Turkington’s triumph
Swimming Motorsport
Larkfield swimmers competed in the third and final gala of their club championships at the weekend. Results: Girls’ 13/14yrs 200m IM: 1st Hannah Shibli 2min45.25sec, 2nd Jessica Bonner 2.57.44, 3rd Caitlin Bell 3.02.54; Boys’ 13/14yrs 200m
IM: 1st Andrew Gore 2.28.84, 2nd Oliver Moore 2.34.09, 3rd Finlay Courtier 2.36.04; Women’s open 200m IM 15/16yrs: 1st Mia Cotton 2.48.29, Khiara Hewetson 3.04.02, Charlotte Carr 3.11.78; 17yrs/over:
1st Hannah Knight 2.54.33, 2nd Heather Murray 3.28.06; Men’s open 200m IM 15/16yrs: 1st Oscar Siverland-Bishop 2.35.21, 2nd James Mansfield 2.41.34, 3rd Nicholas Siverland-Bishop 2.48.63; 17yrs/ over: 1st Nicholas Rowe 2.27.82;
Girls 8yrs/under 25m freestyle: 1st Lottie Ball 19.73sec, 2nd Eleanor Hirst 21.19, Paige Milligan 21.32; Boys’ 8yrs/under 25m freestyle: 1st Henry Brown 24.84, 2nd Jude Keeling 25.86, 3rd Jude Bowden 26.07;
Girls’ 11/12yrs 100m breaststroke:
1st Ella Redford 1.32.53, 2nd Lyanna Gore 1.35.93, 3rd Chloe Hart 1.42.44; Boys’ 11/12yrs 100m breaststroke:
1st Jasper Nobes 1.30.16, 2nd
Daniel Harding 1.32.00, 3rd Rudy Strachan 1.42.18; Girls’ 9/10yrs 50m backstroke: 1st Kara Redford 37.34, 2nd Sophie Carr 39.23, 3rd Olivia Callaghan 43.44; Boys’ 9/10yrs 50m backstroke: 1st Ethan BoughtonReynold 47.24, 2nd Oliver Ludman 49.97, 3rd Jackson Limer 50.13;
Girls’ 15/16yrs 100m backstroke: 1st Mia Cotton 1.20.55, 2nd Charlotte Carr 1.26.75, 3rd Charlotte Courtier 1.26.81; Boys’ 15/16yrs 100m backstroke: 1st Oscar SiverlandBishop 1.10.92, 2nd Nicholas Siverland-Bishop 1.14.75, 3rd James Mansfield 1.15.72; Girls’ 13/14yrs butterfly: 1st Jessica Bonner 1.16.96, 2nd Hannah Shibli 1.18.15, 3rd Caitlin Bell 1.35.39; Boys’ 13/14yrs 100m butterfly: 1st Andrew Gore 1.08.00, 2nd Dominic Traube 1.09.56, 3rd Oliver Moore 1.12.34; Girls’ 11/12yrs 100m freestyle: 1st Ella Redford 1.09.53, 2nd Lyanna Gore 1.09.81, 3rd Hazel Child 1.18.85; Boys’ 11/12yrs 100m freestyle: 1st Jasper Nobes 1.08.12, 2nd Daniel Harding 1.14.72, 3rd Jack Brown 1.15.59; Girls’ 8yrs/ under 25m backstroke: 1st Lottie Ball 25.41, 2nd Eleanor Hirst 25.65, 3rd Paige Millian 25.69; Boys’ 8yrs/under 25m backstroke: 1st Henry Brown 24.84, 2nd Jude Keeling 26.34, 3rd Jude Bowden 27.80; Girls’ 9/10yrs 50m breaststroke: 1st Kara Redford 45.02, 2nd Sophie Carr 47.28, 3rd Tabitha Bonner 48.44; Boys’ 9/10yrs 50m breaststroke: 1st Harry Clark 53.58, 2nd Lewis Keeling 57.00, 3rd Harrison Taylor 1.01.59; Women’s open 100m freestyle 10/16yrs: 1st Hannah Shibli 1.08.72, 2nd Ella Redford 1.10.26, 3rd Jessica Bonner 1.10.34; 17yrs/over: 1st Hannah Knight 1.14.90, 2nd Heather Murray 1.25.06, 3rd Kirstin Pinkerton 1.31.90; Men’s open 100m freestyle 10/16yrs: 1st Andrew Gore 59.50, 2nd Oliver
Moore 1.01.67, 3rd Toby Hardy
1.02.19; 17yrs/over: 1st Nicholas Rowe 1.00.28.
