Hosts France will contest both finals of the European Team Squash Championships for the first time after successes in the semi-finals of premier European Squash Federation event in Aix-en-Provence.
But the shock of the day took place in the women's event when second seeds Netherlands triumphed over the defending champions – inflicting England's first defeat in the 33-year history of the championships.
Winners of the title since the inaugural year of 1978, England started well when third string Tania Bailey comfortably beat Orla Noom 11-6, 11-3, 11-9. But Dutch number Vanessa Atkinson sprung one of the biggest surprises of the tournament when she overturned England's world number two Jenny Duncalf 11-3, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5 to level the tie.
With losses to England in the past seven European finals, Netherlands might have been expected to fall away at this point. But Dutch number two Annelize Naude delivered one of the performances of her career to defeat England's Sarah Kippax 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 to clinch the tie 2/1 – and produce the story of the championships.
"I went on thinking there was no pressure on me, just give it a good go," Atkinson, a former world champion and world number one, told www.squashsite.co.uk/etc10 after her upset over Duncalf. "But once you start to sense a chance of winning you naturally get nervous, especially in that last game.
"Jenny can put shots away so quickly, I never felt comfortable however far ahead I was. It was nice to be able to put shots away on this court though, as opposed to the club courts which are so hot and bouncy ... especially that last one!"
Naude was clearly elated about her success: "I was very nervous, obviously, but I just had to try to put the result out of my mind and play each point as it came," said the 33-year-old from Amsterdam. "I was ok for the first two games but it started getting to me after that.
"Things were going my way in those two games, I was able to play winners, but she put me under pressure later in the match, I had to be more consistent and rally it out.
"It's a great feeling to win, to beat England at last, but we can't afford to celebrate too much, there's another match to go ..."
In the final, Netherlands will face third seeds France - for the second time in three days - after beating Ireland 2/1. After Maud Duplomb put the host ahead, and 11-times Irish champion Madeline Perry levelled the tie after a 53-minute win over France's new world No10 Camille Serme, French stalwart Isabelle Stoehr clinched the home team's first ever appearance in the final by beating Aisling Blake 11-7, 11-9, 11-5.
"I was really enjoying that at the end," explained the jubilant former world No10 Stoehr later. "You never have those sort of moments when you're playing for yourself, and when the crowd were chanting my name it gave me goosebumps, but I knew I needed to calm down and concentrate.
"I'd lost to Aisling last time we played so I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but you can't help get a lift from an atmosphere, an occasion like this and having such a great crowd behind you.
"So, we're in the final for the first time, in France, it's all there for us but we can't expect it to be easy, the Dutch will have taken great confidence from beating England, so we have to be at our best again tomorrow ..."
England and France will meet in the predicted men's final after 4/0 victories over Wales and Netherlands, respectively, in the semi-finals.
RESULTS: European Team Squash Championships, Aix-en-Provence, France
Men's semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [3] WALES 4/0
James Willstrop bt Peter Creed 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (33m)
Nick Matthew bt Jethro Binns 11-2, 11-5, 11-8 (38m)
Peter Barker bt Nic Birt 11-2, 11-7
Daryl Selby bt Lewys Hurst 11-2, 11-1 (14m)
[2] FRANCE bt [4] NETHERLANDS 4/0
Thierry Lincou bt Dylan Bennett 12-10, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Gregory Gaultier bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (56m)
Renan Lavigne bt Piedro Schweertman 11-4, 11-7 (18m)
Mathieu Castagnet bt Sebastian Weenink 11-3, 11-6 (12m)
5th - 12th place play-offs:
[5] GERMANY bt [11] SWEDEN 3/1
Jens Schoor lost to Christian Drakenberg 12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 5-11 (69m)
