U18 Junior Grand Prix review #4 (31st January and 1st February)

Boys

The boys' competition was contested on Saturday (31st January) where Newcastle Staffs, playing with home-court advantage, who won all three of the matches,to finish top of the Gold Pool A table. 

Black Country came second after losing to the hosts in a close 2-1 match (25-20, 13-25, 15-12), but managed to beat both Bristol and Stockport Blue in two more three-set matches. 

Bristol suffered a narrow defeat to the Staffs 25-17, 25-21, and an even closer match against Black Country 25-22, 20-25, 15-12, but bounced back to beat fourth-placed Stockport Blue in a challenging yet comfortable two sets, 25-17, 25-23. 

South Bucks hosted Gold Pool B, and, like Staffs, capitalised on playing at home to secure victory in all their matches to claim six pool points. 

Richmond Hawks followed closely behind when, after losing 2-1 to the hosts, they beat the other two teams comfortably in two sets, resulting in London club being awarded four pool points. 

Third place went to South Hants, who beat London Lynx into fourth thanks to a captivating comebackwhere they hit back from a set down to win in three (23-25, 25-20, 15-11). 

Silver Pool C took place in West Yorkshire where hosts Leeds Gorse Purple dominated the pool by clinching all three of their matches without dropping a set.

 Frodsham suffered defeat to the hosts, 25-22, 25-15, as well as narrowly losing to Sheffield 15-11 in the final set, but the North West team went on to beat Ashfield Vipers 2-0.

After beating Frodsham 2-1, Sheffield similarly suffered a close 2-1 loss to Ashfield Vipers, as well as losing to Leeds. 

Lastly, Ashfield Vipers also had a one-win tally after defeating Sheffield but losing to Leeds and Frodsham, meaning the final table rankings came down to 'sets for' and 'sets against'. 

As a result, Ashfield Vipers in fourth, Sheffield in third, Frodsham in second, behind first-placed Gorse.

Silver Pool D saw hosts MK City A finish at the summit by storming through their matches to claim six pool points. 

Like Silver Pool C, three teams all won a single match, where final table standings where differentiated between on sets difference.

Richmond Jackals lost to both MK City A and Wessex 2-0, but beat Sevenoaks School in a close 2-0 match (27-25, 25-16). 

Wessex suffered an early defeat to the hosts 2-0, as well as narrowly losing to Sevenoaks School 2-1 in a tense third set, 16-14. However, they won their match against Richmond Jackets in yet another closely fought 2-0 match, with the second and final set going to 28-26. 

Lastly, Sevenoaks School secured their win against Wessex, but lost to MK City A and Richmond Jackals. 

As such, Sevenoaks School placed fourth, Wessex placed third and Richmond Jackals came second.

Bronze Pool E was hosted by Coventry and Warwick Riga, where Hermitage came first after only dropping one set in all three of their matches.7

East Midlands team, Nottingham Rockets, came second after lmissing out to the winners in three sets, but getting the better of MK City B and Lincoln Cannons (29-27, 25-20). 

Lincoln Cannons followed in third place after a tough loss to Rockets, but were victorious against fourth-placed MK City B, winning 2-1. 

Lastly, Bronze Pool F was hosted by London Giants, who dealt well with their home-court advantage in the capital, pulling through to win two three-set matches, claiming six pool points. 

Pool runners-up were Thames Valley after losing 2-1, (15-12 in the final set) against the Giants, but enjoying successes against Dartford and Willesden Knights to secure four pool points. 

Dartford came in third after losing two close matches against the top two teams, before overcoming Willesden Knights 25-10, 25-22. 

The National Tier 2 and 3 pools were just as fiercely contested, with Coventry and Warwick Riga hosting Pool G. 

Birmingham Five Ways came out on top with a 100 per cent record and only dropped one set in doing so against Bromsgrove School 2-1 (21-25, 26-24, 16-14). 

The school team finished second after their close loss to the West Midlanders, but triumphed against Wales Academy in a nail-biting three-set match (25-20, 19-25, 15-13), as well as beating the hosts Riga in straight sets. 

Wales Academy left it all out on court in their matches having narrowly lost to Bromsgrove School and being edged out 2-0 by Birmingham Five Ways in a thrilling first set (33-31, 25-18). 

The Welsh teams reward came when they registered victory against Coventry by a 2-0 margin. 

Pool H was hosted by Black Country B who dominated their pool as shown by not dropping a single set, claiming six pool points for their team. 

Second place went to Tamworth Spartans who lost to the winners (25-21, 25-23) but maintaining their composure to beat both Northampton and Rugby in three-set matches. 

After suffering a 2-0 defeat to the hosts, and missing out to Tamworth Spartans (24-26, 25-12, 16-14), Northampton performed well under pressure against local rivals Rugby to win a captivating three setter (25-16, 16-25, 15-11) and edge the battle for third and fourth. 

Pool I hosts Weymouth faced some challenging matches and eventually finished third overall after their important victory against fourth placed Portmouth Phoenix in an three set thriller (25-11, 23-25, 16-14). 

