Stephen JENKINS retained title for 2nd time in Carmarthen

March 3, 2014
12:00 am
Member Associations

At the Welsh Championships 2014 in Carmarthen Conor EDWARDS and Charlotte CAREY were winners once again in the junior categories for a 4th time respectively. Conor found himself at 2/2 with Jac JENKINS in the semi finals but squeezed the 5th set to his advantage 11/4. In the final Conor beat number 1 seed Ryan OYLER 3/1 with a more powerful display. OYLER beat number 4 seed Callum EVANS in the other half of the draw.

Charlotte who retains her cup had a tighter than expected final beating number 2 seed Beth ROBERTS 3/1 in the junior girls final. Beth beat Soffi JENKINS in their semi final encounter as Charlotte beat Kate ROBERTS in the other match.

Soffi and Charlotte teamed up to beat the ‘Roberts’ pairing in the junior girls final 3/1. Jac and Callum retained their title beating Lawrence JOHN and Marc CASTRO in the boy’s equivalent.

Later that day it was the turn of the U11 boy’s. The winner Joseph ROBERTS was in fine form beating Mithun PADMANABHAN in their final. In the female section 7 year old Anna HURSEY won the U11 girls Championships beating Cardiff’s Lauren STACEY in their final match.
In the disability Championships (standing & wheelchair) – Ashley DAVIES beat all 4 opponents in the round robin on offer to win his gold medal with Nathan THOMAS doing the same in their event. Nathan beat Swansea’s Paul KARABARDAK in the final encounter whilst Ashley beat Rebekah EVANS in their event. It’s the first time the Championships have been inclusive with disability events on offer for all entrants.
After his semi final loss in the junior singles Jac JENKINS picked himself up to take the cadet singles with a final victory over Marc CASTRO (seeded 2) 3/0. It’s Jac’s first win in these Championships at this age level after losing to Callum EVANS in last year’s final. Lydia JOHN picked up the winner’s trophy in the cadet girls final (again for the first time) with a final win against Jamie-Lee HARLEY 3/1.

The last matches of the day saw the U13 boys and girls singles events finals take place. Cade Short faced off vs Joseph ROBERTS whilst the U13 girls were a re-run of the cadet girls final with Jamie-Lee taking on Lydia JOHN. Lydia lost the first end but rallied back to win once again 3/1 for the double. Cade avenged his earlier loss to Joseph to win the U13 singles and captures another Welsh title with a 3/0 win.
Day 2

Big matches from the start of the day with Dean CUNDY v Ryan OWEN Megan PHILLIPS v Beth ROBERTS Conor EDWARDS v Neil WRIGHT Ryan OYLER v Reece LO Nicole HALL v Charlotte CAREY Dan O’CONNELL v Ethan DAVIES Naomi OWEN v Chloe THOMAS & Callum EVANS v Patrick THOMAS in the men’s and women’s singles events.

Dean CUNDY beat Ryan OWEN 3/1 in their tight group match. Charlotte beat Nicole HALL 3/0 Naomi beat Chloe 3/0 Megan beat Beth 3/1 Patrick beat Callum 3/0 Ryan OYLER beat Reece LO 3/2 (12-10 in the 5th) Dan O’CONNELL beat Ethan DAVIES 3/1 and finally Conor beat Neil WRIGHT 3/1.

Once the U21 groups started there were a few games to note. Dan O’CONNELL took Jac JENKINS 3/1 Chloe Thomas beat Megan PHILLIPS 3/1 Conor EDWARDS beat Ryan OYLER 3/1 and Callum EVANS 3/2 whilst Nicole HALL took Angharad in a tight 5th set match.

Back to the Men’s and women’s singles and Stephen JENKINS retained his title for a 2nd time with a 3/2 win against Dan O’CONNELL in the final. Dan led 2/1 and had a small lead in the final 5th set but Steve fought back like a champion and held his nerve well to seal it 11/8.
The women’s cup will have a new name on it come Monday as Charlotte CAREY took 9 times champion Naomi OWEN in another 5th set battle. The hall stopped for both finals to commence and the crowd were treating to 2 cracking games.