Larkfield were also in action at the fifth Medway Championships gala. Highlights included an all-Larkfield final in the men’s 14 years 100m individual medley.
Results: 1st Andrew Gore 1.08.58,
2nd Oliver Moore 1.09.14, 3rd Finley Courtier 1.09.27, 4th Dominic Traube 1.11.29, 5th Milo Strachan 1.13.41, 6th Toby Hardy 1.17.22. Colin Turkington was crowned a record-equalling four-time British Touring Car champion in a dramatic finale at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman entered the last race of the season eight points shy of series leader Dan Cammish after contact in race two with Matt Neal – Cammish’s teammate – put the defending champion on the back foot. But Turkington was able to fight his way up the order from 25th to sixth in race three and when the brakes failed on Cammish’s Honda Civic at Hawthorns on the penultimate lap, the BMW driver grabbed an unexpected title. Turkington’s team-mate Andrew Jordan took second in the championship thanks to the Honda driver’s misfortune, finishing just two points behind his BMW stablemate. Cammish finished level on points with Jordan in the final standings, but Jordan was given the runner-up spot by virtue of more race wins. Maidstone & District Table Tennis Association – the fourth-oldest league in the country – celebrated 100 years with a grand dinner and international exhibition match.
Almost 150 ex-players, current players and guests turned out at the Mercure Great Danes last Friday.
Guests included the 1950 men’s singles champion Peter Hood, multiple champion Gordon “This has been my hardest championship yet by a long shot – to win it two laps from the end of the season is completely different to the other ones,” Turkington said. “I was in shock when I crossed the finish line and was told I was champion.
“It was just pure elation – nothing else in life gives you that feeling. I really do feel for both Andrew and Dan – it’s a bitter pill to swallow. “Youputinafullyear’sworkto try to win this, and I honestly thought it had got away from me after race two.”
Jordan needed a podium finish in race three to take the title but could only finish fourth – two places ahead of Turkington.
“There really wasn’t Harris, veteran international Margaret Dignum, over-85s women’s world champion Pam Butcher and Table Tennis England chairman Sandra Deaton.
The oldest member of the league, president Brian
Fuller, recalled some special moments from the post-war years.
These included Bobby Simpson, an international based at RAF Detling, coming into the Maidstone clubs for practice, and the match between England anything more I could have done – it’s just the one that got away,” Jordan said. Cammish, 2017 champion Ash Sutton and championship stalwart Jason Plato won the three races.
Goudhurst’s Jake Hill scored a season-best sixth overall in qualifying on Saturday, but he couldn’t improve on Sunday and his best result was 12th and European champions Hungary at the old YSC, which attracted a crowd of more than 600.
There were challenge matches between Maidstone champions Will Wrapson and Anna Virogonova and international guests Gavin Rumgay and Ryan Jenkins, who top the Scottish and Welsh rankings respectively. Rumgay and Jenkins finished up with an exhibition match which at one point saw Jenkins sitting on a diner’s lap returning points. in race three.
The Audi S3 racer finished 15th in the series standings. The first round of the 2020 BTCC season will move to Donington Park next year, but Brands Hatch will host round two (April 11-12) and the finale on October 10-11.
The British Superbike season finishes at Brands this weekend. A 36-page commemorative booklet was presented to guests while the evening raised funds for Dementia UK.
Before the dinner, Welsh star Jenkins visited East Borough School in Maidstone for an exhibition.
He played against deputy head Delyth North, a former Wales international, with pupils and teachers thrilled by the speed and the spin top players use. Some teachers tried, with little success and to the great amusement of the children, to return spin serves. Ditton’s Barry Hawkins cruised to a 4-0 win in the first round of the English Open.
Breaks of 97 and 99 proved enough for the world No.10 to beat Amine Amiri at the K2 in Crawley on Monday. “I don’t know if he’s been playing long, but you could tell he wasn’t used to the conditions,” said Hawkins.
“He was struggling a bit so it was a bit of a strange one.
“I felt pretty good but it’s hard to tell after a match like that. It was mine to lose, but I didn’t have any big misses so overall I’m pleased. “Today was a case of staying in the tournament. I’ve been playing a lot lately and hopefully that can kick me on for the next few rounds now.”
Hawkins was due to face Cypriot player Michael Georgiou in the last 32 last night (Wednesday). Watch the English Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White.