Drumchapel Glasgow retained the Women’s British Clubs League Premier Division title, but only after Wensum pushed them to their limits.
Seven division champions were crowned at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton, and Drumchapel’s title was their third in a row.
Team of the Weekend was Youngs from Division 4 and Player of the Weekend went to Graham Spicer’s Aldora Li.
The Solihull Trophy was awarded to referee Richard Grover. The award goes to a coach, official or player who has improved the WBL the most this season, based on the most nominations from clubs.
Photos by Michael Loveder.
The top two of the Premier League met in the final round of matches, with Wensum trailing by a point and therefore needing a win to leapfrog the Glasgow side.
They got the perfect start when Sophie Earley defeated Hannah Silcock 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10).
Drumchapel returned to the lead as Ella Pashley defeated Jasmin Wong 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8) and WeiWei Liu came from behind to beat Aleksandra Titievskaya 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6).
Earley’s second five-set victory, this time against Pashley, put things back on the line. It was also a great win as she came from 2-0 down to finish in fourth place, saving a match point on her way to a 3-2 (8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-6) success.
Ultimately it was Silcock who brought home the title as she won the only draw of the match which was decided in three: 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 against Titievskaya.
There was still time for Wong to level the match score by beating Liu 3-2 (1-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5) after another fine comeback, but the title was already in Glasgow.
Wensum had been in top form up to that point, with two 6-0 and two 5-1 wins putting pressure on the leaders. Drumchapel resisted for most of the time, although they did drop a point in a 3-3 draw against Joola Plymouth on Saturday afternoon.
Plymouth won its two matches that went the distance: Yat Sum Ma defeated Silcock 2-0 down and Alyssa Nguyen defeated Bethany O’Connell 12-10 in the fifth. Once again it was Silcock who ensured Glasgow got something out of the match as they defeated Yuki Gresswell in three.
So Drumchapel, with six wins and four draws, won the title by one point and there was then a five-point lead over 2023 champions Fusion, who finished third.
In the averages, Earley topped the rankings with an excellent 19/20 – the 95% figure putting her slightly clear of the chasing pack, led by Ormesby’s Mia O’Rahilly Egan with 12/14 (85.71%).
Worthing A and Halton were the standouts in the match Division 1, and it was Worthing who moved one point ahead, thanks to a 4-2 win when the sides met in Round 9.
The first match in that match was a titanic battle between Ewelina Sychta and Darcie Proud, which the latter eventually won 3-2 (13-11, 16-14, 11-13, 11-13, 11-8).
Sally Hughes then beat Joanne Keighley in five minutes, but Halton fought back to level at 2-2 with wins for Clare Peers and Sychta. But Proud and Holly Holder then defeated Peers and Keighley to secure a crucial win for Worthing, who then sealed the title with a 5-1 defeat to Ellenborough in Round 10.
Worthing also won his title after a comeback against Byng Hall on Saturday afternoon, saving a point from 2-0 and 3-1 as Holder and Proud won five-setters against Naomi Jackson and Jurate Brazaityte respectively in the last two matches.
Ellenborough’s Hurey Ahmetoglu topped the averages with 9/10, with Proud being the choice of the more regular players with 15/20 for 75%.
Division 2 It was a tight battle, with the top three teams separated by just one point and no team undefeated. In fact, every team in the division lost at least twice.
Draycott II took the title by one point from Brighton A, who were ahead of third-placed Ackworth in sets ratio.
Draycott started the weekend with two draws, but leveled the balance with an important and emphatic 6-0 score against Ackworth on Saturday evening.
Ackworth and Brighton then drew 3–3 in the penultimate round to open the door for Draycott, and they powered through with a 4–2 win over Brighton in the final round, staving off a South Coast comeback, who came back to 2–2 from 2–0 down.
Millie Noble, Evie Knaapen and Catherine Lv were the victorious Draycott trope, with Lv performing their best in the averages with 14/18 for 77.8% – just behind the 80% win rates of Jonabel Taguibao (Greenhouse) and Teresa Bennet (Brighton), both from the full 20 matches.
Flick was perfect in winning Division 3 on the proverbial country mile, six points ahead of second-place Colebridge.
They won every match of Weekend 2 6-0, making it 10 wins out of 10, losing only two individual matches out of 60. Their steady ratio of 29 to Colebridge’s 1.4 further underlined their control of the division.
Of course, Flick also dominated the averages, with Lok Yee Lo and Meige Wang both having a full house of 20 wins and Binyu Zhao winning 18/18.
There was a second title for Drumchapel Glasgow when their third team won Division 4 – but damn was it close!
The top three teams all finished on 14 points, but Drumchapel was just ahead of Graham Spicer and WW Lightning in sets ratio.
Drumchapel started Saturday with a draw against Worthing C and then a 5-1 defeat to Graham Spicer, but they recovered to win their last three games and finish with a 6-0 thumping of WW Lightning. Graham Spicer won four games this weekend, but their 3-3 draw against the Lightning ultimately denied both the title.
Graham Spicer’s Aldora Li topped the averages with 10/10 – ahead of teammate Chui-Que Wong who recorded 15/18 (83.33%).
Halton III, on the other hand, was the runaway winner of Division 5, five points ahead of TJ’s Super Women and an undefeated season with nine wins and a draw.
That tie took place on weekend 1, so it was a 100% weekend for Halton, including a 4-2 win over their nearest rivals on Sunday morning.
Tsz In Ria Wun topped the averages, the Halton player winning all 16 matches she played.
Falmouth Docks made the journey back into deepest Cornwall with the Division 7 title thanks to an undefeated season of six wins and four losses.
Second place Ellenborough II actually won a match more than the champions, but finished behind them on the set ratio basis, having drawn two and lost one.
Both matches between the top two ended 3-3, including the final round, when Falmouth came from 3-1 down to take a point – and the title. They completed the comeback when Dominique Williams defeated Zoe Gonpot 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8) in a thrilling final.
Continental Stars’ Shazia Tariq topped the averages with 19/20, including helping her team beat Ellenborough in what proved to be a crucial result.
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