Newbury Weekly News

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
Email: Sport
NEWBURY BLUES have 11 players in
the 37-strong squad that will take
Berkshire into this season’s County
Championship.
The final selection was made after a
warm-up game staged at Newbury
where Hampshire scored a 38-17 win.
Reading Abbey’s Sam Hallett will
skipper the squad, who all received
county ties at a presentation evening
held at the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst, sponsored by former referee
Ashley Rowden and Simon Henderson.
Redingensians’ Mike Tewkesbury
will head the coaching team that
includes Hungerford’s Neil Collins,
Marlow’s
Stuart Silvester, Chinnor’s Ricky Khan
and Maidenhead’s Will Greenwood.
Berkshire’s two pool matches will be
at home to Sussex at Reading on
Saturday, and against Dorset and Wilts
at Royal Wootton Bassett on Saturday,
May 20.
The Berkshire squad is:- Forwards:
Leo Bailey (Bracknell), George Banks
(Guildford), Harvey Bevan (Reading
University), Paul Brittain (Maiden-
head), Will Caden (Maidenhead), Char-
lie Davies (Reading), Kyle Doel
(Newbury), Greg Drew (Redingen-
sians), Rob Drysdale (Newbury), Omar
Ellaboudy (Reading Abbey), Sam
Hallett (Reading Abbey), Niall Kidd
(Windsor), James Macauley (Newbury),
Alex Millar (Newbury), Jasper Miranda
(Bracknell), Mike Parrott (Maiden-
head), Ollie Smith (St Marys Univer-
sity), Ollie Spanswick (Newbury), Ollie
Taylor (Redingensians), Louis Wolf
(Redingensians). Backs: Tom Head
(Reading University), Saul Aimes
Reddin (Reading University), Neil
Baggott (Windsor), Josh Bartlett
(Newbury), Rhys Davies (Windsor),
Tom Finnie (Maidenhead), Miles Lloyd
(Redingensians), Josh Love(Newbury),
Ollie Mann (Harpenden), Joe Pigot
(Newbury), Ben Sanderson (Bracknell),
Andy Slade (Bracknell), Jordan Souter
(Redingensians), Dan Thorne
(Newbury), Toby Thorne (Newbury),
Nick Wackwitz (Newbury), Ben Yates
(Bracknell).
Rugby
Blues XI in
the county set
WOOLTON HILL rower
Katie Metalli collected a
brace of silver medals when
competing for Oxford
Brookes in the British
University and Colleges
Sports Regatta staged at
Nottingham’s National
Water Sports Centre.
More than 1100 boats and
2953 entries were involved in
Europe’s largest student
regatta, which saw the Oxford
crew only fourth fastest to
Glasgow, Newcastle and
University of London in the
eights before making
their presence felt in the
semi-finals.
They stormed through the
final 1200 metres to beat
London by just 0.69 of a
second with a new
championship record time of
6:50.5, although that record
lasted less than seven
minutes before Newcastle
cruised to victory in their
semi-final in 6:49.63.
Newcastle got off to a
storming start in the final,
opening a four second lead
over fifth-placed Brookes by
the 500 metre mark before
Brookes surged back into
contention.
Newcastle were easy
winners in another new
record, but Metalli and her
crew pushed through in the
final strokes to take the
silver by just 7/100th of a
second ahead of Bristol with
London missing out on the
medals by 0.44 of a second.
Katie Metalli was back in
action in the Women's
Intermediate Coxed Four,
Brookes reaching a final in
which Newcastle again took
control from the start but
saw Brookes mount another
late charge to finish second
ahead of Bristol and London.
Brookes did claim the
overall Victor Ludorum by
more than 250 points to be
crowned the new University
Champions ahead of London
with Newcastle third after
the Oxford squad claimed 41
golds, 51 silver and 31 bronze
medals.
MINI GP rider Jeremy
Knight is working his way
up the grid in this year’s
Cool Fab British
Championship partnered
with British Superbikes.
The 12-year old Park House
School pupil took to the track
last year to finish seventh
overall on a Metrakit Mino GP
50, and now riding a Mini GP
70, stands fifth in the rankings
after the opening two
meetings at Llandow and Red
Lodge in Suffolk.
He prepared for this year’s
championship by completing
testing in Spain in March, and
is well set for the six
remaining events in the
championship, the next in
Cumbria from May 19-21.
His latest outing at Red
Lodge produced two fourth
places and a ninth, with future
challenges at Cumbria’s
Rowrah circuit, Tattersall, a
return to Red Lodge, Daventry
and Glan Y Gors Park prior to
the season’s climax at Doning-
ton Park in October.
