England get major boost
Netherlands beaten in Eindhoven - by Jim Beglin for the ETTA
England's chances of reaching the last 16 for the European Championships in 2005 were given a encouraging boost when they beat Netherlands 3-1 in Eindhoven.
Hero of the night was England defender Matthew Syed who beat both Trinko Keen, (world 21) and Danny Heister (world 32) without dropping a game, a performance that will have reaped him valuable world ranking points.
Alex Perry beat Barry Wijers in four games with Andrew Baggaley losing England’s only match to Keen.
England’s next match is against Germany at Portsmouth in January when world No 1 Timo Boll is likely to be in the German squad.
Scores
Andrew Baggaley lost T Keen -9, -3, -11; Mathew Syed beat D Heister 8, 9, 3; Alex Perry beat B Wijers -9, 7, 7, 9; Syed bt Keen 7, 10, 9.