2:29 am
12 Oct 2024

England Celebrate European Junior Double

20 Apr 2011

Top seeds Nathan Lake and Emily Whitlock ensured an English double at the European Junior (U19) Individual Squash Championships after straight games wins in the finals of the European Squash Federation event in Kriens, Switzerland.

After the first all-English men's semi-final line-up in the tournament's 22-year history, it was Lake and James Earles who emerged to contest the final after Earles, a 3/4 seed from Hull, shocked second seed Declan James in a close-fought 81-minute last four battle.

And 18-year-old Lake, who was runner-up to Declan James in the recent English Junior U19 Championship final, took full advantage of Earles's less-than-ideal preparation for the final by beating the 18-year-old Yorkshireman 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to clinch the title.

Emily Whitlock reached the women's final without dropping a game - and continued to demonstrate her authority over the field by defeating Tesni Evans, the second seed from Wales, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11.

The triumph is the latest success for the 17-year-old from Colwyn Bay who in January became England's first winner of a British Junior Open trophy for almost a decade when she won the U17 title - then followed this success last month by winning the English Junior U19 Championship crown.

Lake and Whitlock will now lead their country's bid in the mixed European Junior Team Championship, where defending champions England are seeded to win the title for the 25th time in the event's 28-year history.

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [5/8] Nicholas Hopcroft (ENG) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (29m)
[3/4] James Earles (ENG) bt [2] Declan James (ENG) 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (81m)
Final:
[1] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [3/4] James Earles (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-7

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [9/16] Elvira Bedjai (FRA) 11-4, 11-2, 11-0
[2] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [3/4] Melissa Alves (FRA) 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (22m)
Final:
[1] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [2] Tesni Evans (WAL) 11-6, 11-8, 13-11