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18-Mar, Finals:
En Français
[2] Greg Marche (Fra) bt [1] Nicolas Mueller (Swi)
4/9, 9/4, 10/8, 10/8
3/4 playoff: Joe Lee bt Adrian Waller 9/0,
10/9, 9/5
[1] Camille Serme (Fra) bt [2] Victoria Lust (Eng) 9/1, 7/9, 6/9, 9/6, 9/1
3/4 playoff: Victoria Bell bt Sarah-Jane Perry 9/0, 9/0, 9/4
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Historic French
Double in Stavanger
They both did it the hard way, but Camille Serme and Greg
Marche are celebrating a famous French double tonight in Norway.
 Serme,
bidding for a record-breaking third title, faced England's Victoria
Lust in a repeat of last year's final. Camille won that one in
straight games, but today found herself 2/1 and 6/3 down before
staging a fightback reminiscent of her victory in the British Junior
Open U19 final in January.
So, three it was for Serme, but Greg Marche, who finished runner-up
in the BJO, on paper faced a much tougher challenge against
defending champion Nicolas Mueller.
The first went to form, but the Frenchman took the next three,
winning both the last two on extra points to complete the
sensational double.
Hi Fram,
 Just
arrived at the hotel, and I would like to seize this opportunity to
say thank you to all the people that have been supporting me till
the end.
I’m living a magical moment, as I’ve been dreaming about this moment
since the age of 5. And today, it’s a reality!!!
Now, Cam and I are going to celebrate tonight, but after that, we’ll
have to refocus for the Team event.
Thanks again to everybody ...
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A great day for the French ... Fred & Yann report |
A great and intense match. Greg made the choice to play very fast
from the word go, imposing a fast pace on each rally. His choice
paid off, overbearing Nicolas physically. But the Swiss showed his
stunning fighting qualities. Several times, we could see that
Nicolas was suffering from the lengthy rallies imposed by Greg, but
every time, he came back with a vengeance..
In the fourh Greg played too short too quickly, and found himself
7/2 down. Digging in with all he had, the Frenchman clawed back to
give himself a first match ball, 8/7. Greg looked for a drop shot,
but found the tin.
8/8, then 9/8, second match ball. A rally from hell. Greg places a
forehand drop shot out of Nicolas’ reach, who plunges in vain. Greg
collapses on the floor. His dream has just become a reality.
The Other French
An excellent tournament for Lucas Serme, who after losing his
first round against Joe Lee, wins his next four matches, getting
more and more confident. He ends up 17th for his first appearance in
the juniors. It’s a great success, and this competition should bring
him a lot for his next goals.
Antoine-Camille Petrucci has done his duty. His injury
yesterday prevented him from enjoying fully the individuals, but
he’s got the Team event to express himself. The two days forced rest
are going to do him a lot a good, as he’ll be fresh as a rose,
whereas the others will be tired…
Lucas Vauzelle found his legs again today with a good victory
against Jens Schoor. His encounter against Chris Fuller was very
hard for him, both on the physical and psychological levels. Today’s
victory should allow him to get back on track, and a day’s rest will
help him too.
French Boys' Coach |
What to say… We just lived an historic, memorable moment.
We are very happy for France, happy for Camille, she enters History,
but a walk in the park it was not, and she’ll remember that match
for a long time.
Three time European champion, that’s big. A well deserved title, she
is a committed girl, who knows where she wants to go.
This match should have been easy, but the stress, plus a few
unforced errors instilled doubt in her mind, 2/1 and 6/3 down… But
her patience and her calm helped her to climb all the way back up…
And the whole of the Group France went and supported her.
Greg played an enormous match, and so did his opponent, they were
both as impressive as each other. Once again, Greg showed that he is
maturing, he was able to focus on the title, and he reached his
goal.
Well done to those two.
For the other French who supported their friends, no defeat today,
Lucas Serme and Laura Pomportes both won their plates, 3/0 on
their last matches. They improved as the tournament unfolded.
Coline Aumard won 3/2, once again she shows she is a warrior.
Faustine Gilles beat Milou vd Heijden 3/0. She played very
well, and finishes 7th.
Tomorrow, a rest day. We are going to take the opportunity to
refocus on the common goals, and to try and get that team title. It
will be a long journey, we’ll need to be supportive of each other.
But the ‘Groupe France “ is solid, and the atmosphere very positive.
Allez France.