Simon Rosner bt Rasmus Hult 3-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 (57m)
Andre Haschker bt Carl-Johan Lofvenborg 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (34m)
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Sebastian Victor 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (36m)
[6] SCOTLAND bt [9] SPAIN 2/2 (Scotland win 8-6 on games countback)
Alan Clyne lost to Borja Golan 7-11, 11-5, 4-11, 5-11 (55m)
Stuart Crawford bt David Vidal 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (48m)
Chris Small lost to Alejandro Garbi Caro 7-11, 7-11, 11-3
Harry Leitch bt Ivan Flores 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (46m)
[13] ITALY bt [8] FINLAND 3/1
Davide Bianchetti lost to Olli Tuominen 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 7-11 (58m)
Marcus Berrett bt Olli Tuominen 11-1, 11-5, 11-5 (21m)
Amr Swelim bt Matias Tuomi 11-5, 11-8 (17m)
Stephane Galifi bt Hameed Ahmed 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (25m)
[15] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [7] IRELAND 3/1
Jan Koukal bt Arthur Gaskin 14-12, 11-3, 11-2 (37m)
Lukas Jelinek bt Derek Ryan 12-10, 8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8 (48m)
Petr Martin bt Steve Richardson 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Ondrej Ertl lost to Niall Rooney 9-11, 5-11 (16m)
13th - 20th place play-offs:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [27] SLOVAKIA 4/0
Nicolas Mueller bt Tomas Toth 11-4, 11-2, 11-6 (30m)
Reiko Peter bt Marek Manik 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (22m)
Lukas Burkhart bt Peter Kviecinsky 7-11, 11-6, 11-7 (33m)
Patrick Miescher bt Marek Zvoncek 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (45m)
[16] BELGIUM bt [18] AUSTRIA 3/1
Stefan Casteleyn lost to Aqeel Rehman 6-11, 11-2, 9-11, 9-11 (56m)
Gregory Lecerf bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8 (44m)
Sam van Brusselen bt Stefan Brauneis 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (35m)
Mark Burke bt Rehan van der Merwe 11-9, 16-14, 10-12, 11-6 (42m)
[10] DENMARK bt [17] ISRAEL 4/0
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Ido Avron 3-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-2 (25m)
Rasmus Nielsen bt Nir Arkin 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (22m)
Caspar Grauball Nielsen bt Nir Zisman 12-10, 11-2, 11-4 (28m)
Tobias Portner bt Avner Geva 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (31m)
[14] HUNGARY bt [20] UKRAINE 4/0
Mark Krajcsak bt Kostiantyn Rybalchenko 11-8, 11-2, 11-2 (21m)
Sandor Fulop bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (26m)
Marton Szaboky bt Valeriy Fedoruk 11-8, 13-15, 11-4 (43m)
Balazs Welesz bt Denis Podvornyi 12-10, 11-6 (18m)
5th - 8th place play-offs:
[5] GERMANY bt [6] SCOTLAND 3/1
Simon Rosner lost to Alan Clyne 10-12, 5-11, 6-11 (38m)
Jens Schoor bt Stuart Crawford 11-7, 11-0, 11-4 (26m)
Andre Haschker bt Chris Small 5-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (76m)
Rudi Rohrmuller bt Harry Leitch 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 (55m)
[13] ITALY bt [15] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/1
Davide Bianchetti lost to Jan Koukal 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 6-11 (57m)
Marcus Berrett bt Pavel Sladecek 11-3, 11-3, 11-0 (23m)
Amr Swelim bt Petr Martin 11-7, 11-8 (19m)
Stephane Galifi bt Ondrej Ertl 11-7, 11-0, 11-7 (26m)
9th - 12th place play-offs:
[9] SPAIN bt [11] SWEDEN 2/2 (Spain win 8-7 on games countback)
Borja Golan bt Rasmus Hult 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (43m)
David Vidal lost to Christian Drakenberg 2-11, 6-11, 6-11 (31m)
Ivan Flores bt Joakim Larsson 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, 11-4 (55m)
Eduardo Gonzales De Chaves lost to Sebastian Victor 11-13, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11 (56m)
[8] FINLAND bt [7] IRELAND 3/1
Olli Tuominen bt Arthur Gaskin 11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 11-4 (50m)
Henrik Mustonen bt Derek Ryan 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (29m)
Matias Tuomi bt Steve Richardson 13-11, 11-7 (30m)
Hameed Ahmed lost to Niall Rooney 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11 (49m)
13th - 16th place play-offs:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [16] BELGIUM 4/0
