Several Lillington Free Church players took part in the inaugural inter-regional championships at Kettering. The team championships took place on the Saturday with the players representing the West Midlands, and the individual events were staged on the Sunday.
In the under 11 girls Erin Darwen had two good wins in the team event beating Shanai Kalsi and Lucy Lees. In the individual championships Erin finished second in her group after defeating Katie Oaten to qualify for the last 16. There she put up a great performance against eventual semi-finalist Maliha Baig losing a very close tussle in 5.
Ciara Hancox and Emily Beasley competed in the Under 15 competitions. In the team event Hancox enjoyed a good win over Natasha Johnston (Notts) and Beasley was unfortunate to lose 9, 8,-10,-9,-9 to Anais O’Connor, who is ranked 61 in England. In the individuals Beasley chalked up a win against Elizabeth Poyner (Cheshire). Both girls are young enough to re appear next season.
Eduardo Bolanos played in the Under 11s. In the team matches he lost in 5 to Leo Pontone, who won the individuals the following day. He also lost in 5 to Matthew Perry and in 4 to Georgios Gerakios , the other individual finalist. In the individuals he finished 3rd in his group claiming the scalp of Tristan Knight of London. Such performances augur well for the future.
13 year old Ricardo Bolanos played in the Under 15s. Ranked 100 at this level he accounted for Yaj Vashee (37), Robert Pelc (47) and Callum Ashworth (143) in his team matches and took Zaiim Prenji (32) to 5, who was destined to be the losing finalist the following day. He was not quite so successful in the individuals missing out on qualification for the last 16 but recording a useful win over Tom Down.