The PHILLIPS twins teamed up to take the women’s doubles defeating GRECH/MORGAN in the semis and then CAREY/THOMAS in the final both 3/0. The men’s doubles winners were Dan O’CONNELL and Patrick THOMAS as they beat Conor EDWARDS/Callum EVANS in the final 3/0 and Ryan OYLER/Josh STACEY in the semis 3/1.

Charlotte CAREY completed the double with a final victory vs Chloe THOMAS in the U21 women’s singles 11/4 11/6 and 12/10. Daniel O’CONNELL avenged his loss in the men’s singles final with the U21 men’s title against Conor EDWARDS 3/0.

The Over 50’s singles was won by local boy David LLOYD who beat Ray GOULDING of Newport 3/2 in an epic challenge. Lee THOMAS won the Vets singles with a tidy 3/0 win over Neil Wright in their encounter. Lee has been off the TT scene in recent years and it’s good to see him back in town.

Doubles events went the way of CAREY/O’CONNELL (mixed doubles) and FARROW/THOMAS (Vets) as they took the trophies home. In the final match of the weekend (over 60 singles) it was Roger GRECH who won the title with a magnificent match-up against Ray GOULDING

RESULTS
Junior Boys – SF – Conor Edwards bt Jac Jenkins 3/2; Ryan Oyler bt Callum Evans 3/1. Final – Conor Edwards bt Ryan Oyler 3/1
Junior Girls – SF – Charlotte Carey bt Kate Roberts 3/0; Beth Roberts bt Soffi Jenkins 3/0. Final – Charlotte Carey bt Beth Roberts 3/1
U11 Girls – Winner Anna Hursey; R/Up Lauren Stacey
U11 Boys – Winner Joseph Roberts; R/Up Mithun Padmanabhan
Disability Singles – Standing – 1 Nathan Thomas 2 Paul Karabardak 3 Lawrence John 4 Josh Morgan 5 Ashley Wray. Wheelchair – 1 Ashley Davies 2 Rebekah Evans 3 Rob Davies 4 Tom Matthews 5 Cellan Hall
Junior Girls Doubles – Final – Charlotte Carey & Soffi Jenkins bt Beth Roberts & Kate Roberts 3/1
Junior Boys Doubles – Final – Callum Evans & Jac Jenkins bt Marc Castro & Lawrence John 3/1
Cadet Boys Singles – Final – Jac Jenkins bt Marc Castro 3/0
Cadet Girls Singles – Final – Lydia John bt Jamie-Lee Harley 3/1
U13 Boys Singles – Final – Cade Short bt Joseph Roberts 3/0
U13 Girls Singles – Final – Lydia John bt Jamie-Lee Harley 3/1
Men Singles – Semi Finals – Stephen Jenkins bt Callum Evans 3/2; Daniel O’Connell bt Ryan Owen 3/0. Final – Stephen Jenkins bt Daniel O’Connell (8-11 11-8 7-11 11-8 11-8) 3/2
Women’s Singles – Semi Finals – Charlotte Carey bt Chloe Thomas 3/2; Naomi Owen bt Megan Phillips 3/1. Final – Charlotte Carey bt Naomi Owen (8-11 11-3 11-6 9-11 11-6) 3/2
Men’s Doubles – Final – Dan O’Connell/Patrick Thomas bt Conor Edwards/Callum Evans 3/0
Women’s Doubles – Final – Megan Phillips/Angharad Phillips bt Charlotte Carey/Chloe Thomas 3/0
U21 Women singles – Final – Charlotte Carey bt Chloe Thomas 3/0
U21 Men singles – Final – Daniel O’Connell bt Conor Edwards 3/0
O40 singles – Final – Lee Thomas bt Neil Wright 3/0
O50 singles – Final – David Lloyd bt Ray Goulding 3/2
O60 singles – Final – Roger Grech bt Ray Goulding
Vets Doubles – Final – Mark Farrow/Lee Thomas bt Tony Collins/Nigel Gore 3/2
Mixed Doubles – Final – Dan O’Connell/Charlotte Carey bt Reece Lo/Beth Roberts 3/0