It should have been the first title in 25 years, but Meersquash failed to take the national championship. The Hoofddorp team lost on Tuesday-evening against Grant Thornton Victoria Rotterdam.
The team from Rotterdam had still won in the Eredivisie, but that did not work in the final of the play-offs. It became 4-9 at the Arnolduspark. Bart Ravelli was optimistic about Meersquash’s chances in advance, even though it was a quarter of a century ago that the last national title was taken.
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Bart Ravelli’s opening match against Piëdro Schweertman was lost 7-11, 11-4, 7-11 and 5-11. New Zealander Paul Coll, number one in the world, then defeated Spaniard Borja Golan 11-5, 11-9 and 11-4. In the final game Dylan Bennett went down against the French number 37 in the ranking: 5-11, 2-11 and 6-11.
The women of Meersquash also missed out on the national title. In Eindhoven they lost, without their injured leader Nele Gilis, with 2-12 GC Biotech Squash Time. It was striking that the only 13-year-old Renske Huntelaar forced her opponent to the limit and won two games against Naomi Nohar. Gabi Fritsche and Elfi Markus lost their matches without winning a game.
