Thanks to Jeanette Higham for this report
It was quite a weekend for some of our Juniors last Saturday 5th September at the British Junior Boys and Girls finals day competition.
This year the event was shared between two venues. Owley Wood hosted the boys competition and Winnington Park hosted the girls.
Wales had two qualifiers in the boys section, Jack Dougal and Haidan Williams, both regulars in the Wales Junior squad.
Playing at number one, Haidan got off to a great start with a 21-1 win over Daniel Evans from Cheshire. Clearly the green suited him from the start. In round two it was a closer victory at 21-19. Haidan beat Reuben MacPake in the quarter final 21-18 and a comfortable 21-10 in his semi with Finley Harrop of Cheshire.
Our other qualifier for the day was Jack Dougal, the 2026 Welsh Junior Merit winner. Jack beat Leo Groves of Warwick and Worcester 21-8 in the first round, but had a really tough game with Finley Harrop losing 21-20 in round two.
Haidan was now through to the final where he met Jack Cushing from W&W who had also played steadily all day. Haidan looked completely in control of both himself and the match. With some superb bowling and using the whole of the green, Haidan forged ahead to win 21-8 and the British Junior Boys title. This is only the second year of the Boys competition and it looks set to become as popular as the long running Junior Girls final.
For the girls, an unexpected change to the venue brought many challenges for all the players. Our qualifiers were Ffion Gel the Ken Hardman Girls trophy winner 2026 and fellow Junior squad player Amelia Northrop.
I must thank our ‘Cub reporter’, Judy Hughes for her report on this part of the finals day. Ffion started the day well with a 21-13 in round one, and a convincing 21-7 win in round two. Unfortunately Ffion lost her quarter-final match 21-8.
It was to be Amelia’s day. She worked out the lie of the land quickly to win her first game 21-6. She had to ‘up’ her concentration for her second game which she won 21=10. By now, Amelia had the art of bowling uphill and letting her woods roll down to the jack off to a fine art. She continued to play with confidence in her quarter final to win 21-17. In the semi final, Amelia met the girl who had knocked Ffion out in the previous round. Scores start to get closer by this stage and she continued her winning streak 21-16 over Ruby. Amelia was now in the final – a bitter sweet moment for her as this would be her last opportunity to win a junior girl’s trophy. Her opponent was Phoebe Heslop from Yorkshire. Amelia, however, grasped the chance with both hands. The lead went backwards and forwards for some time before Amelia took charge and won the final 21-15.
Wales has performed remarkably well in the Junior girls competition over the years, and it was even better to be able to celebrate a Junior boys winner as well. Congratulations to all the players on the day. Amelia now qualifies for the British Ladies Champion of Champions later in the month and we await the draw for the British Men’s Champion of Champions to see of Haidan is among the entrants.
By the way Amelia .We hope you had a good 18th birthday, and didn’t spend all your winnings.
