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Two Anglo-French battles on finals day at ESF U19 Individuals
Mar262024
England and France will contest both finals at the ESF European Under-19 Individual Championships at Aerosquash Baneasa in Bucharest, Romania.
Defending champion and top seed Jonah Bryant cruised through his semi-final against compatriot Yusuf Sheikh 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 to set up a title showdown with France's 3/4 seed Melvil Scianimanico.
Bryant now has the chance of becoming the first Englishman to win the European junior title twice (and only the third male player of all time, after Gregory Gaultier and Victor Crouin). The 18-year-old, playing in his last individual junior tournament, admitted: "I'm not feeling expectations or pressure, I just wants to go out there, play my best squash and enjoy myself."
Scianimanico's semi-final duel with England's 7/8 seed Abdallah Eissa was decided in four sets. The match produced some scintillating points, both players putting their agility to good use, but in the end Melvil's impresive defence and strong level of fitness allowed him a place in the finals.
Scianimanico admitted it was a tough match and that he initially struggled to adapt to the glass court as he had limited time on it so far in the championship.
France's top seed Lauren Baltayan will face England's Amelie Haworth, last year's runner-up, in the girls' final on Tuesday.
Baltayan - U17 bronze medallist at January's British Junior Open - encounter few problems against the Czech Republic's Karolina Sramkova, winning 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 in just 26 minutes.
Haworth will also go into the final feeling fresh after she took just 21 minutes to dismiss Germany's Maya Weishar 11-4, 11-3, 11-5.
Speaking with second seed Haworth after her strong performance, she revealed that the way she played has given her a lot of confidence and she was excited for the finals as it will be one of her last junior tournaments and she wants to end it on a high.
Check out all the post interviews on the European Squash Federation live stream
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Tuesday's finals start at 1600 local time, with live streaming featuring commentary from former world number three Simon Rosner.