Charlotte Bardsley pulled off a great string of performances to take the Stockton 4* Cadet title. This year the cadet competition included the top 11 English cadets plus strong players also from Wales and Scotland. After topping her group, Charlotte then went through the next 4 knock out rounds, just dropping two games along the way. The final was played against the England number 2 and Charlotte produced a focused and controlled effort to take a tight game with a 3-0 victory.
Jack Wood successfully battled his way through the West Midlands regional qualifiers to make the National Cadet Finals in November. With 18 cadets in the qualifying tournament and only 4 places available, the competition at Wood Green Academy was not going to be easy. However after coming first in his group, Jack then went into the play-off for the top 6 positions. Jack held his nerve and pulled off a great 5 end win against the number 2 seed from Warwickshire. This meant that by the end of a long day, he and two other players had scored 4 victories and 1 defeat in that top group to seal their places at the finals. Jack will be joining Joey Chen and Charlotte Bardsley at the event which is being held at the University of Lancashire in Preston.
The new season rankings were recently published. Two Woodfield Junior players are doing well. Joey Chen is now in the top 20 Cadets and Charlotte Bardsley leads the England U13 table. With these rankings both Joey and Charlotte have already now qualified for the Cadet National Finals held at Preston in November. Charlotte has also qualified for Junior Nationals with her Junior ranking.
Charlotte Bardsley says she is proud to have won her first national title after battling back from the brink of semi-final elimination to take the Under-12 girls’ singles trophy on a day all four top seeds triumphed in the U11-U14 Nationals.
Woodfield TTC player Bardsley was in top form as she marched into the last four in Doncaster without dropping a set.
But the top seed found Alice Dillon a different proposition as the Lancashire player quickly opened up a 2-0 lead.
Bardsley rallied to edge a nervy third end before pulling ahead impressively to clinch the tie 3-2 (6-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5).
Her final performance against Middlesex’s Amelia Chan was full of control by comparison as she maintained a steady advantage throughout.
Having taken the first two games, the top seed let a solitary match point slip in the third before finally sealing her title in the fourth to close the event with a 3-1 (11-7, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5) win.
“I feel really happy and proud,” said Bardsley. “I thought I was buried in the semi-final, but when I won the third set I got my confidence back and focused a bit more.
“I think to win a title you need determination, hard work and being able to listen, and I’m grateful to my coach and parents as well.”
Her final opponent Chan had previously overcome her own five-end battle in her quarter-final with Danielle Kelly but despite that win and a 3-0 semi-final triumph over Katie Holt, she was unable to match Bardsley at the final hurdle.