French Girls' Coach |
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17-Mar, Semis:
thanks to Philippe Signoret & Fred Lecomte for the results
[1] Nicolas Mueller (Sui) bt [3/4] Joe Lee
(Eng)
7/9, 9/7, 10/8, 9/0
[2] Greg Marche bt
[3/4] Adrian Waller (Ang)
9/3, 3/9, 9/3, 9/2
[1] Camille Serme (Fra) bt [5/8] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng)
9/1,
9/1, 9/5
[2] Victoria Lust (Eng) bt [5/8] Victoria Bell (Eng)
9/7,
9/6, 9/3
17-Mar, Semis:
Top seeds to contest
Stavanger finals ...
Defending champions and top seeds Nicolas Mueller and
Camille Serme are just one match away from retaining their
European Under 19 titles in Stavanger, Norway.
Mueller faced England's Joe Lee in today's semi-finals in a
repeat of last year's final. Mueller won 10/8 in the fifth in that
Brussels showdown, but this time it was a little easier for the
Swiss as he won in four games, taking the last to love.
In the final he'll meet Frenchman Greg Marche, the British
Junior Open runner-up, who avenged his defeat in last month's French
Junior Open final with a four-game win over Adrian Waller.
France will be hoping for a double, with Serme, aiming for an
unprecedented third Euro U19 title, easing past Sarah-Jane Perry
in straight games. The final will be a repeat of last year's as
Victoria Lust won her all-English semi-final against Victoria
Bell in straight games.
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Greg one step from his dream ...
Fred Lecomte reports
Greg produced a great match against Englishman Adrian Waller, who
had beaten the Frenchman on his own territory during the French
Junior Open in Marseille a few weeks back. But Adrian was unable to
reproduce his performance today.
Greg came out blasting, taking the ball very early, and hitting very
hard to make the “Tall Waller” twist and turn. Despite losing 9/3 in
the first game, the game was very disputed, and it became obvious
that Waller was getting tired.
In the second game the Englishman varied the pace beautifully, using
some short hits and nice cross courts in a clever fashion,
preventing Greg from playing at his own pace. But all was decided at
the start of the third game, where we had a lot of change of hands,
long rallies, up to 3/3.
From that point on, Greg progressively took control of the T,
forcing Adrian to stay at the back of the court, never letting go of
the pressure on his opponent.
Now, he’s got one more match to win. Greg came here for the title,
and he will have to be better than Nicolas Mueller if he wants his
dream to become a reality…
Lucas Serme is strolling along, brushing aside Czech Svec,
and will play the plate final, as in for 17th place. The all French
encounter between Lucas Vauzelle and Antoine-Camille
was cut short after Lucas quite involuntarily banged into his
compatriot on his way to pick up a drop shot. As his back and neck
were hurting, we preferred to stop Antoine from going on with the
match. Our physio is now taking care of him, and we hope that a good
night's sleep and a day of rest will do the trick for the team
event.
Fred Lecomte
French Boys' Coach |
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A good day for France…
Yann Ménégaux reports
First Camille, she played a good match, dominating 9/1, 9/1,
7/1 until Sarah-Jane Perry started to slow down the pace, and
delayed her shots better. But Camille was able to finish it off by
some nice delaying of her own, and some great shots.
Coline Aumard just wasn’t in her match this morning against
Kimberley Hay, she was punished 3/0. But we’ll remember her
second match, where she was down 2/0, and clawed back to win in
five. A good victory over a rapidly improving young Czech.
Faustine Gilles was playing Natalie Pritchard, a
physical and aggressive player, who beat the French girl 3/0.
Faustine spent spend a lot of mental energy in her two previous
games…
Laura Pomportes keeps on rolling along, hoping to win the
plate, and won her match today 3/0, going from strength to strength…
Now, all our hopes are concentrated on tomorrow’s matches, a day
that could be good for our country. We’ll be doing our best, you can
be sure of it…
French Girls' Coach |
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16-Mar, Quarters:
Defending Champions
face
English opposition in semis ...
Defending champions
Nicolas Mueller and Camille Serme are through to the
semi-finals in Stavanger, where both face English opposition.
Mueller came from 2/1 down to beat Neil Cordell and now faces
another Englishman in Joe Lee - who beat Cordell in the
recent British Championships final - in a repeat of last year's
European final.
France's second seed Greg Marche meets another Englishman,
Adrian Waller - who beat Marche in last month's French Junior
Open final - for a place in the boys' climax.
