A photo of the Juniors collecting their losing finals trophies, they where beaten by England 8-2 in the final, best ever for the juniors having beaten Scotland 8-5 in the semis The mens B team got beat in the final by England 8-5, again our best ever.
More from Paul Bolton:-
The CI teams had mixed fortunes in Bordeaux as the mens team beat Belgium. The match played with a 5 man team playing the best of 15 was a close affair in the first session as the CI team won it 3-2Clayton Coates on his international debut beat Nico Dinnewithe, Rick De Garis on his return to the international scene beat Tony Hubruchsten and John Skillet used all his experience at this level to overcome Steve Lixon. The second session was a one sided affair as the CI team cruised to a 4-1 session win as De Garie, Mick Le Nourey, Coates and Skillet all won. Coates capped a marvellous debut as he won his third game to win the match against Fabrice Vanderplaz. The session was won without a reply from Belgium as the CI team romped to a 12-3 win.
The Ladies opened there Europeans with a game against N Ireland and was a close encounter. They lost the first session 3-2 as Diane Gaudion beat Natalie Madden and Capt Denise Corbet beat Mary Cunningham. Better fortune for the girls in session two as the won it 3-2 to level at 5-5; Gaudion beat Denise Warrington, Lisa McClelland on her debut beat Stacey McConnell and Sabrina Marsh beat ary Cunningham.That was as close as it got as the N I girls closed out the match as they won 4 on the bounce on the way to a 9-6 win.
The Ladies second match was against Scotland and this was as close as it gets going down th the final frame. They lost the first session 3-2 as Corbet and Marsh both won; They lost the second session by the same score to trail 6-4 as they too the second session 3-2 as Gaudion beat Karin Burt, McClelland beat Anna Fleming, The ladies won 3 of the next 4 as McClelland beating Monica McKewan, Marsh beating Anne Flemming and Gaudion squaring the match as she disposed of Pauline Haye, Unfotunately an in off from Corbett proved their downfall as Lyndsey McKellar won the game for Scotland The Juniors opened there fixtures against Ireland and this was the best match of the CI teams as it was as always with the juniors exciting stuff....
The boys went 3-0 down but held on in the session to rake the last two.Ryan Shaw beat Niall Sweeney and Jess De La Haye did likewise to David Columb potting a superb black. The boys lost the second session by the same scoreline as only Capt Dane Jennings beat Nial King and Shane Opie with a super 4 ball clearance against Paddy Callan to trail 6-4. This meant they had to win the final session 4-1, which they duly done .....Jennings with another superb black, this time against Columb, Opie beating Niall Sweeney, Ryan Shaw disposing of Niall King and De La Haye with some great safety play won it in the final frame against Callan.
They did not have as much to shout about in their second game as Wales wripped them apart, 10-5 was the final score and only Jess De La Haye played to any sort of World level as he won his three frames with 2 of them total clearances.
The team event was a small part of the day as the singles for each event took place; THe CI players in comparison to previous international competitions did not fair too well, Previous World Championships have seen Gary Cook reach the semis and in recent years Arron Canavan reaching the last 16, But the Europeans have not been as succesful, The mens second game was against the most succesful team of all time as England overwhelmed the men 10-5, by no means a disgrace at this level, They actually won the last session as Le Nourey, Ryan Le Page and John Skillet with a clearance off the break vs Neil Davey, But the first session was the killer as England won it 5-0, They hqve three games today vs France, Scotland and Wales to decide if they reach the semi finals.
The Juniors are in a simialar position and depending on their legs won today vs Scotland and England, they too might just get into the semis too, They gave themselves a great oppertunity to do so as they trounced thr home nation France by 10-5.
It was all due to the first session as they won it withiut reply 5-0De La Haye with a total vs Francoise Tual, Opie with a 5 ball claerance vs Rafael Perriera, Ashley Perrium defeating Dylan Brand, Shaw with a great black vs Nicolas Herbert and a total clearance, this time Dane Jennings vs Quantin Federico, The boys continued in session two as De La Haye and Opie both won, Back came the French to win session two as they won three on the trot to bring the score to 7-3, The boys knew they needed a big winning scoreline and did not disappoint as session three was a 4_1 win as De La Haye, surely the player of the tournament so far won yet another three frames, and also the match with a 6 ball clearance vs Perriera, OPie, Perrium and Shaw also won, The ladies had a howler against France and lost it 13-2 which has virtually ended their chances of a semi final spot.