Tinne Gilis and Nicolas Mueller crowned as ESF European Squash Champions 2022

The women's final unfolded between the Belgians and the sisters Nele and Tinne Gillis. It will be recalled that Nele is the winner of the title of European champion in 2019, while Tinne recently became the winner of the World Games in the USA. Earlier this year, the sisters played each other for the first time in the final at the PSA des Hauts de France 2022 tournament, in which Tinnet came out on top.

On August 20, at the finals, luck smiled again on the younger sister. The match seemed extremely tense and long (54 minutes): 11-9, 11-9, 11-9. Congratulations to Tinne Gilis who won her first championship title.

In the men's final, everything is quite predictable, the rivals for the title of European champion are the two first-seeded players - the Swiss Nicolas Muller (PSA Rank 14) and the Frenchman Victor Kruen (PSA Rank 18), by the way, the current winner of the World Games.

Muller took the court and delivered what he later called "my most consistent performance." The score 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 confirms the outstanding show that the athlete demonstrated in the final. For the 32-year-old Swiss, this is the first European title.

The bronze medal match between the men was played by the German Raphael Kandra and the French Sebastien Bonmale. Kandra, as always, fought to the last, but the young Frenchman "turned out to be not up to the task". After 48 minutes and four games, Bonmale won his first European medal.

Melissa Alves from France met with Marta Dominguez from Spain. The experienced Alves was able to control her opponent's moves and won in three games, thus regaining the bronze medal of Bucharest-2019.

European Championships in positions: 25 of Europe's best athletes among men and 18 - among women have drawn EICC places

Ukraine was represented by a powerful team of three girls and two men. We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for the opportunity to speak thanks to donations from the ESF Solidarity Programme.

The highest ranks are occupied by Alina Bushma and Valery Fedoruk. We really enjoyed playing these two. Valery Fedoruk gave us the first victory in the very first round, then a powerful match with the winner of the fourth place of the championship, Rafael Kandra. Unfortunately, Czech Daniel Mekbib (5/8 seed) won 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 in the final for 11th place.

As for Alina Bushma, she immediately faced a very strong opponent Christina Gomez (5/8 seed) and automatically played for the 9th-16th place in the women's category. Alina's result is 10th place, which means her two further victories over opponents from Croatia and Switzerland. The final turned out to be fateful, again we had to play against Hanna Chukva (Anastasia Kostyukova's opponent at the World Games) and, unfortunately, in this final the Hungarian got hers with the score of 11-6, 4-11, 6-11, 11-4, 10-12 .

Anastasia Kostyukova, Ruslan Sorochynskyi, and Milena Velichko take 15th, 19th, and 18th place, respectively. All players left a mark in the history of European squash. Anastasia Kostyukova had the opportunity to play with the winner of the championship Tinne Gilis and won two matches at the tournament. Ruslan Sorochynskyi won two matches out of four, and Milena Velichko got a great experience at the age of 16.

Results of Ukrainian players at the 2022 European Individual Championship

Valery Fedoruk (12th place)

Joel Viksten Sweden - Ukraine Valerii Fedoruk 9-11 6-11 11-9 6-11
Raphael Kandra [3/4] Germany - Ukraine Valerii Fedoruk [9/4] 11-2 11-2 11-9

Valerii Fedoruk [9/16] Ukraine - Hungary Daniel Simon 6-11 12-14 11-9 11-8 13-11
Valerii Fedoruk [9/16] Ukraine - Czech Republic Jakub Solnicky [9/16] 5-11 6-11 6-11
Daniel Mekbib [5/8] Czech Republic - Ukraine Valerii Fedoruk [9/8] 11-8 11-7 11-2

Alina Bushma (10th place)

Cristina Gomez [5/8] Spain - Ukraine Alina Bushma [9/8] 11-7 11-8 11-6
Franka Vidovic Croatia - Ukraine Alina Bushma 5-11 4-11 5-11
Alina Bushma Ukraine - Switzerland Cindy Merlo 13-11 8-11 11-9 3-11 11-7
Alina Bushma Ukraine - Hungary Hannah Chukwu 11-6 4-11 6-11 11-4 10-12

Anastasia Kostyukova (15th place)

Anastasiia Kostiukova [9/16] Ukraine - Sweden Moa Bönnemark 7-11 5-11 11-8 11-8 11-1
Anastasiia Kostiukova [9/16] Ukraine - Belgium Tinne Gilis [2/16] 4-11 2-11 6-11
Jacqueline Peychär Austria - Ukraine Anastasiia Kostiukova 11-4 12-10 11-8
Katerina Tycova Germany - Ukraine Anastasiia Kostiukova 11-6 11-1 11-9
Franka Vidovic Croatia - Ukraine Anastasiia Kostiukova 5-11 6-11 10-12

Ruslan Sorochynskyi (19th place)

Nilo Vidal [9/16] Spain - Ukraine Ruslan Sorochynskyi 7-11 11-5 11-4 11-8
Leon Krysiak Poland - Ukraine Ruslan Sorochynskyi 7-11 10-12 11-8 9-11
Ondrej Vorlícek Czech Republic - Ukraine Ruslan Sorochynskyi 11-3 14-12 13-11
Filip Hultman Sweden - Ukraine Ruslan Sorochynskyi 11-7 11-7 8-11 9-11 10-12

Milena Velichko (18th place)

Franka Vidovic Croatia - Ukraine Milena Velychko 11-7 11-6 11-7
Hannah Chukwu Hungary - Ukraine Milena Velychko 11-5 11-6 11-3
Moa Bönnemark Sweden - Ukraine Milena Velychko [9/16] 7-11 11-1 11-7 11-3

All in all, it was a great event at a great venue with top class squash and top notch organisation.

ESF European Individual Closed Squash Championship 2022 results.