England enjoy winning start to European Team Championships 2023

England's men and women produced confident and clinical wins to enjoy winning starts to the ESF European Team Championships 2023 in Helsinki, Finland.

The men’s team were up first as they took on hosts Finland in their opening match of the championships. Three players made their international debuts in the contest as Sussex’s Curtis Malik, Surrey’s Charlie Lee and Yorkshire’s Nick Wall secured straight games victories over Finland’s Samuli Niskala, Jami Aijanen and Matias Tuomi before England No.2 Patrick Rooney secured the 4-0 win by beating Miko Aijanen 3-1 to give the men’s team the dream start.

Northumbria’s Lucy Beecroft was also making her debut for the women’s team as they took on Switzerland in their opening match. The World No.42 had no trouble despatching Celine Walser 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 to give the women’s team the lead. Regular international Jasmine Hutton and new England No.1 Georgina Kennedy secured the 3-0 win by beating Nadia Pfister and Cindy Merlo in straight games to take top spot in Pool A.

Both teams were up against Germany in the second matches of the day with both teams looking to cement top positions in their pools heading into day two.

The men’s team were again up first with Charlie Lee playing his second match of the day and comfortably winning at No.4 with a 3-0 win over Valentin Rapp, winning all three games 11-4. Adrian Waller got his tournament underway with a confident victory at No.3, beating Yannick Omlor 3-0. Merseyside’s Patrick Rooney put England 3-0 up after a superb display against former World No.3 Simon Rosner, beating the ‘German Treechopper’ 11-7 in all three games to win 3-0.

2017 World Champion and recent Black Ball Squash Open winner Mohamed ElShorbagy marked his England debut with a win over World No.24 Raphael Kandra to secure maximum points for England heading into day two. ‘The Beast’ endured two tough opening games, winning 11-8, 11-9 before finding more in the third game to win 11-3 and close out day one for the reigning European Champions.

Suffolk’s Lucy Turmel came in to the women’s side for their second match of the opening day and wasn’t troubled as she defeated Sharon Sinclair 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 to give the women’s team the lead in their second pool A encounter. Lucy Beecroft backed up her opening win to score another comfortable win against Mareike Omlor, winning 3-0 in just 17 minutes.

The tie was closed out by recent Irish Open winner Jasmine Hutton, who beat Maya Weishar in emphatic fashion. The England No.2 restricted the German to just 8 points with the game lasting just 15 minutes. The win placed England firmly at the summit Pool A alongside France who also scored two wins on day one.

The women’s team are up against hosts Finland in their opening match of day two, with play starting at 10:00 local time, and will then face France at 18:30 to decide the group winners.

The men’s team have a later start time of 14:00 as they take on Hungary before an all British clash with Wales at 18:30 to compete the pool stages.

For draws and results visit European Squash.

Watch live action on the European Squash Federation YouTube channel and glass court action on SQUASHTV.