EDGBASTON PRIORY SEAL TREBLE WIN AT THE NATIONAL
CLUBS CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS
Nottingham SRC welcomed a
host of Clubs through its doors this past weekend (21-22 May) as the National
Clubs Championships got underway. The popular end of season event is the
culmination of year long knockout draws and group stages of 8 different
categories. Edgbaston Priory turned up to the finals in force as they seemed
determined to land not only the Racketball event but the main Men’s and Women’s
events also. Having tasted glory in the European Club Championships last year,
they were keen to represent England once again and a double National Clubs Title
is what they needed to make that happen.
Edgbaston’s Women’s team
faced Colets in the semi finals whilst current holders Pontefract took on
Nottingham. Both semi finals were comfortable wins for the favourites as they
set up a reply of the 2010 final. Edgbaston started very well and took an early
lead as their 5th and 4th strings were too strong for
Pontefract and recorded 3-0 victories. Leonie Holt, Edgbaston’s Captain then had
the chance to seal the victory as she took on Katie Smith, Smith took the first
game and with Pontefract being strong at strings 1 and 2 this was labelled the
decider. Smith couldn’t keep the pressure up and Holts experience showed as she
took control of the game and won the title for Edgbaston with a 3-1 victory.
Deon Saffery and Vanessa Atkinson won both their matches for Pontefract but it
wasn’t enough to stop Edgbaston taking it out of their hands this year.
Edgbaston’s Men also faced
the current holders but this time in the semi finals as they were pitted against
Colets. Colets are notoriously strong in the Club Championships and have held
the Men’s title for the past 4 years having won it 11 times in total since the
conception in 1969! Edgbaston had strength in depth with a mixture of youth and
experience that was too much for Colets to deal with, a 4-1 victory ensued for
Edgbaston. Their final opponents would be Nottingham, the host club represented
well as their Men’s team took on Hallamshire and recorded a 3-2 win. The Final
ran much the same way as the Women’s with Edgbaston taking early leads through
Anthony Graham and Jon Harford. Oliver Holland gave the home fans some hope as
he took a 3-0 victory against Chris Truswell. The pressure then transferred to
the top seeds with Chris Ryder taking on Eddie Charlton, a close first game to
Ryder, then a bad start in the second for Charlton gave Ryder a commanding 2-0
lead. Charlton battled back well with his never say die attitude to force the
game into a tie break but he couldn’t quite push through. Ryder taking the game
3-0 and winning the title for Edgbaston for only the 2nd time in the
competitions history and completing a double in the Men’s and Women’s game that
hasn’t been seen since Pontefract in 2002.
Elsewhere we saw Colets
retain their Men’s O35 title for the 3rd year running as they beat
East Anglia 4-1, Colets also had success in the Men’s O55 event as their team
ended Nottingham’s 2 year run. A 2-1 victory over Nottingham in that final saw
them take the O55 trophy for the first time. Harpenden made history for their
club as they ran out 2-1 winners against Nottingham in the Men’s O45 event.
Harpenden spearheaded by current Men’s O45 National Champion Eamonn Price
dominated the event this year and won the trophy for the club for the first
time. Pontefract continued to sweep up the Junior Mixed category and increase
their reputation as a club that likes to develop young talent, they faced
Wimbledon and won their 10th title in 16 years since the event began.
New Eltham continued their
dominance in the Women’s O35 event, as holders for the past 3 years and having
won 9 titles in 15 years it would need something special to prise it away from
them. Chapel Allerton their opponents were the last team to defeat them back in
2007 and they turned up determined to wrestle it back again. This was the most
contested final of the weekend, each match in the 3 woman team went to a fifth
game, and it was to be New Eltham who edged it, making it 4 wins on the trot for
their O35 team.
The Racketball final was a
replay of last year’s final as holders Edgbaston Priory took on Devon & Exeter.
