Schools & Junior Championships

[<<] [>>] by James Death [CA Admin] at Nottingham
18th September 2023 (Other News)

Nottingham hosted the Schools and Junior Championships over the weekend of 16 and 17 September.

Schools Championships

In 2021 Winchester won the trophy unopposed. In 2022 Chilwell Comprehensive were similarly unopposed. This year the two met on the lawns, and Winchester (August Deeming, Alaric Nicoll and Tanvir Sood) beat Chilwell (Elizabeth Shelton and Declan) in both AC and GC doubles matches.

A third school had entered, but sadly withdrew shortly before the competition, being unable to raise a team. Clearly the Schools competition needs to be revisited to make it a viable event for the future.

Junior Championships

Four players contested the AC Junior Championship: Sam Cuthbert (Cheltenham), Alaric Nicoll and Tanvir Sood (Winchester College) and Rees Jackman (Nottingham). Sam was making his first competitive appearance since his severe injury in New Zealand during the World Under-21 GC event, and was still too strong for the rest of the field, winning 3/3 14-point games to retain the trophy.

There were only two entrants for the GC Junior Championship: August Deeming (Winchester College) and Declan (Nottingham). August won a closely contested match 6-7, 7-5, 7-5.

There were also events involving Nottingham's own juniors at Under-13 and Under-8. Their presence with the accompanying parents and guardians made for a lively atmosphere and would have helped to show passing park users that croquet is not exclusively a pastime for old people.

Prizes were presented by Patricia Duke-Cox, CA President, who thanked the Nottingham Club for organising the event, and spoke of her keenness to get more young people involved in the sport.