Improved ranking for Irish

THE Irish men's squash team moved from 14th to 10th in the rankings at the end of their European Championship campaign in Denmark…

THE Irish men's squash team moved from 14th to 10th in the rankings at the end of their European Championship campaign in Denmark hut the women's team, who had been hoping to win a place in the top eight, fell from ninth to 12th overall.

Both teams lost their final play off matches on Saturday, the men going down 3-1 to second seeds Scotland. Chris Collins beat Scottish number four Peter O'Hara, and Derek Ryan put up a brave performance against world number three Peter Nicol, winning the second set.

The women's team squandered two match winning opportunities against Spain in their 11th/12th place play off. Sutton's Louise Finnegan gave the team a 1-0 lead but both Aisling McArdle and Madeline Perry lost their matches having led their opponents 2-0 and 2-1 respectively.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times