The King and Queen have kept their crowns. France’s Gregory Gaultier and England’s Jenny Duncalf repeated as champions at the European Individual Squash Championships in Royan, France. The win marked Gaultier’s fourth consecutive European Individual Championship, and Duncalf’s second.
French squash fans must have been pleased to witness an all French men’s final, though it was not the one most expected. As a 5/8 seed, Renan Lavigne defeated England’s Nick Matthew in the quarters, and then pulled off another upset in the semis when he defeated No. 2 seed, fellow Frenchman Thierry Lincou. But Gaultier was not about to give up the title he’s owned since 2004 and easily dismantled Lavigne—whose legs finally gave out on him after his previous two five-game matches—in three.
The women’s draw went almost exactly as the seedings projected, until the final when England’s No. 1 seed Tania Bailey and her compatriot, No. 2 seed Jenny Duncalf, faced off. Neither had dropped a game coming into the final, and had actually dropped just a handful of points. But it was Duncalf who came away with bragging rights by dropping her higher ranked opponent in four games.
