European Individual: 2014

Individual European Championship: Awaiting the draw

Next week, three Ukrainian squashists will compete for the medals of the individual European championship at once. On June 4-7, the next individual European championship will be held in Valenciennes, France, where several players will represent Ukraine at once. Earlier, we recall that the number of our squash drivers did not exceed two people. For a long time, Konstantin Rybalchenko, Ruslan Sorochinsky and Denis Podvorny went to the continental championship. And last year, Valeriy Fedoruk was the only player who defended the honor of our country - then he took 33rd place.

This championship will become a landmark for Ukraine. For the first time, in addition to our men Sorochinsky and Fedoruk, our country will also be represented in the women's championship. Nadezhda Usenko even has a separate article on the official website of the tournament. Every Tuesday this site introduces its readers to those who will challenge the title against reigning champions Gregory Goltier and Camille Serme. Usenko is considered one of the most interesting participants. Nadezhda attracted the organizers' attention by the fact that she will be the youngest participant (she is only 14 years old), but she has already managed to declare herself on the international arena, including performing at the European Team Championship and taking the leading position in the ESF rating. The organizers of the championship agree that although the Ukrainian is unlikely to qualify for a gold medal, she will undoubtedly be one of the most prominent players in the championship. Experienced Sorochinsky and Fedoruk, well-tempered in the national team, will fight for the men's championship title. At one time, the name of Rybalchenko also appeared in the list of participants. But today it has disappeared from the list. The draw for the championship has not yet taken place, although the deadline for applications expired at the beginning of the week. Therefore, one of these days we can expect the names of the first rivals of our squash players.

Individual European Championship: First opponents - Serme, Müller and Koufal

In the first round of the continental championship of Ukrainian squash players, they will face extremely difficult opponents. The draw for the individual European Championship that starts on Wednesday has passed. Once again, the list of participants was corrected (minimally), but, in any case, the representatives of the Ukrainian squash school would have had to start the championship from the first round (1/16 finals) anyway and have quite strong opponents from the start. The absence of our squash players in the PSA and WISPA ratings also affected here, and the factor that initially the championship participants were divided into two groups - strong contenders for medals and those who occasionally take part in games on the international arena. However, even the opportunity to play on the same court with the strongest players in Europe will already become the most important experience for each of them. And any victory in this tournament is an achievement. And I would like to hope that this success will take place in the games of the first round.

Unlike last year, when the number of people wishing to play in the Belgian Herentals exceeded the limit allotted for this, it was decided to hold a qualification, in Valenciennes, on the contrary, there was a shortage of participants. For men, three players will start right away from the 1/8 finals (last season's medalists Gregory Goltier with Simon Rosner, as well as the legendary Dutchman Laurence Jan Angema). In women, even nine squash players miss the first round games. So, the draw.

In the men's championship two interesting meetings await us from the start. In 2011 Ruslan Sorochinsky and Frenchman Luca Serme defended the colors of the Petroholding Squash Club side by side at the European Club Championship and even took ninth place in Belfast. Now they will meet again, but as rivals. It was Serme who has grown in his skills so much during these three years that he can no longer be called a "young talent from Creteil", but one of the best players in Europe. At the very least, being in the top 100 squash players in the world is a pretty serious claim to win a tournament where many of the leading players of the Old World (for example, the British) are absent. Valery Fedoruk is even less fortunate - he will immediately play against the permanent racket of the Swiss national team, Nicholas Müller. For the Ukrainian, this is a good opportunity to get even with the Swiss for the defeat that he made three years ago in Paderborn at the World Team Championship to compatriot Fedoruk Sorochinsky. An interesting detail - if Valery does not succeed, then Sorochinsky himself will be able to come off on Mueller's brother - at least Ruslan has a chance to cross with Michael Muller at the second stage of the competition. And let's hope that this will happen within the 1/8 finals, and not in the consolation games for 16-29 places.

Unlike the men, for whom the second round of the tournament after the "meat grinder" at the start will be just a breath of air, Nadezhda Usenko will have a difficult time not only in the opening match. In the event of a victory over Birgit Koufal, seeded Gabi Huber will be waiting for her, who will probably be a fresher Ukrainian due to missing the 1/16 finals. However, knowing the character of Nadezhda, we can assume that she will just get a taste. The youngest participant in the European Championship was never interested in either the names or past victories of her rivals - she is always set up only to fight. And let's hope that the debut for her (and for all of us) individual European Championship among women will be a triumph of Nadezhda at this level. Our players go to Valenciennes on Monday. Good luck guys!

