Sunday saw the individuals finals of the 6 Nations event played at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, UCLAN in Preston, but there were a mixture of winners from the four main finals.
While England’s George Downing and Emily Bolton were victorious in their respective categories, there were also wins for Welsh junior Charlotte Carey and Scottish cadet Chris Wheeler.
The plate competition also saw a spread of results with Ryan Farrell (IRE), Nicole Hall (WAL), Rachel Crawford (SCO) and Alex Gillen (IRE) going home with the titles from their age group.
Junior Boys
George Downing was the victor in the Junior Boys’ singles following a successful Scottish double over Blair Fowler and Scott Barton in the knockout stages.
Having progressed from his group comfortably with a series of 3-0 wins, Downing was seeded to face Fowler – who had to beat Conor Edwards (WAL) in five games in the quarter-final. The Englishman’s power eventually proved too much for the Scot in a 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-3) win.
In the final he met Barton, who had defeated Sam Mabey (ENG) 3-1 in his semi-final. It was the Scot who started the quickest (and loudest) in winning the opening game 12-10 but after that it was Downing who resumed control, winning the next three games over the battling Barton.
George Downing (ENG) bt Scott Barton (SCO) 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9)
Consolation: Ryan Farrell (WAL) bt Chris Griffiths (WAL) 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 11-7, 11-13, 12-10)
Junior Girls
Top seed Charlotte Carey won the Junior Girls’ singles, hardly having to push herself until she met a determined Maria Tsaptsinos in the final.
Carey won through her tricky looking group with relative comfort. A 3-0 win over Ashley Givan (IRE) and 3-1 victory over Lois Peake (ENG) saw her top the group and reach the semi-finals. There she met Ireland’s Hannah Lynch-Dawson who had done well to beat Nicole Hall (WAL) in her group.
However, Lynch-Dawson was no match for Carey who won 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-5) to set up a final meeting with England’s Maria Tsaptsinos.
The English junior’s route had involved losing the first game in the majority of her matches before fighting back to win. Although she won her group with this method, she once again fell behind to compatriot Peake in her semi-final. However, her steely determination saw her win the next three games and secure a final place.
Despite the English girl’s best efforts, she couldn’t win the crucial points as the Welsh junior won in straight games – two of them that went to deuce.
Charlotte Carey (WAL) bt Maria Tsaptsinos (ENG) 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 12-10)
Consolation: Nicole Hall (WAL) bt Ashley Givan (IRE) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 12-10)
Cadet Boys
Chris Wheeler won the Cadet Boys’ singles after securing a perfect double against the English pair of Luke Savill and Alec Ward.
Wheeler had lost out in the team event to the English duo, but reaped revenge in the knockout stages of the individual. Firstly he endured a dramatic five-game victory over Savill 3-2 (4-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 13-11) before experiencing a more comfortable final victory over Ward in the final 3-1.
Ward’s route to the final had been troublesome with a defeat to Ireland’s Zak Wilson in the group meaning that he only progressed via countback alongside the Irish cadet in second. The unfortunate Callum Evans missed out in third.
Ward then battled past Yaser Razouk (SCO) in a tight semi-final 3-2 (5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4)
Chris Wheeler (SCO) bt Alec Ward (ENG) 3-1 (11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 11-6)
Consolation: Alex Gillen (IRE) bt Thomas Heyden (WAL) 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-7)
Cadet Girls
Emily Bolton won her second title of the weekend after recovering from Saturday morning’s team defeat to Lucy Elliott (SCO) to then beat the same opponent in the individual final.
Bolton, and team mate Letitia McMullan, won the team event but had to meet in the semi-finals of the singles competition after McMullan was defeated by Elliott in the group stage.
It was Bolton who came out on top in four games 3-1 (4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6) to set up a meeting with the Scottish cadet after Elliott had beaten Ireland’s Katie McGlone in her semi-final 3-0 (11-2, 14-12, 11-7).
The final bizarrely began in the same manner as Saturday morning’s match. When the pair met in the team event every game went to nine (Elliott winning 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9), then in the singles final, the pattern repeated with Bolton leading 11-9, 9-11, 11-9.
However, the fourth, and subsequently final game, was won by the English cadet 11-6 to secure the title.
Emily Bolton (ENG) bt Lucy Elliott (SCO) 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6)
Consolation: Rachel Crawford (SCO) bt Soffi Jenkins (WAL) 3-2 (11-2, 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8)