Nicolas Mueller bt Stefan Casteleyn 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (29m)
John Williams bt Gregory Lecerf 11-2, 11-2, 10-12, 11-3 (37m)
Reiko Peter bt Sam van Brusselen 9-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (44m)
Benjamin Fischer bt Alexandre Benassi 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (32m)
[10] DENMARK bt [14] HUNGARY 3/1
Kristian Frost Olesen lost to Mark Krajcsak 7-11, 7-11, 12-14 (55m)
Rasmus Nielsen bt Sandor Fulop 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Caspar Grauball Nielsen bt Marton Szaboky 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 (29m)
Kim Povlsen bt Daniel Cseffalvay 10-12, 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 (31m)
17th - 20th place play-offs:
[27] SLOVAKIA bt [18] AUSTRIA 2/2 (Slovakia win 8-7 on games countback)
Tomas Toth lost to Aqeel Rehman 10-12, 1-11, 5-11 (39m)
Marek Manik lost to Jakob Dirnberger 11-6, 4-11, 12-14, 11-8, 3-11 (52m)
Peter Kviecinsky bt Stefan Brauneis 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-4 (52m)
Marek Zvoncek bt Marcus Greslehner 11-9, 14-12, 11-3 (32m)
[20] UKRAINE bt [17] ISRAEL 3/1
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko bt Ido Avron 4-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (32m)
Ruslan Sorochinskiy lost to Nir Arkin 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11 (39m)
Artem Shandybin bt Nir Zisman 7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3 (59m)
Valeriy Fedoruk bt Eran Wagner 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (30m)
21st - 24th place play-offs:
[21] GREECE bt [24] CROATIA 4/0
Fabian Kalaitzis bt Filip Madaric 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (15m)
Petros Tzamaloukas bt Vedran Svonja 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (29m)
Declan Christie bt Petar Galekovic 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (20m)
Konstantinos Kargiotis bt Srdan Maksimovic 11-8, 11-6 (11m)
[19] LUXEMBOURG bt [23] POLAND 4/0
Nathan Sneyd bt Wojciech Nowisz 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (25m)
Sanjay Raval bt Marcin Kozik 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3 (39m)
Stephane Ayache bt Maciek Maciantowicz 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (38m)
Daniel Kaiser bt Kamil Dominiak 11-9, 11-8 (29m)
25th - 28th place play-offs:
[22] GIBRALTAR bt [25] TURKEY 4/0
Anthony Brindle bt Timur Arslan 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (21m)
Christian Navas bt Ergul Yilmazel 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-2 (28m)
Stephen Shacaluga bt Atilla Mustafaoglu 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (26m)
Mark Tewkesbury bt Sinan Salih 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (20m)
[22] GIBRALTAR bt [26] CYPRUS 3/1
Anthony Brindle lost to Panos Hadjiphilippou 10-12, 7-11, 11-7, 5-11 (35m)
Christian Navas bt Andreas Koufetas 11-4, 6-11, 11-3, 11-1 (30m)
Stephen Shacaluga bt Joel Meletiou 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (22m)
Nicholas de Haro bt Andreas Tsouris 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (20m)
Women's semi-finals:
[2] NETHERLANDS bt [1] ENGLAND 2/1
Orla Noom lost to Tania Bailey 6-11, 3-11, 9-11 (29m)
Vanessa Atkinson bt Jenny Duncalf 11-3, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5 (40m)
Annelize Naude bt Sarah Kippax 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 (45m)
[3] FRANCE bt [4] IRELAND 2/1
Maud Duplomb bt Laura Mylotte 11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5 (36m)
Camille Serme lost to Madeline Perry 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 4-11 (53m)
Isabelle Stoehr bt Aisling Blake 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (38m)
5th - 12th place play-offs:
[5] GERMANY bt [11] WALES 2/1
Pamela Hathway bt Natalie Pritchard 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (33m)
Sina Wall lost to Deon Saffery 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11 (38m)
Kathrin Rohrmueller bt Stacey Preece 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7 (35m)
[10] SPAIN bt [7] SWITZERLAND 2/1
Chantal Moros-Pitarch bt Jasmin Ballman 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (29m)
Xisela Aranda Nunez lost to Gaby Schmohl 6-11, 6-11, 6-11 (27m)
Margaux Moros-Pitarch bt Sara Guebey 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3 (28m)
[8] ITALY bt [13] AUSTRIA 3/0
