

France are champions for the first time Finals Day:

England's women retain title

but it's a first win for the French men



It was a dramatic finals day in Denmark, and a historic one as France became the men's champions for the first time ever, having lost to England in the final 15 times in the last 16 years!



Both finals were England v France, a repeat of last year, and in the women's final it was England who prevailed to make it five wins in a row and 37 in total (out of 38). Sarah-Jane Perry put England ahead, Camille Serme brought France level and it was Emma Beddoes who won the decider for the English.



In the men's final, played in 1-2-3-4 order, Gregory Gaultier gave the French a great start as he beat Peter Barker 3-1, Barker saving a match ball in the third. Mathieu Castagnet put France two-nil up as he beat Daryly Selby - who needed a 30-minute injury break after the second game - 3-1.



When Greg Marche led James Willstrop 2-1 and 4-0 it looked all over for England, but Willstrop fought back to win 3-2 and extend the match.



Chris Simpson needed to win 3-0 to give England any chance of retaining the title - even then it would only have been on points countback (England needed a result better than 11/7, 11/7, 11/7).



Simpson took the first but Lucas Serme stormed ahead in the second, led 10-5 and took the match on his third opportunity to the delight of the French contingent.



The match ended there as Serme was held aloft and the French celebrations began ... Men's: England 1-2 France

Peter Barker 1-3 Gregory Gaultier 10/12, 8/11, 12/10, 3/11

Daryl Selby 1-3 Mathieu Castagnet 11/6, 9/11, 4/11, 12/14

James Willstrop 3-2 Grégoire Marche 11/5, 7/11, 6/11, 11/8, 11/8

Chris Simpson 1-1 Lucas Serme 11/5, 7/11 match stopped



3rd/4th: Germany 3-1 Scotland

Div 2 Final: Finland 3-1 Ireland



Women's: England 2-1 France

Sarah-Jane Perry 3-1 Coline Aumard 11/4, 11/6, 2/11, 11/6

Alison Waters 1-3 Camille Serme 7/11, 4/11, 11/9, 5/11

Emma Beddoes 3-0 Laura Pomportes 11/5, 11/5, 11/4



3rd/4th: Ireland 2-1 Denmark

Division 2 Champions: Netherlands



It's a 37th title in 38 years for England !! Day THREE, Division ONE semis:

It's England v France take two



Both finals will be England v France affairs after the top seeds came through in all four of today's semi-finals in Denmark.



Hosts Denmark gave the English women a fright as Line Hansen took Alison Waters to a deciding game in the opening match, but Waters pulled through and national champion Sarah-Jane Perry clinched the win.



Camille Serme and Coline Aumard both won tough matches against the Irish to put the French through.



In the first men's semi Daryl Selby put England ahead but Simon Rosner came from two games down to level it for Germany, then Chris Simpson maintained his unbeaten record to put England in an unassailable lead.



France made it through to the final as their top pairing of Mathieu Castagnet and Gregory Gaultier put them two-nil up against Scotland, Greg Marche finishing it off in the third match.



Meanwhile in the Division Two semis, Ireland beat hosts Denmark on games countback while Finland beat Belgium, so it's Ireland and Finland into division one next year.



In women's Division two, Netherlands beat Germany and now just need to beat bottom-placed Hungary to take that title. Women's semis:

England 3-0 Denmark

Alison Waters 3-2 Line Hansen 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5

Sarah-Jane Perry 3-0 Sally Skaarenborg 11-5, 11-3, 11-5

Jenny Duncalf 2-0 Cecilie Mayer 11-2, 11-4



France 2-0 Ireland

Camille Serme 3-1 Madeline Perry 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6

Coline Aumard 3-2 Aisling Blake 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6

third match withdrawn



Men's semis:

England 2-1 Germany

Daryl Selby 3-1 Jens Schoor 11-2, 2-11, 11-2, 11-4

Peter Barker 2-3 Simon Rosner 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 5-11, 5-11

Chris Simpson 3-0 Rudi Rohrmuller 11-6, 11-7, 11-7

fourth match withdrawn



France 3-0 Scotland

Mathieu Castagnet 3-1 Greg Lobban 11-3, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4

Gregory Gaultier3-0 Alan Clyne 11-6, 11-6, 11-3

Grégoire Marche 2-0 Dougie Kempsell 11-6, 11-1

fourth match withdrawn Day Two: Down to the semi-finals in Herning



The annual European Team Championships, this year being held in Herning in Denmark, are down to the semi-final stage after two days of pool play.



No surprises in the men's final pool rounds, although Scotland's top pair of Alan Clyne and Greg Lobban both pushed their English counterparts to five games. England and France both completed a hat-trick of wins and look set to contest yet another final.



In the women's event hosts Denmark made the semis as they beat Belgium in the deciding Pool B match, and now meet top seeds England in Friday's semi-finals. Division ONE, Day TWO:

Semi-finalists decided



With the semi-finalists mostly decided on day one,

today was a case of seeing who plays who in the last four ...



Men A: England 4-0 Scotland N'lands 3-1 Wales

Men B: France 4-0 Germany Spain 3-1 Switzerland



Women A: England 3-0 Ireland Wales 2-1 Spain

Women B: France 3-0 Czech Denmark 2-1 Belgium



Meanwhile in men's Division Two, top seeds Denmark and Finland are joined in the semis by Ireland and Belgium. Division ONE, Day ONE:

Men: Top four through to semis



The top four seeds of England, France, Germany and Scotland all won twice on the opening day to secure their places in the semi-finals, leaving it to tomorrow's final rounds of England v Scotland and France v Germany to determine who plays who in the last four.



A Scotland 3-1 Netherlands B France 3-1 Switzerland

A England 3-1 Wales B Germany 3-1 Spain



A England 4-0 Netherlands B Germany 4-0 Switzerland

A Scotland 4-0 Wales B France 4-0 Spain



Women: Top three through to semis



With two wins each, England and Ireland are through to the semis and meet tomorrow to decide who tops Pool A. In Pool B France are also through, with tomorrow's Denmark v Belgium match determining who will finish second.



A England 3-0 Spain B France 3-0 Belgium

A Ireland 3-0 Wales B Czech 1-2 Denmark

A England 3-0 Wales B France 3-0 Denmark

A Ireland 2-1 Spain B Czech 0-3 Belgium