Chris Simpson helped England's men to victory at the European Team Squash Championships ©Getty Images

England’s men claimed a surprise victory at the 44th European Team Squash Championships in Poland’s capital Warsaw as their female counterparts took the women’s title.

The men’s team lined up against France in the final for the ninth successive year, but they were considered underdogs having lost the 2015 showdown.

Against the odds, the second seeds triumphed 2-1 after Chris Simpson beat Lucas Serme 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 and Tom Richards overcame Geoffrey Demont 11-8, 11-6, 11-2.

James Willstrop lost 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 1-11 against career-long rival Gregory Gaultier, however, the result proved to be inconsequential.

A 3-1 win over Germany in the third-place play-off saw Scotland record their highest finish since 1999.

In the women's competition, firm favourites England dropped just a sole match en route to reaching the final and then defeated number two seeds France 2-0 thanks to wins for former world number one Laura Massaro and Victoria Lust.

Lust overcame Laura Pomportes 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 after which Massaro beat Camille Serme 11-5, 11-1, 11-6 to seal a 38th title for England in what was their third successive final against the French.

Seventh seeds The Netherlands beat fourth-ranked Wales 2-1 in the third-place play-off.

Delia Arnold played a key role in Malaysia's women's success at the Asian Team Championships
Delia Arnold played a key role in Malaysia's women's success at the Asian Team Championships ©Getty Images

At the Asian Team Championships in New Taipei City, Pakistan and Malaysia came out on top in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively.

Second seeds Pakistan secured the men's title for the fourth time in a row following wins for Farhan Mehboob and Farhan Zaman in the final against Hong Kong, the favourites who were making their first appearance in the final since 1996.

Mehboob triumphed 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 against Tang Ming Hong, while Zaman prevailed 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 at the expense of Max Lee.

Beaten semi-finalists Japan and India took the bronze medals, with the former celebrating their first-ever top four finish.

There was also a successful title defence in the women's event as third seeds Malaysia struck gold without the services of veterans Nicol David, the former world number one, and Low Wee Wern, a world number five.

Led by sisters Delia and Rachel Arnold, Malaysia topped the Pool B qualifying group against expectations after upsetting India.

They then repeated their success against the second seeds in the final with wins for Sivasangari Subramaniam and Delia Arnold.

Subramaniam proved too strong for Sachika Ingale in an 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 win prior to Arnold’s 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9 success against Joshna Chinappa.

Top seeds Hong Kong and fourth-ranked Japan had to settle for the bronze medals after suffering semi-final elimination.