The Netherlands claimed a dramatic double in the Division 2 finals at the 2025 European Team Squash Championships in Wroclaw.
Reaching both the men’s and women’s finals had already guaranteed the Dutch promotion back to Division 1 for 2026, but both teams added gloss to that achievement by winning highly entertaining finals at the Hasta La Vista Club.
The Dutch men encountered a fiercely patriotic home crowd as they took on Poland in the final at 9.30am. The Poles were celebrating promotion to Division 1 for the first time in their history.
There was a deafening roar when Polish no.4 Filip Jarota puts the first point on the board, sealing a four-game victory over Dutch veteran Piedro Schweertman.
When Jan Samborski then followed up with a four-game win of his own, the hosts were dreaming of the trophy.
However, the Dutch hit back with a straight-games victory for Thijs Roukens, making the score 6-5 in games going into the final match between Jakub Pytlowany and Guido Lindner. The 19-year-old Lindner knew he couldn’t afford to lose two games – and he only lost one, sealing it 11-5 11-5 5-11 11-5.
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“That was so tough, so tough!” he said. “Before the last rally I was cramping. I went to wipe my hand on the wall and I was shaking. Luckily I had five points to play with at that point, as I was so scared.
“It means so much to be promoted to Division 1. We have quite a young team, so we have a lot of good opportunities for the future. It’s amazing.”
Later on, the women’s team made it a Dutch double by downing Ukraine 2-1.
The opening rubber was a cracker between the no.1s, world no.125 Tessa Ter Sluis and Philadelphia-based world no.66 Alina Bushma.
Bushma took it in 48 minutes, 7-11 11-7 12-14 11-7 11-3, but back came the Dutch with Megan van Drongelen’s four-game victory over Anastasiia Krykun.
That teed up 23-year-old Fleur Maas for the decider against Nadiia Usenko and she took it 11-7 11-6 11-8. Both teams can look forward to Division 1 next year.
“It was a crazy day!” said Maas. “First of all the boys winning their match after an insane comeback, then our team being 1-1 against Ukraine. It was such pressure.
“I was so nervous in the previous matches that I wanted to be able to be as composed as possible. I’m super happy that we got to win this tournament.”
She added: “We’re now watching the men’s Division 1 finals and to see this level of play is super inspiring. We used to play in the first division, went down two years ago and to be back in the top division again, it shows just how hard we’ve worked for it. I’m proud of the team.”