Away from competition,
Jeremy also took part in the
Prescott Bike Festival charity
event, tackling the hill climb
in front of 6,000 spectators.
Jeremy’s progress is being
followed closely on social
media, and he has been
backed by a growing number
of sponsors including A-Plant,
I & S Landscaping and Pest
Services, Rainbow Graphics,
Falkland Cricket Club, C & E
Groundworks LTD and
Lavisher Building and Roofing
LTD.
From back page
The duo also looked
comfortable in the semi-finals
in which they repeated their
winning form, this time ahead
of Belarus and the Czech
Republic crews.
And they made it three out
of three in the final in which
Serbia’s Nenad Bedik and
Milos Vasic posed the main
threat, and they claimed a
narrow early lead as the two
nations broke away from the rest
and battled stroke for stroke.
The British pair edged
ahead entering the final
sprint, which saw the Serbian
pair well backed from the
bank. But Rossiter and
Dawson held off their 38
strokes per minute challenge
to reach the finishing line in 7
minutes 00.25 seconds, two and
half seconds clear after 2000 thrilling
metres.
It was a major success for the GB crew in
an event that was previously dominated by
Kiwi pair Bond and Murray, who went
unbeaten for eight years before announcing
their retirement to leave a gap which
Rossiter and Dawson would hope to fill.
Rossiter’s brother George missed out on a
place in the GB team but earned consolation
competing in the Ghent International Regatta
for Henley’s Leander Club, claiming a gold
medal on the Saturday ahead of two Oxford
Brookes crews for a British clean sweep.
In Sunday’s eight, despite Leander
qualifying well for the final from their heat,
Brookes returned the compliment by having
their own 1-2-3 finish ahead of Rossiter's
crew in fourth place.
Woolton Hill’s Katie Metalli also claimed
her first ‘international’ medal with a bronze
in the women's eight on Saturday to top her
21st birthday week, after winning two
silvers at the BUC National Championships
earlier in the week.
Despite dominating their semi-final on the
Sunday, the Brookes crew could not repeat
that feat as they also finished just outside the
medals in fourth place in the final.
Stroke andbow:Matthew Rossiter (left)andJacobDawson inaction
Golden row seals three in a row Silver brace for Katie
p The provisional line-up for the new
South West Premier Division has been
confirmed, subject to any regional
transfer of clubs. It is:- Bournemouth,
Bracknell, Brixham, Camborne, Cleve,
Dings Crusaders, Exmouth, Hornets,
Ivybridge, Lydney, Maidenhead,
Newbury Blues, Newton Abbot,
Weston-super-Mare.
FORMER Davis Cup players Danny
Sapsford and Luke Milligan will be
holding a tennis exhibition and fun
coaching day in aid of Newbury
Tennis Club at the club’s Almond
Avenue headquarters on Sunday.
The pair will be joining forces with
Newbury coaches Steve Lloyd and Will
Everitt for the programme, producing a
selection of doubles tactics
masterclasses, technical clinics and
high intensity basket drills.
Speed serve tests will be followed by a
fun doubles exhibition in which the
pros will serve up some trick shots.
Sapsford was on the ATP Tour from
1987-1999 and reached a singles ranking
of 170 and 83 in doubles and represented
Great Britain in the Davis Cup from
1990-95.
His best Wimbledon year was in 1999
when he reached the third round before
losing to eventual champion Pete
Sampras, the year after he had been
crowned men’s national singles cham-
pion to add to three doubles titles.
He recorded career wins over
Henman, Rusedski, Korda, Gilbert and
Kuerten before becoming an LTA
National coach and founding the Bright
Ideas for Tennis charity in 2013.
Milligan reached the third round at
Wimbledon in 1996 before bowing out to
Tim Henman, and played Davis Cup in
the same year away to Ghana.
He has since spent seven years as a
National Coach at the LTA, working
with up and coming professionals
including Laura Robson and Johanna
Konta.
Sunday’s coaching sessions get under
way for minis at 10am and continue
until the final doubles exhibition at
2pm.
Full details are available on the club’s
website at
Newbury/News/4b64496f-f56d-4900- 855f-
154ab8763eec
p RAMSBURY Tennis Club will be
opening its doors and offering free
tennis on Sunday as part of Great
British Tennis Weekend.
The club will be staging free cardio
tennis, tennis Xpress, mini tennis and
ball machine competitions with rackets
and balls provided with the aim of
encouraging newcomers to the sport or
tempt others back to the game.
Details are available via
Jeremy goes up a gear
Tennis Davis Cup pair on court at Newbury
Motor Sport
Twelve-
year old
speedster
Jeremy
Knight
(left)
ready for
action and
right, in
action on
the track
l
l
Newbury Weekly News