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Roehampton Club clinched a title double on home turf as both their men's and women's teams were victorious at the 2024 ESF European Club Squash Championships.
Roehampton's men ended German club Paderborn's run of four successive titles after winning a quite brilliant final 3-1, while their women defeated local rivals Surbiton to win the trophy for a third year in a row.
The men's final in south-west London was a sizzling encounter in which Joe Lee got the hosts off to the perfect start with a mammoth 78-minute triumph over former world junior champion Rowan Damming, twice going behind before prevailing 11-13, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8.
Paderborn, who have won the European Club Championship men's title a record 12 times, hit back in the second rubber as Nicolas Mueller won a four-game battle with fellow veteran Adrian Waller.
England's European junior champion Jonah Bryant then put Roehampton back into the lead after winning another lengthy five-game affair against Germany's highly-experienced Rafael Kandra. After losing the first game in quick style and then falling behind again in the third, 19-year-old Bryant pluckily sealed a 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-1 triumph.
It was left to 20-year-old Sam Osborne-Wylde to take on another German veteran, ex-world no.3 Simon Rosner, in the fourth and deciding rubber. After edging a tight opening game, Osborne-Wylde then asserted control to win 13-11, 11-7, 11-7 and send the home spectators into raptures.
Roehampton captain Waller said:
"It's a monumental occasion for the men's team to win this event for the first time and it's amazing to play a part in it with them. I guess we got our own back for last year's defeat at their club.
"The celebrations are already in full flow. When the crowd gets behind the team it gives you momentum and they definitely played a part today."
Of Bryant's performance, Waller said: "Jonah is a fantastic young player who's definitely going to be rising through the rankings this season. He's shown real maturity to get that win over the line, which is not just about squash, it's about bravery and desire. He's got a lot of boxes ticked which bodes well for England Squash in the future."
Home advantage also paid dividends for Roehampton's women as they stormed to a third successive ESF European Club Championships title. The women's competition was organised in a seven-team league format in which local rivals Roehampton and Surbiton had both gone unbeaten over the first three days, with five wins out of five. Saturday's final round of group games saw the top two meet each other in a winner-takes-all clash.
The hosts' London-born Kace Bartley firstly took care of Gloucestershire's Beth Parker 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 in just 17 minutes, then top string Satomi Watanabe, the world no.13 from Japan, beat Englishwoman Alicia Mead 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 in similarly quick fashion.
The victory was therefore already secure for Roehampton, but last year's British national champion Jasmine Hutton added gloss to the scoreline by conquering 23-year-old Kiera Marshall in a rather tougher three games, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.
Team captain Hutton said:
"We found it so exciting that the tournament was at our home club and we came through the group matches ok. It was tricky finding our balance at the beginning, but once we got into the rhythm, things started to fall into place. We had the same team as last year, so getting ready was simple.
"We knew Surbiton would be our toughest competition, so we prepared a strong game plan, which worked well. The future of Roehampton Club squash looks bright, and I feel lucky to be part of it. Our team's journey is far from over."
SRCV of Liechtenstein were the men's bronze medal winners as they beat English club Leamington 2-1 in the play-off. SU Wiener Neudorf Modling, from Austria, finished in third place in the women's table after a closing 2-1 victory over Scotland's Herriot Watt University.
To view the full results from the 2024 ESF European Club Squash Championships, please click here.
