Senior Team Championships Of Wales 2022-23
Weekend 1 Report
The first weekend of the Senior Team Championships of Wales took place over the weekend of 8th and 9th of October, hosted at Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff. A strong entry of 36 teams from clubs around Wales competed across 6 divisions, with over 120 players participating.
In the Premier Division, Swansea A sit top of the league standings after winning all five team matches, they secured a 4-2 victory over title contenders Rhondda A, who currently sit in second place. Swansea B and Gwent A both came away with 2 team victories and a draw after the match between the two teams ended in a 3-3 draw. Fifth spot is occupied by Cardiff League A, whose only team victory came after defeating last seasons Champions Cardiff City A, who occupy the bottom position after weekend one. Joe Ratajczac of Rhondda A is the only player to end the first weekend with a 100% win record.
Swansea University A occupy the top spot in Division 1, with four wins and one draw from their first five matches. North Gwent A sitting in second place, were the only team in the division to come away with at least one point against Swansea University A as a draw was played out between the two teams. Bridgend A sit in third position on game difference. Bridgend B sit in fourth place, trailing their A team by just a single point. Gwent B earned a tight 4-2 win over Trinity to stay off the bottom of the table. The division is very close and looks like it will go down to the wire in the second weekend of matches. Four players hold a 100% win record, Jack Fletcher of North Gwent A, had a great weekend winning ten straight matches. Swansea A player Jacob Evans and Abdulaziz Al-Hajaji both came away with eight out of eight wins. Anthony Collins of Gwent B is the final player to hold a 100 % win ratio win four out of four wins.
The top of the table in Division 2 is dominated by two Swansea based teams. Swansea University B and Swansea C who both won four out of their five games, currently sit joint top position after a 3-3 draw saw them share a point each. North Gwent B are behind in third spot following three match wins and two loses to the Swansea sides. At the bottom end of the table Bridgend C sit in fourth spot just a point above Cardiff City B. Cardiff League B make up the table having picked up one point through a well earned draw against Bridgend C. Reece Lo of North Gwent B sits at the top of the individual averages following a 100 % record winning ten out of ten matches. Ian Parkyn of Swansea University B is the only other player to maintain a 100% record winning six matches.
Division 3 is extremely well contested with Carmarthen and Rhondda A sitting at the top of the division win eight points each. Rhondda are the only team in the division who remain undefeated after three wins a two draws. Gwent C sit two points behind the leaders in third place. Swansea D will go into the final weekend still in contention for promotion as they sit in fourth spot just three points behind the leaders. North Gwent C and Bridgend D make up the final two spots in the division. Jayden Meadows leads the way in the individual table with a 100% record, and will look to lead his Rhondda team to the division title when the second weekend gets underway in January.
In Division 4, just a single point separates the top three teams. Swansea University C sit at the top of the table just one point ahead of Swansea E and Rhondda C who sit evenly in second place. Gwent D and Bridgend E make up fourth and fifth spot on the same points but are separated by games difference. North Gwent D make up the division and sit at the bottom of the table. Cerys Evans of Swansea E came away with a 100% record following ten straight wins from ten matches. Peter Daish of Swansea University is the only other player to maintain an 100% record after winning his six individual matches.
In a division that hosts many players experiencing the Team Championships for the very first time, Cardiff City C lead the way with maximum points. They sit above Cardiff City D whose only defeat came against the division leaders. Occupying third and fourth place are two young Rhondda teams who are separated by just two points. Bridgend F are positions in fifth place ahead of a young Penlan team. All the teams in this division showed a great attitude towards their play, improved throughout the day and will look forward to the second weekend of the team event which will take place in January. All four players of Cardiff City C sit top of the individual averages after winning 100% of their games.
All divisions are well contested and will go down to the wire to see who will be crowned champions when the final weekends round of matches are played on the weekend of 28th and 29th January.