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COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005/06
Devon was the only county with teams in the Premier Division of the Senior, Junior and Veterans county championship last season. All have retained that status for 2005/06.
The senior team have been national champions for the past two years. Led by Craig Bryant who represented England at last year's Commonwealth Championships and former Czech international Marketa Myskova - number six on the national women's ranking list, they will be hoping to complete the hat-trick next season. Hopes are particularly high, as two teenagers are making huge strides towards the top. In just two months Chris Brown from Bideford has risen from 87 to 46 in the national rankings, while Lisa Radford's success in reaching the quarter-final of the English National Championships saw her up from 79 to 27 in the same period.
The veteran's team which includes two players ranked in England's top five, Paul Whiting & Paul Giles, will be hoping to go one better than last year's runners up spot. The very young junior team will rely on two beaten Sally to take the English Schools title in April but a straight game semi-final win followed another victory the previous day over her England A rival in the team event. The final saw her pitted against England number one Melanie Farquhar from Berkshire. Sally avenged a five game defeat on Saturday to pull off a brilliant victory, again in straight games.
Sally's Devon teammate and local rival, Lisa Radford, who plays for China Fleet in the Plymouth & District League, was making her third appearance for England schools, this time in the under 19 age group. She teamed up with Emma Weil of Essex for England B, also taking third place behind the English A team, represented by Abigail Embling of Essex and Yorkshire's Nicola White. Again, Lisa performed extremely well in the individual competition. After finishing second in her group behind England number one Embling, a good run saw her reach the semi-final before bowing out to full Welsh international, and eventual winner, Naomi Owen. DML Woolwell players hoping to push their way into the senior team sooner rather than later, to consolidate their top division status. Sally Smith, who will start next season in the top ten of the junior rankings, is by far the most experienced. Richard Marshall, only just 14 but a regular member of the England Youth Squad, has already reached the top fifty juniors and is currently number seven in his own age group.
Once again Devon's second, third & fourth teams will play in Division Two of the junior championships. A junior trial is planned over two days in late August and/or early September and further details will be available soon.
DEVON JUNIORS RANKING LIST 2004/05
Boys Girls
1 Jacob Kodicek 1 Sally Smith
2 Sam Bruty 2 Lisa Radford
3 Paul Christie 3 Laura McLeod
4 Richard Marshall 4 Lizzie Binks
5 Chris Smith 5 Lucy O'Callaghan
6 Simon Poyner 6 Hannah Bradford
7 Chris Warn 7 Vicky Smith
8 Harry Cutler 8 Alice Phillips
9 David Wetherill 9 Katie Wilson
10 Freddie Cutler 10 Rebecca Harris
11 Gareth Wetherill 11 Natalie Daly
12 Mark Ross 12 Carla Grigg
13 Elliot Goss 13 Kirsty Legge
14 Graham Higgins
15 Zak Zacharkiw
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