Top seeds Nathan Lake and Emily Whitlock ensured an English double at the European Junior (U19) Individual Championships after straight games wins in the finals in Kriens, Switzerland. After the first all-English men’s semi-final line-up in the tournament’s 22-year history, it was Lake and James Earles who emerged to contest the final. And 18-year-old Lake overcame Earles 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to clinch the title. Emily Whitlock reached the women’s final without dropping a game – and continued to demonstrate her authority over the field by defeating Tesni Evans, the 2nd seed from Wales, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11. Lake and Whitlock will now lead their country’s bid in the mixed European Junior Team Championship, where defending champions England are seeded to win the title.
