EPSCA U11 Championship

Finals 13th May 2006

The Sussex U11s set off with high hopes for the EPSCA finals, following a team building event on Thursday. Despite being a very young team, on paper the players looked as though they had a good chance of gaining a place.

Seventeen counties took part in the competition, and Sussex put up a good fight, improving their score each round. In the end, however, they were not good enough to beat Wey Valley, who took first place with an impressive 50 points out of 60. Sussex took 2nd with 45 points, with Yorkshire taking third on 41.5.

Congratulations to Wey Valley for an excellent performance - but watch out, as most of our young team will be playing next year.

A maximum of 3 points was scored by Joe Quinn, Chris Yates, Ram Mohan, Barnaby Paul, Robert Fitzgerald and George Galliano, as well as by Sean Lintott White (board 21 and 18) and Otto Pyper in the reserves. Particularly notable were the Mohan twins, who as U9s took 5.5 points between them on boards 8 and 9. Roberet Fitzgerald on board 13 is still an U8, and Otto Pyper is still an U7.

Zonal 18th March 2006

The Sussex Under 11 team were successful in securing their place in the EPSCA U11 Final in May, having secured fourth place in the South-East Zonal. The team got off to a reasonable start notching up 9½ points in the first round, putting them in 4th place. The team were given their usual talk and faired a bit better in the second round with 11 points and still in 4th place. 3rd place was almost certainly out of reach but Jonathan rallied the troops and tweaked the team, which suddenly seemed to come to life, and they came back with a fantastic 14½ points, showing what they were really capable of. Overall they gained 35 points during the day, behind Wey Valley, 42½, Richmond, 40 and Hertfordshire, 38½.

Congratulations must go to Shyam and Ramsay, who won all their games and Zi-yuan, Christopher Yates and Ram who didn’t lose a game. Jude, Charlie, Barnaby, Freddie, Omar, Jonathan, Edward, John, Cosima, and Otto all secured two wins. A special mention must go to Amy Hoare and Edward Reeves-Dienes, who were moved from the reserves, onto the team, for the third round as a result of their excellent playing.

The day was rounded off by a nice meal at the Moor Mill nearby, for those who could attend, which was kindly organised by Louise and the Keen’s extended family. It was an enjoyable end to a great day.