England claim 18th double at European U15 & U17 Championships

England claimed a dramatic double by lifting both trophies for the 18th time at the European U15 & U17 Mixed Team Squash Championships in Bordeaux.

Gabriel Chak was the hero for England's U17 team as he won a nail-biting deciding rubber against France's Theo Baudry 8-11 11-9 13-11 6-11 11-8 in one hour and 16 minutes.

The England U15 team's route to victory was only slightly less tense as they defeated first-time finalists Poland 3-0 to win the European U15 title for the 19th time since its introduction in 2001.

In the U17s, the awesome Amir Khaled-Jousselin — who was bidding to become the first player in history to win the 'treble' of U19 Individual and U17 and U19 Mixed Team titles — got France off to a winning start with a 11-3 11-2 11-0 win against Luke McBride.

Harriet Broadbridge then drew England level with a comfortable 11-3 11-6 11-6 victory over Leelou Laporte in what was a re-match of their recent French Junior Open final.

It all came down to the third rubber between Chak against Theo Baudry and it proved to be an epic finale.

Chak, from Surrey, never recovered from falling 6-3 behind in the first, but the second was neck-and-neck all the way until the England no.2 finished it off with a raking backhand crosscourt winner and an extravagant fist pump celebration.

Chak battled back from game-ball down in the third, taking it 13-11 by forcing a Baudry error with a clinging drop shot. Baudry then gained an early foothold in the fourth to take it 11-6, setting up a tension-filled deciding fifth.

It was the Englishman who established an early advantage at 6-2, but back came Baudry to draw level at 7-7 as two 'no let' decisions in a row went against Chak. In the blink of an eye it was 8-8, but two tins by the Frenchman gave Chak two match balls and he seized the opportunity first time to send the English bench into raptures.

The match marked the 20th final between England and France in the history of both U15 and U17 categories and France are still to achieve a single victory.

Chak said afterwards: "I'm so thankful to get through that fifth game. At some points I was feeling the nerves, but I tried to stay confident when taking the ball in short. I knew If I hesitated, the quality of shot wouldn't have been as good.

"This is right at the top of my achievements so far. It's pretty big for me. Representing England is a real honour and I'm so glad to get over the line."

England coach Adam Fuller said of Chak's performance in the decider: "He started to impose himself in the middle part of the match and keep the ball out of the middle a bit better.

"The fifth was incredibly edgy, but we could see how tired Theo was and Gabriel wasn't breaking down physically at all. He showed real character. If I told him now he had to go on and played a sixth game, he'd probably do it straight away!"

England won their 19th European gold medal in the U15 competition but Poland, enjoying their best ever performance at these championships, offered stern resistance.

The Poles, who have European no.3 Anna Jakubiec and European no.1 Mateusz Lohmann in their U15 armoury, had stunned hosts France in the semi-finals on Saturday and Jaanshere Khan's match with Lohmann in the opening rubber of the final went the full distance.

Khan, from Surrey, won both opening games 11-9 but Lohmann fought back, winning the third by the same scoreline and then the fourth on a tiebreak. Khan settled quickest in the deciding fifth though to take a 56-minute classic 11-9 11-9 9-11 10-12 11-6.

Phoebe Griffiths from Hampshire leapt to a 9-2 lead in the first game, but Jakubiec moved up several gears at that point. Although Griffiths clung on to take the first 11-9, Jakubiec galloped through the second 11-1.

The Englishwoman stemmed the flow of points in the third and reasserted control, completing a 11-9 1-11 11-4 11-5 victory to seal the title.

England decided to play the dead rubber and Will Burton won it 11-8 13-11, rubber-stamping England's 15th title in the last 16 championships in the U15 category. To do so without national U15 champions Matthew Leung and Ameerah Ismail, who have both just turned 15, makes the achievement even more creditable.

Coach Fuller reflected:

"We felt Jaanshere's win was a pretty crucial one. If he hadn't got over the line, it may have been a very different final. We were pleased not to take it to a deciding rubber.

"We've won both titles here and had a really strong showing at the Five Nations, and having a look at the calibre of players coming through our pathway, I think England Squash is in a pretty good place."