Sweet 16 for England in Euro Teams

What was billed as the most closely-fought Euro Team Championships for years has ended in a familiar result.

Despite facing strong squads from France and the Netherlands respectively, England's men's and women's teams won the titles for the 16th consecutive year ...

Joey Barrington (left, in an earlier tournament) made a perfect start to his England debut, beating Denmark's Kim Poulsen 9-3, 9-2, 9-1 on Day 1, before another good day at the office with a 9-1, 9-2, 9-2 over Scotland's Lyall Paterson.

His more experienced colleagues took up where he left off, powering to the Final, where James Willstrop, Adrian Grant and Peter Barker (in a career-first win over Thierry Lincou) did the business against a strong French team.

In the women's Final, Alison Waters, Vicky Botwright and Jenny Duncalf took the title without dropping a game against their Dutch opponents, Botwright's 3-0 win over Vanessa Atkinson being the stand-out result.

It will be interesting to see how the winners fare against the Netherlands next year, when Natalie Grinham will be eligible to play.

European Team Championships 2008