Individual European Championship (Valenciennes, France) 1/16 finals

Wojciech Nowisz (Poland, 13/16) - Jakob Dirnberger (Austria, 17/24)
Carlos Cornes Ribadas (Spain, 9/12) - Michael Müller (Switzerland, 17/24)
Luca Sermet (France, 5/8) - Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine, 25/30)
Olli Tuominen (Finland, 5/8) - Lukasz Stakhovski (Poland, 25/30)
Geoffrey Demon (France, 9/12) - Sindre Roaldsoy Snorteland (Norway, 17/24)
Petr Martin (Czech Republic, 13/16) - Gregory Lecerf (Belgium, 17/24)
Mathieu Castagnier (France, 3/4) - Przemyslaw Atras (Poland, 25/30)
Martin Shvets (Czech Republic, 13/16) - Marcin Karwowski (Poland, 17/24)
Christophe André (France, 9/12) - Marc Ter Sluis (Holland, 17/24)
Nicholas Müller (Switzerland, 5/8) - Valeriy Fedoruk (Ukraine, 25/30)
Gregua Marsh (France, 5/8) - Karlis Pekstins (Latvia, 25/30)
Joan Lesot (France, 9/12) - Kim Are Killingberg (Norway, 17/24)
Ondrej Ugerka (Czech Republic, 13/16) - Claudio Pinto (Portugal, 17/24)

Individual European Championship: Goltier and Serme defend the title of European champions

The French squash players on the home courts were second to none. But there is reason to be proud of the performance of Ukrainian players, who showed the strongest game and confirmed the strength of our squash school. Gregory Goltier and Camille Serme easily confirmed their right to be called the strongest squash players in Europe. Home courts, native stands, familiar atmosphere helped them a lot in this. It is also worth noting that in this championship there were no Englishmen who could compete with the strongest players on the continent. So it is not at all surprising that the men's podium was completely filled with representatives of France, and Serme again ascended to the highest step of the podium ...

Although Ukrainian squash fans are more interested in the results shown by our players. The defeat in the first round of the continental championship only fueled our squash players, who began to smash their rivals for nothing. Yes, Valeriy Fedoruk and Ruslan Sorochinsky dropped out of the fight for medals predictably - as you know, they got more than serious opponents in the 1/16 finals. But the Ukrainians took their own in the subsequent games, when the 17th place was played - here they had no equal. And it is quite logical that Ruslan and Valery met each other on the court in the last, decisive match. Having defeated his compatriot, Fedoruk took 17th place, leaving Sorochinsky to be content with only 18th line in the final table. For Valery, this is an excellent indicator - a year earlier he was only 33rd. So the achievement of the Ukrainian only once again proves the progress of the Ukrainian squash school.

Separately, I would like to note the youngest participant of the individual European Championship Nadezhda Usenko. Her rating did not allow her to be one of the most convenient seeded, but even after the defeat of Birgit Koufal, the Ukrainian found the strength and swept one of the best Polish squash shoes off the court, Anna Yurkun. Subsequently, she lost in two meetings, taking the final 20th place. But here it is worth noting that our junior faced very difficult opponents. Charlotte Delsinne still had the crazy support of her native tribunes, and Ineta Matskevica has been considered the strongest squash player in Latvia for many years and has a large number of victories at home international tournaments (such as, for example, the Riga Cup, which usually attracts a large number of players from different countries). In any case, Nadezhda received a huge experience of fighting, which will be very useful to her in the future. And now we will expect new victories from her at various levels of tournaments - both domestic and international.

Individual European Championship (Valenciennes, France)

1/16 finals

Jacob Dirnberger (Austria) - Wojciech Nowisz (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 7, 11: 3, 11: 1)

Carlos Cornes Ribadas (Spain) - Michael Müller (Switzerland) - 3: 0 (11: 2, 11: 6, 11: 7)

Luca Serme (France) - Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 11: 7, 11: 6) Olli Tuominen (Finland) - Lukasz Stakhovski (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 5, 11: 7, 11: 7)

Geoffrey Demon (France) - Sindre Roaldsoy Snorteland (Norway) - 3: 0 (11: 4, 11: 1, 11: 4)

Petr Martin (Czech Republic) - Gregory Leserf (Belgium) - 3: 0 (12:10, 11: 4, 11: 4)

Mathieu Castagnier (France) - Kamil Dominyak (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 5, 11: 8, 11: 4)

