Solid start for Cippenham teams

Both Cippenham teams in the Junior British League made solid starts to the new campaign when the first weekend of matches took place in Loughborough. The boys’ team lie second in Division 2A while the girls’ team are fourth in Division 1.

The boys’ team found a new star in Ruihao Zhang. The Hampshire player, signed to bolster a team containing also local players Eddie Mitchell and Andrew Linz, won eight of his ten matches as Cippenham took six points out of a possible ten with two wins, two draws and one defeat. Linz won five matches and Mitchell four.

Cippenham’s two victories were by emphatic 5-1 margins over Crusaders (Lincoln) and Uxbridge (Burton). Four of Linz’s five victories occurred in these two matches with Mitchell also bagging a brace against bottom team Crusaders and Zhang doing likewise against Uxbridge. The two 3-3 draws came against Halton and Byng Hall. Zhang took maximums in these two matches while Linz beat Liam Tildsley of Widnes-based Halton and Mitchell beat Harry Lumb in the match against Kent-based Byng Hall. The one loss was suffered 5-1 against Bridge the Gorge.

The girls’ team have four points from a win, two draws and two defeats. Rachel Farquhar continued her excellent form from the previous season as the Cippenham Junior Player of the Year won six of her ten matches. Rachel Pilgrim won five while Catherine Hayes won one and was awarded a walkover.

It was the match against Southampton team Waterside B that yielded the maximum points. Farquhar and Pilgrim starred by each winning both of their matches. Against the Waterside A team it was an all-round team performance with a win from each of the three girls that secured a point in a 3-3 draw and against Redland Bats it was a similar story except that Hayes’ victory came by way of default. The two Rachels won one apiece in the 4-2 loss to Ballina while a solitary win for Farquhar over Megan Sparrey was all Cippenham had to show in the 5-1 defeat by St. Andrews.