National Cadet League – Final Round – Sunday 6th March
Waterside TTC, Southampton
Bournemouth Report
Teams from Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex gathered at the Waterside Club in Totton for the last of the
four rounds that have been played during the winter season. It’s called the Cadet League because it
involves players up to the age of 14 and it’s the National League because similar events take place
across the country! One of the reasons players take part is that they are able to gain national rating
points and it is for many a first step towards getting a national ranking.
Any points gained by teams on the day were added to the points they gained in February to produce
winners of the three divisions. Our four teams - two in the first division and two in the third division began the day in a positive mood, despite the withdrawal of some players in the A and B teams in
Division 1 due to illness and injury. Notable amongst these was Kai Major who had been our leading
player in all the earlier rounds. Fortunately we had an admirable substitute in Daniel Chaplin, who was
promoted from the B team. Elliott Storr-Smith was our only available regular B team player available,
but Sam Cook and Timothy Su, two of our long-term players, were recruited to the B team at fairly
short notice. So we had Ali Malloch, Matthew Stanfield and Daniel in the A team and Elliott, Sam and
Tim in the B team. Our worries that they might fail to hold their positions from the previous round
were soon dispelled as they all competed brilliantly. The A team were a close match for the Weymouth
A team and for the A team from Mid-Sussex and a series of close contests ensued. The final outcome
was that our A team held their comfortable lead throughout the day, despite a few nail-biter matches
here and there, and maintained their lead over the other two challenging teams. The B team also rose
to the occasion superbly even though they were a bit short of recent match-play. Their target was to
hold their place ahead of the Southampton team and they achieved this to take fourth place in the
Division. We were very proud of the efforts of both teams!
Just about all our C and D team players were available, and we selected Louie Gardener, Bjorn Albert
and Blake Trowbridge for the C team and Ed Docker, Owen White and Jamie Menzel for the D team.
Unfortunately one of the Mid Sussex teams failed to turn up which left our two teams and the
remaining, stronger Mid Sussex team to battle for the Division title. Our teams were firmly in the lead
from the previous round and both beat the Mid-Sussex team, with the C team winning a little more
comfortably that the D team. So all looked well on track for the C team to confirm their lead from the
previous round and become Division champions. No such thing! In the deciding match the D team
raised their game, fought hard and finally beat the C team by 5-4, a really great result for them.
However the C team had just enough points in reserve to claim the title, with the D team as runnersup. A consolation individual singles tournament was organised involving the players of the three teams
present and that was won by Louie.
The final tables will be available soon but it is clear that the Dorset teams have really set the standard
in the Cadet League this year. Bournemouth A won Division 1 with Weymouth A as runners-up,
Weymouth B won Division2 and Bournemouth C and D headed Division 3. Clearly a testimony to the
great progress being achieved in the County.
Thanks are due above all to the players for their efforts, but also to all parents who have attended and
supported, most especially of course our team captains Pete White, Julie Stanfield and Craig Major,
who organised the teams and as well as supporting on the four days of the event.
Report by Ralph Weeks.