Martin Shvets (Czech Republic) - Przemyslav Atras (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 11: 3, 11: 3)

Christophe André (France) - Marc Ter Sluis (Holland) - 3: 0 (11: 4, 11: 4, 11: 8)

Nicholas Muller (Switzerland) - Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine) - 3: 1 (11: 4, 7:11, 11: 2, 11: 5)

Gregua Marsh (France) - Karlis Pekstins (Latvia) - 3: 0 (11: 2, 11: 1, 11: 6)

Joan Lesot (France) - Kim Are Killingberg (Norway) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 15:13, 11: 4)

1/8 finals

Gregory Goltier (France) - Jacob Dirnberger (Austria) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 11: 2, 11: 7)

Luca Serme (France) - Carlos Cornes Ribadas (Spain) - 3: 1 (8:11, 11: 4, 11: 8, 11: 1)

Geoffrey Demon (France) - Olli Tuominen (Finland) - 3: 1 (6:11, 13:11, 11: 7, 13:11)

Lawrence Jan Angema (Holland) - Petr Martin (Czech Republic) - 3: 0 (11: 6, 11: 4, 11: 2)

Mathieu Castagnier (France) - Martin Schvets (Czech Republic) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 11: 2, 11: 5)

Nicholas Müller (Switzerland) - Christophe André (France) - 3: 0 (11: 4, 11: 4, 11: 3)

Gregua Marsh (France) - Joan Lesot (France) - 3: 0 (11: 2, 11: 3, 11: 3)

Simon Rosner (Germany) - Ondrej Ugerka (Czech Republic) - 3: 1 (11: 2, 12:10, 4:11, 11: 6)

Quarter finals

Gregory Goltier (France) - Luca Sermet (France) - 3: 0 (11: 5, 11: 4, 11: 6)

Laurence Jan Angema (Holland) - Geoffrey Demon (France) - 3: 0 (11: 2, 11: 4, 11: 2)

Mathieu Castagnier (France) - Nicholas Muller (Switzerland) - 3: 0 (11: 8, 11: 6, 11: 3)

Gregua Marsh (France) - Simon Rosner (Germany) - 3: 2 (7:11, 5:11, 11: 9, 11: 6, 11: 5)

1/2 finals

Gregory Goltier (France) - Laurence Jan Angema (Holland) - 3: 1 (6:11, 11: 5, 11: 8, 11: 6)

Mathieu Castagnier (France) - Gregua Marsh (France) - 3: 0 (11: 9, 11: 4, 11: 5)

The final

Gregory Goltier (France) - Mathieu Castagne (France) - 3: 1 (11: 5, 11: 5, 4:11, 11: 4)

Final position

Gregory Goltier (France)
Mathieu Castagnier (France)
Gregua Marsh (France)
… ..

Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine)
Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine)
… ..

Kamil Dominyak (Poland)

Results of Ukrainians:

Valery Fedoruk

1/16 finals

Nicholas Muller (Switzerland) - Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine) - 3: 1 (11: 4, 7:11, 11: 2, 11: 5)

Matches for 17-28 places

Valeriy Fedoruk (Ukraine) - Mark Ter Sluis (Holland) - 3: 0 (11: 8, 11: 8, 11: 7)

Matches for 17-24 places

Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine) - Przemyslav Atras (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 7, 11: 2, 11: 6)

Matches for 17-20 places

Valeriy Fedoruk (Ukraine) - Kim Are Killingberg (Norway) - 3: 2 (6:11, 11: 4, 11: 4, 3:11, 11: 8)

Match for 17th place

Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine) - Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - 3: 1 (11: 8, 11: 9, 6:11, 11: 6)

Ruslan Sorochinsky

1/16 finals

Luca Serme (France) - Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - 3: 0 (11: 3, 11: 7, 11: 6)

Matches for 17-28 places

Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - Michael Müller (Switzerland) - 3: 0 (11: 6, 11: 8, 11: 8)

Matches for 17-24 places

Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - Wojciech Nowish (Poland) - 3: 0 (11: 8, 11: 5, 11: 7)

Matches for 17-20 places

Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - Lukash Stakhovski (Poland) - 3: 2 (12:10, 11: 9, 9:11, 3:11, 11: 6)

Match for 17th place

Valery Fedoruk (Ukraine) - Ruslan Sorochinsky (Ukraine) - 3: 1 (11: 8, 11: 9, 6:11, 11: 6)