|
NATIONAL TEAMS FINALS MAY 2005
Two Beacon Electrical Plymouth League teams came away from National Teams Finals Weekend at Derby as English champions.
Spearheaded by unbeaten performances from Lisa Radford and Sally Smith, the junior girl's team overcame North Middlesex and holders Wirral to take the Bromfield Trophy. Both defeated national number eight junior Claire Langford in critical matches as the team's third member, 12 year old Laura McLeod, failed to score against the holders' experienced trio.
Their fine performances this season have seen Lisa & Sally selected to represent England Schools in international matches against Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Guernsey in early July at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre.
Plymouth comfortably won the Leach Cup for cadet boys last season but without number one, Darren Reed, away on international duty with England, were no certainties to repeat that performance.
However, their trio of DML Woolwell club members, Richard Marshall, Chris Smith & Freddie Cutler, never looked like relinquishing their crown. Richard completed the weekend unbeaten while Chris suffered just two losses.
REGIONAL SQUAD & NATIONAL SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS AT STOKE APRIL 2005
Four DML Woolwell club members were in the South West Region team which produced its best ever performance in the English Regional Squad Championships. After beating Eastern, West Midlands, South East and the North to top their group, the team narrowly lost 5-7 in the final to reigning champions East Midlands.
Playing at one & two in the boys under 15 age group, club colleagues Richard Marshall and Chris Smith won four and three respectively of their five matches, with Richard's victories including a brilliant win over the higher ranked Mark Simpson. Chris's nine year old sister Vicky won two matches playing at number one in the under 11 category and all three are young enough to compete in the same age group again next year. Laura McLeod also collected two points in the under 13 girls section in which her team-mate, Cornwall's Martha Travis, was the only south west player to remain unbeaten.
The previous day Richard, still only 13 and one of the youngest competitors in the under 16 age group, had very narrowly failed to produce an upset in the finals of the English Schools Individual Championships. Despite losing a two game lead to be edged out by fourth seed Wing-Yung Chan in his group, he qualified in second place to reach the last 12. There he met fifth seed Lee Barnes and in an even closer tussle lost 16-14 in the final game!
Richard has two more years in the under 16's as does Vicky Smith in the under 11's. She had three good wins and was just one victory away from a place in the last ten. A similar fate befell Laura McLeod in the Under 13's after finishing third of six in her group, but she can also come back next year for another attempt.
Lisa Radford was the most successful local player, reaching the under 19 girls final, while Sally Smith lost in the under 16 semi-final to eventual champion Sarah Perks.
The Plymouth League junior girl's team made a successful trip to north London. Although 12 year old Laura McLeod found life tough, the more experienced Sally Smith was undefeated and Lisa Radford lost just one match as North Middlesex and Hastings League teams were defeated. The Plymouth side will now play in the national finals in May.
Not so lucky was the junior boy's team. Despite an excellent seven wins out of nine from Harry Cutler, their trip to Reading ended in narrow failure to progress. They were defeated by Reading and Slough, gaining a consolation win over the Guildford League. The team had been weakened by the absence of 13 year old DML Woolwell teammates Richard Marshall and Chris Smith who had a successful and enjoyable weekend among the country's elite youngsters at an England Squad training camp in Lilleshall.
Leech & Carter Cup Finals at Derby 12 & 13 June 2004
Richard Marshall and Chris Smith were members of the Plymouth League team which eased to victory in the national finals of this season's Leech Cup (inter-league teams event for cadet (U-15) boys) and finished runners-up in the Carter Cup (the junior (U-18) equivalent).
On Saturday, giving away five years to some opponents, they found it tough going as Chris took one out of five & Richard none from three as they narrowly failed to help two of last year's winners, Chris Brown & Darren Reed, retain the trophy. A 5-2 win over Colchester was followed by two very narrow 4-5 defeats to Staines & eventual champions Darlington.
On Sunday, still with two more years to compete, things were much easier as, with Darren, the three 13 year olds swept past Middlesex & Rother Valley 5-1 each time (including an excellent win over Matthew Dodds for Richard), then despite both losing narrowly in five to number one William Maybanks, defeating Barnet 5-3 to take the title.
Just for good measure the pair had a starring role on the Spotlight news programme on BBC1 on Monday evening!
|
|
