens Schoor 14-12, 11-3, 11-3 (36m)

[1] ENGLAND bt [8] SPAIN 4-0
Nick Matthew bt Borja Golan 12-10, 11-2, 11-5 (38m)
Daryl Selby bt Eduardo Gonzales De Chaves 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (36m)
Alister Walker bt Diego Lopez De Mota Ibanez 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (24m)
Peter Barker bt Alejandro Garbi Caro 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)

Pool B:
[2] FRANCE bt [7] SCOTLAND 4-0
Gregory Gaultier bt Stuart Crawford 11-1, 11-6, 11-4
Yann Perrin bt Harry Leitch 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (43m)
Julien Balbo bt Jamie MacAulay 11-5, 11-8, 11-6
Renan Lavigne bt Chris Small 11-8, 11-3, 11-3

[3] NETHERLANDS bt [6] SWITZERLAND 3-1
Dylan Bennett lost to Nicolas Mueller 8-11, 6-11, 8-11 (38m)
Rene Mijs bt Andre Holderegger 8-11, 11-1, 11-7, 11-6 (44m)
Sebastian Weenink bt Reiko Peter 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5 (44m)
Piedro Schweertman bt John Williams 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4 (64m)

Pool C:
[17] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [25] POLAND 4-0
Lukas Jelinek bt Wojciech Nowisz 11-3, 11-0, 11-4 (19m)
Ondrej Ertl bt Maciek Maciantowicz 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (27m)
Jaroslav Cech bt Kamil Dominiak 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 (18m)
Petr Martin bt Marcin Kozik 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)

[16] HUNGARY bt [24] GIBRALTAR 4-0
Mark Krajcsak bt Stephen Shacaluga 11-0, 11-1, 11-2 (20m)
Daniel Varga bt Mark Tewkesbury 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (24m)
Marton Szaboky bt Nicholas de Haro 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (20m)
Sandor Fulop bt Christian Navas 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (28m)

[9] IRELAND bt [17] CZECH REPUBLIC 4-0
Liam Kenny bt Petr Martin 11-9, 10-12, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7
Niall Rooney bt Roman Svec 11-8, 11-8, 11-6
Arthur Gaskin bt Ondrej Ertl 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
John Rooney bt Jaroslav Cech 11-7, 12-10, 11-7

[24] GIBRALTAR bt [25] POLAND 3-1
Anthony Brindle bt Wojciech Nowisz 11-4, 11-7, 5-11, 14-12
Nicholas de Haro lost to Kamil Dominiak 2-11, 7-11, 11-6, 12-14
Christian Navas bt Marcin Kozik 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8
Stephen Shacaluga bt Lukasz Nitka 11-6, 11-9, 11-7

Pool D:
[18] LUXEMBOURG bt [26] NORWAY 3-1
Nathan Sneyd bt Kristian Solhave 11-6, 11-7, 11-4
Stephane Ayache bt Ronny Aasbo 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9
Daniel Hutchines lost to Hans-Olav Torgersen 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 5-11
Sanjay Raval bt Kim Are Killingberg 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9

[15] AUSTRIA bt [23] RUSSIA 4-0
Aqeel Rehman bt Alexei Severinov 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (33m)
Lukas Gnauer bt Anton Shurenko 11-1, 11-0, 11-1 (11m)
Stefan Brauneis bt George Manuchin 11-2, 11-3, 11-3
Jakob Dirnberger bt Valery Litvinko 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (27m)

[26] NORWAY bt [23] RUSSIA 3-1
Kristian Solhave lost to Alexei Severinov 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 12-14, 2-11 (55m)
Rashid Younis bt Anton Shurenko 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (13m)
Hans-Olav Torgersen bt George Manuchin 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (17m)
Kim Are Killingberg bt Valery Litvinko 11-4, 11-2, 11-6

[10] FINLAND bt [18] LUXEMBOURG 4-0
Olli Tuominen bt Nathan Sneyd 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (20m)
Hameed Ahmed bt Stephane Ayache 11-3, 11-1, 11-2 (20m)
Heikki Kononen bt Daniel Hutchines 11-1, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)
Matias Tuomi bt Sanjay Raval 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (12m)

Pool E:
[19] ISRAEL bt [27] GREECE 4-0
Ido Avron bt Fabian Kalaitzis 11-4, 11-1, 5-11, 11-5 (23m)
Nir Zisman bt Andreas Hiotakis 11-8, 11-4, 11-2
Nadav Wilensky bt Konstantinos Kargiotis 11-6, 11-0, 11-5 (22m)
Nir Arkin bt Petros Tzamaloukas 4-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-7, 11-5