Chiara Ferrari bt Sandra Polak 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5 (42m)
Manuela Manetta bt Birgit Coufal 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (21m)
Sonia Pasteris bt Pamela Pancis 11-8, 11-8 (14m)
[9] SCOTLAND bt [6] DENMARK 2/1
Lauren Gray bt Cecilie Mayer 11-5, 5-11, 11-2, 11-1 (22m)
Frania Gillen-Buchert lost to Line Hansen 7-11, 9-11, 13-11, 5-11 (40m)
Lisa Aitken bt Marie-Louise Feddern 11-3, 13-11, 11-3 (27m)
5th - 8th place play-offs:
[5] GERMANY bt [10] SPAIN 3/0
Pamela Hathway bt Stela Carbonell 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3 (33m)
Sina Wall bt Xisela Aranda Nunez 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (30m)
Kathrin Rohrmueller bt Chantal Moros-Pitarch 2-11, 11-9, 11-5
[8] ITALY bt [9] SCOTLAND 2/1
Veronica Favero Camp lost to Alex Clark 4-11, 5-11, 4-11 (25m)
Manuela Manetta bt Frania Gillen-Buchert 11-8, 11-8, 11-3 (26m)
Sonia Pasteris bt Lisa Aitken 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (48m)
9th - 12th place play-offs:
[7] SWITZERLAND bt [11] WALES 2/1
Agapi Kazamia bt Natalie Pritchard 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 11-7 (30m)
Gaby Schmohl lost to Deon Saffery 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 5-11 (35m)
Jasmin Ballman bt Stacey Preece 11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
[6] DENMARK bt [13] AUSTRIA 2/1
Sally Skaarenborg bt Sandra Polak 11-4, 13-11, 11-3 (26m)
Line Hansen bt Birgit Coufal 11-4, 15-13, 11-4 (24m)
Marie-Louise Feddern lost to Pamela Pancis 10-12, 11-5, 11-13
13th - 16th place play-offs:
[12] BELGIUM bt [16] SWEDEN 3/0
Yara Delagrange bt Jennie Lindstrom 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (17m)
Kim Hannes bt Anna-Carin Forstadius 11-1, 11-7, 11-7 (19m)
Annabel Romedenne bt Lovisa Forstadius 11-2, 11-8 (134m)
[15] FINLAND bt [14] CZECH REPUBLIC 2/1
Michaela Bjornstrom lost to Anna Klimundova 4-11, 6-11, 5-11 (19m)
Saara Valtola bt Veronika Koukalova 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (25m)
Elina Kononen bt Hana Vagnerova 11-1, 11-3, 2-11, 11-5 (22m)
17th - 18th place play-offs:
[17] POLAND bt [20] CYPRUS 2/1
Vanessa Geroska bt Christina Vrahimi 11-7, 11-3, 3-11, 11-8 (22m)
Dominika Witkowska lost to Vaso Karasava 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 9-11 (32m)
Anna Jurkun bt Antonia Aristodemou 11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 11-9 (34m)
[18] LUXEMBOURG bt [19] GREECE 3/0
Francoise Donven bt Zeta Tzamalouka 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (19m)
Sandra Denis bt Eliza Kargioti 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (25m)
Claudia Mich bt Nikoleta Pozidi 11-9, 10-12, 11-6 (34m)
19th - 21st place play-offs:
[19] GREECE bt [21] TURKEY 3/0
Zeta Tzamalouka bt Tulin Yilanci 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (16m)
Eliza Kargioti bt Ayten Kececi 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 (19m)
Nikoleta Pozidi bt Zeynep Kocakavak 11-5, 11-4 (10m)
[20] CYPRUS bt [21] TURKEY 3/0
Helen Vrahimis bt Aynur Yilmaz 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 (21m)
Antonia Aristodemou bt Ayten Kececi 11-3, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7 (25m)
Christina Vrahimi bt Tulin Yilanci 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (16m)
Men's Final:
[1] ENGLAND v [2] FRANCE
3rd place play-off:
[3] WALES v [4] NETHERLANDS
5th place play-off:
[5] GERMANY v [13] ITALY
7th place play-off:
[6] SCOTLAND v [15] CZECH REPUBLIC
9th place play-off:
[9] SPAIN v [8] FINLAND
11th place play-off:
[11] SWEDEN v [7] IRELAND
13th place play-off:
[12] SWITZERLAND v [10] DENMARK
15th place play-off:
[16] BELGIUM v [14] HUNGARY
17th place play-off:
[27] SLOVAKIA v [20] UKRAINE
19th place play-off:
[18] AUSTRIA v [17] ISRAEL
21st place play-off:
[21] GREECE v [19] LUXEMBOURG
23rd place play-off:
[24] CROATIA v [23] POLAND
Women's Final:
[2] NETHERLANDS v [3] FRANCE
3rd place play-off:
[1] ENGLAND v [4] IRELAND
5th place play-off:
[5] GERMANY v [8] ITALY
7th place play-off:
[10] SPAIN v [9] SCOTLAND
9th place play-off:
[7] SWITZERLAND v [6] DENMARK
11th place play-off:
[11] WALES v [13] AUSTRIA
13th place play-off:
[12] BELGIUM v [15] FINLAND
15th place play-off:
[16] SWEDEN v [14] CZECH REPUBLIC
17th place play-off:
[17] POLAND v [18] LUXEMBOURG
19th place play-off:
[19] GREECE v [20] CYPRUS