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888.com World Championships 2005

A report from Paul Bolton on the fortunes of the Channel Island teams at the World Championships in Blackpool

A record entry of 14 teams in the mens section,it would be an uphill struggle to reach the last 6. The mens first game was against the hosts of this years European Championships,Malta. This was a very hard opening game for the C I mens team and they could not have got off to a better start as they won the firstsession 4-3. That was as good as it got in this match as the Maltese won session two 5-2 and session three 6-1 to win the match 14-7. Ady Bougourd was the only player to shine as he won 2 out of 3. Their second game was a different matter as they beat Belgium 17-4. Sessions 1 & 2 where both won 5-2 and the third 7-0 John Skillet won all three of his games as did Andy Richardson and Adam Shorto

On day 2 the opening game was against the mighty Australia and was quite a close match,even although the men lost each session it was close all the way through the game on the way to a 13-8 defeat. Martin Desperques won 2 as did Mick Le Nourey. Next was N Ireland and this was a bit of a disappointment for the team as they have a good record against the NI team. They did not play well and where beaten 14-7. Martin desperques won all three of his games,Ady Bougourd won 2 as did Shorto. Game three was against Greece,a new team to the worlds. The experience of being at 6 previous worlds no doubt helped the CI team on their way to a 13-8 win. Skillet played great as he won all three,beating Mario Champou,Ian Chapman and Ali Ozturk.

This was a heavy day of matches for the CI teeam and game 4 was as close as they come at this level as they faced ScotlandThe team lost the first 2 sessions 4-3 to trail 8-6,Skillet again winning 2 of them, Session 3 was topsy turvy as Holley beat Ian Soutarmback came Scotland as Steve Munro beat Desperques,Richardson for the CI beat Dave McPike to trail 9-8,Hancock was beaten by James Pheeley to trail by 2 with three to play. Adam Shorto gave the boys some hope as he beat Mar Gravener. But Ozanne could not keep it going as Ian Daniel won the all important 11th frame. Skillet won the last one for the CI team on the way to an 11-10 defeat. The final game of the day was against France.The boys where in fine form in the first session as the won it 4-3 with Le Nourey,Richardson,Bougourd and Desperques all winning. It was downhill after that as they lost the next session 6-1 and session three 5-2 on the way to a 14-7 defeat, A tiring day for the team,5 matches took there toll.

Day three and they faced another new team,India an they where simply outplayed by a very good side 13-8. Tim Singh the captain of India played as a junior for England,and it showed. In fact they where the most impressive team the CI team had faced so far,clinical finishing was the deciding factor. The game vs Ireland was the same as te Scotland match,and unfortunately had the same result,an 11-10 defeat The team where 10-8 ahead with only three games to play,and with two breaks for the team,but it was not to be as they last the last three. The second game of the day was against the West Indies and the team played great. They won all three sessions,4-3 on the way to a 12-9 win.Desperques won all his three games against Tony Bailey,Barrington Halstead and Capt Michael Steele.

The Juniors with a pretty inexperienced side where not expected to have a great championship as they are stilll pretty young and inexperienced at this level. So what do they do in their first match,.They beat the much fancied Malta team 8-7The first bsession was won 4-1 with Ashley Perrium,James Kirk,Joss Hinds and Jess DE vLa haye all winning. They lost the next session by the same score as De La haye was the only player to win. Hey lost the next two to go 7-5 dowm. Back they came as Hinds beat John Paul Azzopardi,DE La Haye beat Wayne Farrigia and young Ryan Shaw to the delight of his team mates beat Miguel Falzon.

Unfortunately the world champions England where next,and as usual in this fixture,it was a one sided affair with the world champoins winning 13-2. This followed on in the same vein as thet where destroyed by the Wales youngsters 14-1. This was unfortunate for the CI juniors as over the years there has been some classic games between the two countrries. They faces N Ireland next and won the first vsession 3-2 with Perrium, Shaw and De La haye all winning. Unfortunately it was downhill from then on as they lost 5-0 and 4=1 onn the way to a 11-4 defeat.

Australia,the only junior team to defeat England in the round robin stage where next and a 12-3 defeat followed. The Australians have come with a very strong squad and face England in the semi finals.

Men	P	W	L	W	L	PTS
ENGLAND	10	10	0	151	59	20
AUSTRALIA	9	8	1	112	77	16
NORTHERN IRELAND	9	8	1	111	78	16
FRANCE	10	7	3	114	96	14
INDIA	10	6	4	114	96	12
MALTA	9	5	4	99	90	10
SCOTLAND	9	5	4	89	100	10
WEST INDIES	10	4	6	99	111	8
IRELAND	9	4	5	98	91	8
CHANNEL ISLANDS	10	3	7	99	111	6
WALES	9	3	6	91	98	6
SOUTH AFRICA	9	1	8	80	109	2
BELGIUM	10	1	9	70	140	2
GREECE	9	1	8	59	130	2