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CHENNAI: France stunned second seeds England in emotionally-charged second qualifying round of the SDAT WSF Under-21 World Cup in the Indian city of Chennai in only the country’s third ever win over their European cross-Channel rivals in the sport of Squash.

The third seeds opened up a surprise lead over England in the inaugural World Squash Federation mixed team event at the Indian Squash Academy when Lucas Serme, a linguistics student at the University of the West of England in the UK, beat higher-ranked Englishman Charles Sharpes 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 in 36 minutes.

The pair met each other regularly on the international junior circuit, most notably in the 2010 European Junior Championship semifinals. But, since leaving their junior days, they have gone their separate ways — Serme into higher education and Sharpes onto the professional squash circuit. Though now ranked 87 in the world, more than 50 places higher than the Frenchman, Sharpes has been unable to beat his rival since 2009.