Crouin & Gilis Celebrate Fourth European Individual Titles

Top seeds Victor Crouin and Tinne Gilis both claimed their fourth European Individual Squash Championship titles via straight games victories in Budapest.

Crouin's 11-2, 11-7, 12-10 triumph over Switzerland's Dimitri Steinmann in the men's final was the Frenchman's fourth European title in a row as his domination of the European squash scene continued.

In the women's final, Tinne beat her older sister Nele Gilis in the European Individual Championship final for a third time, this time by a 12-10, 11-7, 14-12 scoreline.

For both French No.1 Crouin and Belgian Gilis, their sights will now turn to taking a fifth European title next year when the event will be part of the 2027 European Games in Istanbul, with the two gold medallists earning a place at LA28.

In the first game of the men's final, 29-year-old Zurich-born Steinmann seemed set for an ignominious 'bagel' at 9-0 down before rescuing a couple of consolation points.

The Swiss composed himself in the second game and took it to 7-7, but Crouin then clicked into top gear and took the proceeding four points to build a two-game lead.

With little to lose, Steinmann stepped further up the court in the third and hammered a few trademark winning volleys to build a 9-6 lead. But world No.6 Crouin's accuracy and consistency clawed back the deficit and he soon took the title with a forehand kill.

Standing on the podium, Crouin said: "There's a lot of us who've grown up together playing on the European junior circuit and seeing each other every year. It's great to see us all rising through the ranks. We all have really fond memories from that time.

"Next year will be the most important one, with qualification for the Olympics [at stake]. It's great to have four titles, but hopefully I can get the fifth one next year."

Crouin's path to the final had been far from serene. Going up against Slovenian debutant, 5/8 seed Mohamed ElSherbini, in the quarter-finals, he had to hit back from two games down to win 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8. Then in the semis, he lost the first game quickly against Spain's 5/8 seed Bernat Jaume before recovering to triumph 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3.

In the women's final, the first game was cat-and-mouse all the way to a tiebreak which Tinne won 12-10 with a disputed stroke.

The second was more straightforward for world no.9 Tinne as she took it 11-7, but in the third, Nele was 9-5 up and looked set to pull a game back. Tinne recovered, then saved several game balls, before sealing the game 14-12, and with it the title, with a delicious backhand volley drop.

Neither sister had dropped a game on the way to the final, and Nele's path was particularly easy on Friday as her semi-final opponent, France's Melissa Alves, withdrew due to injury. Tinne defeated Ukraine's 3/4 seed Alina Bushma 11-7, 11-8, 11-5.

After the final as she stood next to her sister, Tinne said: "It's always special to be up against each other. It always stings for one of us, but I want to thank you for a fair and great final, a hard battle.

"It's always the hardest one for me [to play her sister] but it's special for the whole family."

The men's bronze medal match was a monster all-Spanish duel which Ivan Perez eventually prevailed 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 in 78 minutes to claim his first European podium finish. Bushma won the women's bronze via a walkover.