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Dutch win a thriller
MEN'S SEMI-FINAL:
France 2-2* Netherlands
Renan Lavigne lost LJ Anjema
8/10, 2/9, 1/9
Jean-Michel Arcucci bt Lucas Buit
9/7, 9/4, 9/2
Julien Balbo lost Dylan Bennett
5/9, 3/9, 3/9
Romain Tenant bt Sebastiiaan Meelink
9/3, 9/5, 9/0
The Netherlands reached its first ever
men's ETC final after winning a dramatic semi-final against France that
literally could not have been closer.
Laurens Jan Anjema and Jean-Michel Arcucci won in straight games in the
first pair of matches, and when Romain Tenant put the French ahead they
were fairly certain it was all over.
Rumours spread that Julien Balbo had conceded at 8/3 in the second game
against Dylan Bennett, as the calculators were brought out to add up the
points. That proved to be a false alarm as Balbo continued after an
injury timeout, but by now both teams knew that France needed four
points to reach the final again.
Julien scored the first three of the points he needed fairly quickly,
and when he served at 3-4 it was effectively match ball for the French.
It was desperate stuff, with dives, appeals and fist clenches all round
as Dylan saved that first 'match ball' and, in scenes of amazing
tension, saved two more as he racked up the points himself before taking
the game 9-3 to put his team into the final and sparking wild
celebrations in the Dutch camp.
Two matches all, six games all, 76 points all. It doesn't come any
closer than that, but the Netherlands go through by virtue of winning
the first string match.
In the final they meet England who, as expected, cruised past a Welsh
team without its top two players.
 "I
had to tell him how many points he could afford to lose in the last
game, I had to. I was into the match, but at times I couldn't look, I
buried my head in my towel.
"I saw pieces of his best play from his junior days there, he dominated
the T and he was very brave. I told him you don't win with chicken
squash, to go for your shots when you get the chance and he did that
very well.
"It's always difficult watching as a coach or a father, bet even more so
as both, so I'm very proud of him.
"We've finished third once and had six or seven fourth places, but this
is our first ever final, it's a great achievement for us, very proud
..."
Dutch Coach and Dylan's stepfather
England cruise into women's final
Once the action resumed on the glass court, England's women wasted no
time in reaching another final, dismissing Germany for the loss of just
12 points in around an hour's play. There they will once again play the
Netherlands, who ended Denmark's dream run.
Full semi-final results
Rain
Delays Play
It was a rainy morning in Riccione, with play interrupted on the glass
court due to the damp conditions. Simon Rosner and Morten Sorensen were
first on in the Germany/Denmark match, but at one game all were pulled
off to conclude on an inside court. Fortunately the sun came out and
play continued on the show court ...
Ryan Revival
Two-nil and 8-2 down, but "The Big Irish" pulled off a remarkable escape
as the 5-12 playoffs saw four teams guarantee themselves places at the
top table next year.
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THE PLAYOFFS
playoff draws & results
complete results list
RESULTS DAY THREE
SEMI-FINALS
Women
England 3-0 Wales
Netherlands 3-0 Denmark
Men
Netherlands *2-2 France
England 4-0 Germany
complete results list
 "That
feels so good. I was more nervous watching that than I ever have been
playing squash!
"Towards the end I was thinking back to how I went 4-0 down in the first
game in about 30 seconds because I wasn't concentrating, thinking how
much that might cost us in the end.
"I've never seen Dylan play so well, he was so steady on the crucial
points and putting so much pressure on Julien. He did the job, I've got
unbelievable respect for him."
 Netherlands
 "I've
been here 21 times, but I've never experienced anything like that ..."
Lucas Buit |
"I
was due to give a speech at the ECTS - the European Congress of bone
mineralisation - this weekend, but since we made the semis and now have
the 3rd/4th playoff tomorrow I've asked someone else to do it for me so
I need to change my flight.
The four matches were quite different - Sweden beating Spain 3-1
to reclaim a place in the top eight while Scotland retained theirs on
points countback against Finland, and Germany took a 3-1 lead over
Denmark before dropping the dead rubber.
"That
really did my lungs some good, I enjoyed every minute of it!