With Edgbaston in a winning mood all weekend they never looked likely to
relinquish their hold on the Racketball title and duly retained it with a
comprehensive 4-1 victory which made it a treble winning weekend for the
midlands club. Edgbaston Priory will now look to the European Club Championships
on 8-10 September which is being held in Belfast, Ireland and hope their winning
form continues as they head over flying the flag for England.
Men’s Final
Edgbaston Priory v Nottingham
1.
Chris Ryder v Eddie Charlton 3-0
11/7 11/2 12/10
2.
Joel Hinds v Lewis Walters Dead
Rubber
3.
Jonny Harford v Mark Fuller
3-0 11/7 11/9 11/2
4.
Chris Truswell v Olli Holland
0-3 3/11 9/11 8/11
5.
Anthony Graham v Neil Rossin
3-0 11/9 11/9 11/5
Women’s Final
Edgbaston Priory v Pontefract
1.
Vicky Lust v Vanessa Atkinson
0-3 8/11 6/11 4/11
2.
Lauren Selby v Deon Saffery
0-3 5/11 8/11 8/11
3.
Leonie Holt v Katie Smith
3-1 8/11 11/3 11/4 11/6
4.
Vicky Hynes v Sarah Bowles
3-0 15/13 11/7 11/7
5.
Julianne Courtice v Hannah Shipley
3-0 11/3 11/6 11/8
Men’s Over 35 Final
Colets v East Anglia
1.
Danny Meddings v David Youngs
3-0 11/5 11/7 11/6
2.
Alex Couch v Ian Cox
3-1 11/9 12/10 14/16 11/9
3.
Alan Thompson v David Gouldby
3-1 4/11 11/7 11/7 11/9
4.
Dave Peck v John Cordeaux
0-3 7/11 7/11 2/11
5.
David Stanton v Richard
Hunt 3-1 11/7 11/7 10/12 11/6
Women’s Over 35 Final
New Eltham v Chapel Allerton
1.
Mandy Akin v Claire Walker
2-3 1/9 10/8 9/5 3/9 0/9
2.
Lucy Murphy v Paula Arrowsmith
3-2 10/8 10/8 1/9 4/9 9/7
3.
Karen Hume v Lucy Robins
3-2 8/10 6/9 10/8 9/4 9/2
Men’s Over 45 Final
Harpenden v Nottingham
1.
Eamonn Price v Gawain Briars 3-0
9/4 9/4 9/0
2.
Marvin Rust v Andrew Foley 0-3
2/9 3/9 7/9
3.
Andrew Eilfield v Greg Watkins 3-0
9/0 9/0 9/1
Men’s Over 55 Final
Colets v Nottingham
1.
Dave Clarke v Richard O’Connor
3-0 10/9 9/1 9/2
2.
Stuart Hardy v John Limb
3-2 9/7 2/9 5/9 9/3 9/3
3.
Geoff Howes v Alan Turner
0-3 0/9 2/9 4/9
Racketball Final
Edgbaston Priory v Devon & Exeter
1.
Anthony Graham v James Snell
2-3 9/11 11/9 12/10 5/11 8/11
2.
Joel Hinds v Cristian Turner
3-0 11/7 11/6 13/11
3.
Jake Grayston v Ashley Knight
3-2 11/6 8/11 11/13 12/10 13/11
4.
Ashlee Knight v Rob Watkins
3-1 11/8 6/11 11/6 11/4
5.
Matt Pugh v Mark Grant
3-0 11/8 11/8 11/5
Junior Mixed Final
Pontefract v Wimbledon
1.
George Wileman v David Wardle
1-3 4/11 9/11 11/7 3/11
2.
Taminder Gata Aura v Dan Z-Lewis
3-0 11/5 6/2 Rtd
3.
Alex Hodgetts v Seigo Masuda
3-0 11/7 11/6 11/7
4.
Hannah Shipley v Clare Wright
3-2 7/11 14/12 11/8 9/11 11/9
5.
Walkover to Pontefract.
3-0
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