South of England Championships, Yateley (7-8 Feb 2004)

Fourteen Sussex players took part in the South of England Championships at Yately Manor School (fifteen if we count Andrew Turner!).

U9 - Andrew Turner was the only Sussex player in the U9 final.  Andrew was on 4 out of 4 before he was beaten in the fifth round by the eventual winner, Neglia Salvatore.  He finished on 5 out of 6, coming 2nd overall and walking away with a nice pay cheque to contribute to his Game Cube!

U11 Major - There were 9 Sussex entries for this championship, which is an England qualifying event.  After the 4th of 5 rounds, Ben Blundell was standing in equal first position, facing a play off for the championship with Rahil Davda.  After a tightly fought match, the two drew on 4.5 out of 5, and could not be separated on progressive scores.  A long wait then ensued to see whether a play-off would be required.  In the end it was agreed that the two should share the championship and an extra trophy is now on order!  Farris Ziyada scored 4 points and took equal third place.

David Grant was forced to take a bye in the first round and default on the second round due to having to take a school entry exam on the Saturday morning.  This left him on only 0.5 out of 2 when he arrived at the championship.  However, he won all of his matches, eventually finishing on 3.5.  Other Sussex entries were Nick Fraser (2.5), Rhys Cumming and Oskar Schortz (2),and George Salembeni and Joe Quinn (1).

U12 Closed - Christopher Linnett initially entered the U11 Major tournament.  However after the first round, he was asked to play up to the U12 closed tournament, to make up numbers.  He finished on a creditable 1.5 out of 5.  

U13 - George Perez Trunin finished on 2.5 from 5.

U14 Closed - Four entrants to this event.  Joe Richardson finished in equal 5th place.  Other entries were Joe Fraser (3.5 from 5), Grant Bucher (3) and Andrew Tucker (2.5).