Author: Marcel Kramer

Luxembourg finishes 2nd

Luxembourg had a tough encounter against Liechtenstein today, and lost 3-2. In the overall standings however,
this was just enough to finish ahead of Liechtenstein on the 2nd place!!

Luxembourg – Liechtenstein:  2-3

Daniel Hutchines – Ralf Wenaweser 3-1  (12/10 7/11 11/6 11/4)
Daniel Kaiser – Peter Maier 3-2  (8/11 8/11 11/9 11/7 11/7)
Stéphane Ayache – Linus Schnarwiler 1-3  (8/11 5/11 11/8 7/11)
Marcel Kramer – Finley Davey  1-3 (10/12 7/11 11/7 7/11)
Keith Darlington – Oliver Stahl  1-3 (9/11 11/7 5/11 5/11)

Malta-Monaco 5-0

Here are the final standings:

1. Malta 56 points
2. Luxembourg 31 points
3. Liechtenstein 28 points
4. Monaco 26 points

Luxembourg lost against Malta

Luxembourg were beaten convincingly by a strong Maltese team. The maltese team having two professionals in top 2 positions, that was always making it difficult for us. Our only hope was strong performances of our bottom 3 players. As it happened, the experience of the Maltese number 4 and 5 proved too strong for both Keith Darlington and Marcel Kramer as they both lost in straight games. Stéphane Ayache went up 2-0, and even had a match ball on 10-8, but still had to go to 5 sets to win! Daniel Kaiser and Daniel Hutchines learnt from the experience of playing an opponent out of their league.
Hopefully we use this experience of yesterday’s match to our favor for this evening, where we have to beat Liechtenstein to ensure the 2nd place.

In the other encounter, Monaco won 4-1 against Liechtenstein.

Here are the detailed results:

Daniel Hutchines – Brad Hindle 0-3
Daniel Kaiser – Mike Fiteni 0-3
Stéphane Ayache – Mark Lupi 3-2
Marcel Kramer – Steve Schranz 0-3
Keith Darlington – Bernard Bujega 0-3

Luxembourg beats Monaco

In a thrilling encounter, Luxembourg managed to beat Monaco 4-1. Both Keith Darlington and Marcel Kramer managed to get a comfortable 2-0 lead, but then failed to capitalize, but eventually both won in 5. Stéphane Ayache sealed the team victory with a 3-0 win. Next on court was Daniel Kaiser, who won a thrilling five game match, finishing 16-14 in the fifth. Daniel Hutchines took a decisive 2-0 lead, but conceded the match in 5.

Here are the detailed results:
Daniel Hutchines – Christian Billard 2-3  (12/10 11/9 5/11 9/11 3/11)
Daniel Kaiser – Christophe Ballerio 3-2 (3/11 11/9 11/6 7/11 16/14)
Stéphane Ayache – Renaud Lenoble 3-0 (11/5 11/5 11/1)
Marcel Kramer – Pierre Ballerio 3-2 (11/8 11/7 9/11 6/11 11/6)
Keith Darlington – Ralph Davey 3-2 (11/2 11/2 8/11 6/11 11/9)

In the other encounter, our next opponent Malta won 4-1 against Liechtenstein.
 

This year’s edition of the European Small Nations Squash Tournament takes place on the beautiful island of Malta. There is only a men’s event, with Malta, Liechtenstein, Monaco an Luxembourg competing.

Malta is the favorite, as they have the strongest team on paper, with 3 professional players!! Luxembourg is represented by Danny Hutchines, Daniel Kaiser, Stéphane Ayache, Marcel Kramer an Keith Darlington.

Here’s the tournament schedule:

• Wesdnesday 14th:
  • Malta vs Liechtenstein
  • Monaco vs Luxembourg

  Thursday 15th:

  • Malta vs Luxembourg
  • Monaco vs Liechtenstein

  Friday 16th:

  • Malta vs Monaco
  • Luxembourg vs Liechtenstein

  Saturday 17th: Individual event