[14] BELGIUM bt [22] LATVIA 4-0
Wim van Asten bt Arnis Tihvinskis 11-6, 11-2, 11-0 (18m)
Jonas Snoeck bt Gunars Prizevoits 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (21m)
Mats Raemen bt Margers Zeitmanis 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (27m)
Sam van Brusselen bt Kaspars Purgailis 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (19m)

[22] LATVIA drew with [27] GREECE 2-2
Alexander Pavulans bt Fabian Kalaitzis 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2
Margers Zeitmanis bt Andreas Hiotakis 11-3, 11-7, 11-9
Kaspars Purgailis lost to Konstantinos Kargiotis 11-5, 7-11, 11-13, 9-11
Arnis Tihvinskis lost to Petros Tzamaloukas 5-11, 7-11, 11-13

[11] DENMARK bt [19] ISRAEL 4-0
Rasmus Nielsen bt Ido Avron 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 (24m)
Kim Poulsen bt Nir Zisman 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (18m)
Michael Frilund bt Nadav Wilensky 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Nir Arkin 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (23m)

Pool F:
[12] SWEDEN bt [21] UKRAINE 4-0
Christian Drakenberg bt Rusian Sorochynskvi 11-6, 11-1, 11-5
Carl-Johan Lofvenborg bt Artem Shandybin 11-8, 11-3, 11-5
Gustav Detter bt Kostyantyn Rybalchenko 11-3, 11-5, 11-2
Rasmus Hult bt Dmytro Shcherbakov 11-3, 11-3, 11-4

[13] ITALY bt [20] SLOVENIA 4-0
Jose Facchini bt Klemen Gutman 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 (28m)
Mirko Pareccini bt Rozle Langus 11-7, 11-0, 11-3 (19m)
Andrea Torricini bt Miha Kavas 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 (25m)
Andrea Capella bt Martin Mosnik 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 (25m)

Women's Qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [8] BELGIUM 3-0
Tania Bailey bt Sonja Schrijvers 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 (21m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Kim Hannes 11-2, 11-1, 11-5 (19m)
Alison Waters bt Annabel Romedenne 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7 (34m)

[4] IRELAND bt [5] GERMANY 2-1
Tanya Owens lost to Sina Wall 6-11, 9-11, 9-11 (24m)
Madeline Perry bt Kathrin Rohrmueller 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 (10m)
Aisling Blake bt Pamela Hathway 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (26m)

Pool B:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [7] WALES 3-0
Orla Noom bt Beth Winstanley 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 (19m)
Vanessa Atkinson bt Deon Saffery 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (29m)
Annelize Naude bt Natalie Pritchard 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (17m)

[3] FRANCE bt [6] DENMARK 2-1
Celia Allamargot lost to Julie Dorn-Jensen 8-11, 12-10, 5-11, 16-14, 7-11
Isabelle Stoehr bt Line Hansen 8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 3-11, 11-3
Camille Serme bt Ellen Petersen 11-5, 11-2, 11-5

Pool C:
[16] SWEDEN bt [17] RUSSIA 3-0
Lovisa Forstadius bt Natalia Zapevalova 11-2, 11-4, 11-6
Anna-Carin Forstadius bt Olga Petrukhina 11-2, 11-0, 11-4
Anna Detter bt Ekaterina Marusan 11-3, 11-1, 11-5

Pool D:
[15] FINLAND bt [18] GREECE 3-0
Pia Ojala bt Zeta Tzamalouka 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (15m)
Elina Kononen bt Eliza Kargioti 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (15m)
Saara Valtola bt Seirena Kazamia 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 (38m)

Pool E:
[11] SWITZERLAND bt [19] HUNGARY 3-0
Julia Schmalz bt Krisztina Szekely 11-3, 11-4, 11-6
Gaby Schmohl bt Helga Kecse-Nagy 11-2, 11-3, 11-3
Sara Guebey bt Edina Szombati 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6

Pool F:
[13] AUSTRIA bt [20] LUXEMBOURG 3-0
Sandra Polak bt Francoise Donven 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (44m)
Birgit Coufal bt Sandra Denis 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 (21m)
Pamela Pancis bt Claudia Mich 11-2, 11-0, 11-1 (12m)

[12] SCOTLAND bt [21] POLAND 3-0
Lisa Aitken bt Anna Sikorska 11-0, 11-0, 11-4
Frania Gillen-Buchert bt Dominika Witkowska 11-4, 11-4, 11-2
Alexandra Clark bt Anna Jurkun 11-8, 11-1, 11-5