South Of England Championships: 5th - 6th February 2005, Yateley Manor

A large group of Sussex players travelled to Surrey to play in this two day tournament. A variety of competitions were run, some closed to the England Squad and some open.

In the U7 tournament, Robert Fitzgerald finished in 1st place on 5.5 from 6. Charlie Keen also took part, but only for part of the tournament, having been ill on the Saturday. In the U9 event, Paul Barnaby came 5th with an excellent 4 from 6. Charlie Keen, Edward Reeves Dienes and George Galliano all finished on 2 points. In the U11 Minor tournament, Charlie Mills finished on 3 from 6.

The U11 Major tournament was an England Qualifier, and 6 Sussex Players entered. Overnight, Rhys Cumming was one of 4 players leading the field on 3 points. He then had to play top seed Saravanan, and lost after an epic struggle which almost went to time. He then drew his last match to finish on only 3.5 from 5. He was overtaken in the last round by Jude Lenier who finished on 4 points and was one of 5 players tying for third place. Joe Quinn also finished on 3.5. Also present were Ben Blundell and Alex Galliano on 3 and Oskar Schortz on 1.

In the U16 Open, Abi Fryer finished on 3 from 5 points, finishing in 4th place. Toby Cooper also competed.

In the U12 Closed tournament, Christopher Linnett and Farris Ziyada finished on 2.5 from 5, and David Grant and George Salimbeni on 1.5. Elliott Auckland (Crowborough/Kent) achieved his 2nd half norm by achieving 2.5 and gains automatic entry to the England squad. Congratulations Elliott!

In the U14 closed, Andrew Tucker scored 3 from 5. Tristan Blundell also competed.

Apologies if I have omitted anyone from the list - please let me know.