Three players from Redrice entered the national championships in Manchester recently.

Michael Elford had to try to work his way through the tough qualifying section of the men's event, but lost in the second qualifying round to Ben Howell.

Sue Williams justified her seeding in the ladies' over 40s event by beating Zena Wooldridge 9/4 9/3 9/10 9/3, but in the semis she was unlucky not to take a game off top-seeded Liz Brown before losing 1/9 7/9 2/9.

Gary Hales, unseeded in the men's over 40s Event, defeated Alan Shepherd 9/1 9/1 9/2 in the first round. In the quarter final, last season's winner Bryan Beeson won 0/9 6/9 4/9, but Hales competed well in the last two games. The Oakwood Shopfitting sponsored men's first team won a close game at Abshot to take the season down to the wire between them and Winchester.

Adrian Williams (5) was the only player on top of his game as he comfortably won 9/2 9/1 9/1. Gary Hales (3) trailed by a game and 4/8 but fought back to 9/8 9/5 9/3. Ray Burke (4) came up against an inform Chris Thornton (brother of Redrice second team player Ben). The older Thornton played unerringly in the first game, which he won 9/2. He was devastating in the way he hit straight volley kills off any loose cross-courts from his opponent.

Burke won the second, and the Redrice player won the next two games 9/6 9/4. The Abshot man took the match into a fifth game, in which Burke regained control. Michael Elford (1) and Stuart Summers (2) both surprisingly lost.

The Redrice men's second Team, sponsored by Rappa Fencing, had a much-needed win at Lee II. Brett Farmer, the Redrice junior, made his senior team debut at number five. Playing against another junior he recorded a totally unexpected win 9/5 9/1 9/4. Neil Dyke (4) was the only player to be defeated 9/4 9/6 8/10 9/6. Rhys Glide (3) was too strong for top Hampshire Junior Chris Rand as he won 6/9 9/7 9/7 9/0. Alex Antonius (2) came back from two games down to win in five 5/9 0/9 9/0 9/4 9/2. Ben Thornton (1) had a poor game, from his own standards, yet still won in three 9/7 9/4 9/7.

Sue Williams was the only winner as Redrice's thirdteam went down 4-1 at Cannons Portsmouth III. Williams, playing at number two for the SCPS sponsored team, won 3-2. Steve Reeves (1) and Matt Aldridge (3) lost 3-2 and 3-1, respectively. Colin Newbury (4), making his Redrice debut, and Derek Smith (5), both lost out by a score of 3-0.