In the Girls event Serme will need to beat two English opponents to
claim an unprecedented third European U19 title. First up will be
Sarah-Jane Perry in the semi-finals, with the winner of
Victoria Bell and Victoria Lust waiting in the final.
Thanks
to French coach Fred Lecomte for
the early results
Boys
Quarter-finals:
Nicolas Mueller (Sui) bt Neil Cordell (Eng)
5/9,10/8,7/9,9/2,9/2
Joe Lee (Eng) bt Henrik Mustonen (Fin)
9/3, 9/6, 9/3
Adrian Waller (Eng) bt Alex Ingham (Eng) 8/10, 9/5, 9/6, 9/4
Greg Marche (Fra) bt Chris Fuller (Eng)
9/5, 9/4, 9/3
Girls Quarter-finals:
Camille Serme (Fra) bt Natalie Pritchard (Wal) 9/5, 9/6, 9/2
Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) bt Faustine Gilles (Fra) 9/1, 9/0, 9/0
Victoria Bell (Eng) bt Sina Wall (Ger) 9/1, 9/2, 9/7
Victoria Lust (Eng) bt Milou vd Heijden (Ned) 9/4, 9/3, 9/1 |
Five English Semi-finalists
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England team ... photo from Alan Perry |
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16-Mar, Round 3:
Mixed results for England in last 16
Six
of the top eight boys seeds made it through to the quarters, with
England's Alex Ingham and Chris Fuller both putting
out 5/8 seeds to give England five representatives in the last
eight.
Less good news for England in the Girls last 16 as 3/4 seed
Kimberley Hay crashed out in straight games to France's
Faustine Gilles while new British champion Victoria Bell
was taken the full distance by Scotland's Robyn Hodgson.
Boys' 3rd round:
[1] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [9/16] Carsten Schoor (GER)
9/2, 9/2, 9/3
[5/8] Neil Cordell (ENG) bt [9/16] Michael Harris (ENG)
9/4, 9/0, 9/1
[5/8] Henrik Mustonen (FIN) bt [9/16] Florian Silbernagl (GER)
9/4, 9/1, 9/3
[3/4] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [9/16] Sam van Brusselen (BEL)
9/1, 9/1, 9/6
[3/4] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [9/16] Antoine Camille Petrucci (FRA)
9/2, 9/2, 9/1
[9/16] Alex Ingham (ENG) bt [5/8] Petr Martin (CZE)
9/5, 9/7, 9/3
[9/16] Chris Fuller (ENG) [5/8] Lucas Vauzelle (FRA) 4/9, 9/7, 9/7, 5/9, 9/5
[2] Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [9/16] Reiko Peter (SUI)
9/0, 9/0, 9/4
Girls' 3rd round:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) v Anna Klimondova (CZE)
9/1, 9/0, 9/0
[9/16] Natalie Pritchard (WAL) bt [5/8] Astrid Kern (GER)
9/6, 2/9, 9/1, 9/0
[5/8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [9/16] Coline Aumard (FRA)
9/6, 9/2, 9/6
[9/16] Faustine Gilles (FRA) bt [3/4] Kimberley Hay (ENG)
9/6, 9/3, 9/1
[3/4] Sina Wall (GER) bt [9/16] Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
9/4, 9/10, 2/9, 9/1, 9/2
[5/8] Victoria Bell (ENG) bt Robyn Hodgson (SCO)
9/1, 9/10, 9/0, 2/9, 9/5
[5/8] Milou van der Heijden (NED) bt [9/16] Jasmin Ballman (SUI)
5/9, 4/9, 9/6, 9/6, 9/5
[2] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [9/16] Melissa Meulenbelt (NED)
9/0, 9/2, 7/9, 9/1
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15-Mar, Day One:
Confident start for Champions in European Championships in Norway
 Top
seeds Nicolas Mueller and Camille Serme made confident
starts to the defence of their titles in the European Junior U19
Squash Championships in Stavanger, Norway.
Mueller, from Hirzel, near Zurich, brushed aside Spaniard Carlos
Cornes Ribadas 9-7, 9-2, 9-2 in the second round of the men's event
to set up a third round clash with Germany's Carsten Schoor,
a 9/16 seed.
