National Titles weekend Saturday May 25 – Monday May 27 2024
Plessy PC on the Isle of Wight offered a warm welcome to players from around the country. Kent were well represented as a region with over 12 players taking part.
Saturday May 25
The men’s and ladies’ doubles were held on Saturday on a gloriously sunny, warm day. Ater leagues and knockout rounds the ladies final was contested between Kaylee Thatcher and Karen Lombard ( Southern) against Hannah Griffin ( Heart of England) and Alex Spillett ( Kent) . Hannah and Alex were dominant winners of the Gold Final. In the men’s event Jason White ( Kent) and Phil Bradshaw (Great Western) beat the Kent double Rowland Jones and David Plumhoff.
Sunday May 26
The weather was cooler and after lunch a significant breeze was developing. In the Ladies event the winning triple was Becky Edwins (Kent), Hannah Griffin (Heart of England) and Sarah Huntley (Chiltern) against Alex Spillett (Kent), Lori Weldon and Sabrina Seville ( both Yorkshire). The winning triple had won all 5 rounds in the morning.
The men’s triples event was also very competitive. In the silver final Duncan Brown, Trevor Glenn and Steve Brown – an all Kent team – beat a local Isle of Wight team 13-6. After the morning league rounds Dean Ashby, Rowland Jones and Jason White were top qualifiers but were knocked out in the quarter finals. In a tight final Kai Sheffield, David Plumhoff – both Kent – with Phil Bradshaw (GWR) defeated a triple from GWR – Mo Annane, Oussema Hamdaoul and Kamal Moul 13-6.
Monday May 27
The rain came early and it was a wet start to the Singles events. The ladies games in the morning established seeding before knockout rounds after lunch. In a spirited all Kent final Becky Edwins beat Alex Spillett 13-5.
Jason White beat Dean Ashby 13-7 to qualify for another final and Daniel Shevlin (Anglia) beat local talent Chris Bailey 13-8 to reach the final. There was a high standard of play in the final with Jason eventually winning 13-5.
Overall despite the low number of entries, it was a wonderful weekend of petanque with a chance to renew friendships. Special mention and congratulations to the Kent players Jason White and Becky Edwins who both won 2 National Titles!!!
