16 March 2008

Devon became the 2008 County Championships Senior Premier Division Champions, but they may well have wished for a smoother ride in their final match. Middlesex had been well beaten 9-1 by Derbyshire and 8-2 by Sussex but they produced a far better performance here, leading 2-0 and 4-2. Devon had Craig Bryant to thank for keeping them in the game and there were more than the odd anxious moment before Craig secured his second victory by getting the better of  Tom Cutler 6-11, 1l-9, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8. Sally Smith also had to come from behind to beat Lindsay Armstrong and she had to retrieve two game points in the second end before she came through to win 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-2. A draw had been achieved and thus Devon took the title by one point from Derbyshire. Congratulations are extended to their full squad of Craig Bryant, Chris Brown, James Whiteman, Jon May, Marketa Myskova, Sally Smith and Lisa Radford.

Derbyshire finished as Runners-Up for the second year running after beating last year’s Champions Sussex 6-4. Emma Vickers and Shaun Marples were both undefeated with Shaun sealing the draw by getting the better of Nigel Eckersley 3-0 and Emma clinching the victory by beating Rosemary Rainton 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 14-12 after a very well contested fourth game. Sussex's Newcomer Andrej Lasota again made his mark and this time he scored an excellent 12-10, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9 win over Sam Perry.

A gallant Leicestershire side scored their first point of the Season by drawing 5-5 with Berkshire. Chris Rogers “signed off” from the Premier Division by beating both David Barr and Martin Adams 3-0 with one of the most dominant displays of the weekend.     

Essex, one of the teams who began the weekend with hopes of wining the title also finished well and they beat Gloucestershire 7-3. Clive Carthy and Sarra Wang both won twice with Clive’s 11-8 in the fifth set victory against Dave Harvey the closest of the match. Fellow Veteran Darren Griffin beat both of Essex’s “young pretenders” – Vytas Rybakas and Ashley Stokes in five ends. Sarra Wang produced her best performance of the weekend beating Choi Sze Toi 11-8, 11-8, 11-6.

As anticipated Hampshire became the Junior Premier Division Champions by beating second-placed Lincolnshire 7-3 to retain their 100 % record. Congradulations are extended to their team of David McBeath, Garth Kinlocke, Ruihao Zhang, Hannah Hicks and Annabell Morle. Hampshire raced into a 4-0 and 7-1 lead which illustrated their overall superiority with McBeath and Kinlocke both staying undefeated. However, Lincolnshire battled well and three of Hampshire’s wins were by scores closer than 11-8 in the final game. Emily Bates beat both Annabell Morle and Hannah Hicks and Paul Johnson made the scoreline more respectable by getting the better of Ruihao Zhang 3-0 in the final set.

A battling Sussex side fought hard to draw with Devonshire, and they won the three five-setters that took place. Both Stephen Denman and Stephen Eckford beat Freddie Cutler in five sets and Yolanda King just saw off Vicky Smith 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 16-14. Stephen Denman had the task of winning the match for Sussex, and he fought hard. However, it was Chris Smith who pulled away in the third end to eventually win comfortably 11-8, 12-10, 11-3. 

The match between Yorkshire and Derbyshire also finished level.  Lucy Davidson and Mark Naylor were both unbeaten for Derbyshire with Edward Fambely faring best of the Yorkshire players. Lucy Davidson’s clash with Mary Fuller turned out to be the closest of the weekend with Lucy eventually nicking it 11-6, 11-4, 3-11, 9-11, 16-14.