England's Joe Lee, runner-up to Mueller last year, is also
comfortably through to the last sixteen. The recently-crowned
British Junior champion from Surrey beat Frenchman Lucas Serme 9-4,
9-1, 9-3 and will now face 9/16 seed Sam van Brusselen, from
Belgium, for a place in the quarter-finals.
In the women's event, France's Serme is bidding to become the first
player in history to win the flagship European Squash Federation
Junior title three times. The 18-year-old from Creteil coasted to a
9-0, 9-1, 9-0 win over Finland's Tia Knuutila and will now face
Anna Klimondova, from the Czech Republic, in the third round.
Victoria Lust, the No2 seed from England, is expected to meet
Serme in a repeat of the 2007 final. The Bedfordshire 18-year-old
defeated Sweden's Eira Mooney 9-1, 9-0, 9-3 and will now take on
Dutch opponent Melissa Meulenbelt, a 9/16 seed, for a place
in the last eight.
Meulenbelt, together with fellow 9/16 seed Jasmin Ballman,
from Switzerland - and Muller in the men's event - are the only
players celebrating their fourth appearances in the annual
championships. |
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Preview:
Euro Champions
seeded to retain titles ...
Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller and France's Camille Serme
are favourites to retain their European U19 titles in the
championships which get under way in Stavanger next week.
France will be hoping for a double with Mueller set to meet British
Junior Open runner-up Gregoire Marche in the Boys' final,
while the English pair of Joe Lee and Adrian Waller
are 3/4 seeds in the 64-man draw.
Serme, bidding to win the event for a third consecutive time, is
seeded to face England's Victoria Lust in the Girls' final.
Serme's likely semi-final opponent is another Englishwoman,
Kimberley Hay, while Lust will need to get past Gernany's
Sina Wall, who beat her in the BJO in January. Wall faces a
tough draw, with new British U19 champion Victoria Bell,
seeded 5/6, set to meet her in the quarter-finals. A strong English
quartet is rounded off with Sarah-Jane Perry, also a 5/6
seed.
Most of the above-mentioned players are competing in the event for
the last time - only Hay and Perry will be eligible in 2009.
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Experienced England team
to defend European title
England’s U19 squad will travel to Norway for the European
Championships this week, with British U19 Champions Joe Lee
and Victoria Bell leading the charge for silverware.
Surrey’s Lee will be hunting for glory on two fronts having been
rewarded for his performance at the British U19 Championships with
selection for the team event as well as the individual event.
He is joined in the five-player team by French Junior Open champions
Adrian Waller and Victoria Lust, as well as British
U17 champion Kimberley Hay and British U19 finalist Neil
Cordell.
Lee, Waller, and Lust were all members of the U19 team that
reclaimed the European title in 2007, while Hay makes the step up to
the team having represented England in individual event last year.
In addition to the five players who will bid to defend England’s
title in the team event, a larger squad of six players will take
part in the individual tournament. British U19 champion Bell and
losing finalist Sarah-Jane Perry are joined by Derbyshire’s
Millie Tomlinson in the women’s competition, while Michael
Harris, Chris Fuller, and 17-year old Alex Ingham
will compete in the men’s.
England Squash Performance Coach David Campion will lead the
team in Stavanger, Norway, and he will be joined by Paul Carter
for the individual event.
Campion is confident that this year’s squad can repeat the success
of 2007.
“We have a strong squad of players for this year’s Championships, so
expectations are high. However, these events are always tough to win
and we are fully aware of the competition, particularly from France.
There is a great sense of spirit amongst the players which helps in
those difficult matches, so hopefully things will go well and we can
successfully defend the team title.”
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England U19 Team for European Team
Championships:
Joe Lee (Surrey)
Adrian Waller (Hertfordshire)
Neil Cordell (Yorkshire)
Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire)
Kimberley Hay (Northumbria)
England U19 Squad for European Individual Championships:
Joe Lee (Surrey)
Adrian Waller (Hertfordshire)
Neil Cordell (Yorkshire)
Michael Harris (Devon)
Chris Fuller (Northamptonshire)
Alex Ingham (Surrey)
Victoria Lust (Bedfordshire)
Kimberley Hay (Northumbria)
Victoria Bell (Cumbria)
Sarah-Jane Perry (Warwickshire)
Millie Tomlinson (Derbyshire)
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2007 Event
2006 Event |
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This
was a long and difficult day for Antoine-Camille Petrucci and
Lucas Vauzelle, but a much nicer one for Lucas Serme
and Greg Marche…
