Looking for the Ukrainians

Looking up the early results of this year's European Teams, I found this ad (left) dwarfing the adjacent scores on a well-known squash website.

Of course! Now I remember the unfortunate stat from last year's tournament - the Ukrainian women's team being thrashed 81-0 on their debut.

But where are they this year?

The men's draw features a six-man team from the Ukraine headed by Ruslan Sorochynskvi. They've already gone down 4-0 to both Italy and Sweden in Pool F, but at least they got some points on the board.

Sadly, the women do not appear to be entered in the draw this time.

Many ads on websites appear randomly, and no inferences should be drawn from this one.

Record under threat ?

England has a phenominal history in both the men's and women's events - particularly the women's, where they are defending a 30-year (!) unbeaten record.

But the defection last year of Natalie Grinham from Australia to the Netherlands has significantly bolstered the Dutch team - and on paper there is very little daylight between them and the English women.

This suggests that player selection will be crucial in the latter stages.

European Team Squash Championships 2009