Worthing Panthers played well after dominating their match against Weymouth, which was played to 21 points due to timings (21-12, 21-18), as well as beating Portmouth Phoenix in a match that went the distance (15-10. in the third). 

But it was Farnborough who headed up the pool, showing they could remain calm and collected, sealing 2-1 succcesses against Portsmouth Phoenix and Weymouth and beating Worthing Panthers 2-0 in a more comfortable fashion. 

Pool J was hosted by AST Academy, which saw Wapping Wildcats A storm through their matches without dropping a single set, claiming six pool points. 

Team Sideout placed second after losing 2-0 to the winners, but easing to straight sets victories over AST Academy B and Orpington Ravens. 

AST Academy B came third after beating fourth placed Orpington Ravens 2-0 (25-10, 25-15). 

Pool K demonstrated that every point mattered, as three teams all won two matches each and had the same set difference of two, meaning the final standings came down to points difference.

MK City C won two of their matches against Spelthorne and Harlow Bravos in a 2-1 battle (22-25, 25-19, 15-12), ending the day with a points difference of 1, placing them in third. 

ENVC beat Spelthorne 2-0 and MK City C 2-1, whilst narrowly missing out a third match victory against Harlow Bravos (26-24, 14-25, 11-15), consequently accruing a points difference of 12 for second place. 

That meant Harlow Bravos who won two matches and suffered a tough, three-set loss to MK City C, ended with a points difference of 17 to finish top of the pile. Spelthorne finished in fourth place. 

South Hants hosted Pool L, who played well with their home-court advantage, winning all of their matches 2-0 to claim top spot. 

London Lynx B followed closely behind in second place after their 2-0 defeat to the winning team (25-22, 25-23) but beating Urbond and Winchester Eagles in convincing fashion. 

Urbond placed third after beating fourth-placed Winchester Eagles 2-0 (25-20, 25-22). 

The final pool, Pool M, was hosted by MVA, which saw Urmston Grammar B on fire as they won all of their matches without dropping a set. 

Manchester Academy placed second after their loss to the winners, but triumphed in their other two matches in straight sets to notch four pool points. 

Preston Panthers came in third after losing to the two top teams, but played well to defeated fourth place, Stockport Orange, 2-0 (25-21, 27-25). 

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Girls

The girls' competition was staged on Sunday (1st February) and saw a close run thing in Pool A, with the top two teams level in terms of games won (two each) and the bottom two teams also close matched (one win each).

It consequently all came down to the number of sets won by each team, with first and second place coming down to a set difference of just one.

Taunton were crowned the winners of the pool thanks to winning five sets, despite losing to Ashfield Vipers (25-17, 11-25, 15-10), with Black Country placing second after winning a total of four sets, including their 2-1 victory against Bristol and a 2-0 win against Ashfield Vipers.  

Bristol came in third after winning one more set than Ashfield Vipers, who were fourth even though they had beaten the Pool winners.

Gold Pool B was hosted by Ashcombe Dorking, who placed in third after defeating fourth-placed Willesden Divets in a close 2-1 battle (28-30, 25-21, 15-9). 

Wessex A came second after impressive victories over Willesden Divets and Ashcombe Dorking before going down to South Bucks A (25-21, 20-25, 15-11) who won all three of their matches to finish on top. 

Sevenoaks School hosted Silver Pool C, which saw Wapping Wildcats dominate the pool, winning all their matches 2-0. 

Richmond B placed second after losing to the winners 25-13, 25-11 but beating the hosts and AST Academy in straight sets. 

Hosts Sevenoaks came third after defeating fourth-placed AST Academy 2-0 (25-21, 25-20). 

Silver Pool D was hosted by Newcastle Staffs, who excelled in familiar surrounfingd, winning all three of the matches, including two three-set thrillers. 

MK City A were runners-up after a gut-wrenching 2-1 loss to the Staffs (25-23, 24-26, 15-11), but went on to beat Urmston in yet another three-set battle, winning the final set 19-17, as well as beating Leeds Gorse Purple. 

Urmston Grammar B may have lost out on beating the top two teams narrowly, but they did get the better of fourth-placed Leeds Gorse Purple 2-0 (25-20, 25-20). 

Bronze E took place in Ashcombe, which was another tight pool.

London Giants beat London Lynx and Thames Valley 2-0, but narrowly lost to Malory 2-1, and finished with +3 set difference to grab the first place position.

Thames Valley saw off Lynx and Malory Eagles 2-0, before losing to the Giants, taking second with a +2 set difference. 

Malory Eagles beat Giants 2-1 and lost to London Lynx by the same margin but their -2 set difference was better than London Lynx (-3), who had finished with tha same won one lost two record. 

Nuneaton hosted Bronze Pool F, who placed third after beating fourth-placed Nottingham Rockets 2-0, but losing to the top two teams.

Frodsham came second after beating Nuneaton 2-1 and Nottingham Rockets 2-0, but it wasn't meant to be in their chase for top spot as they came up short against pool winners Stockport (25-14, 25-13). 

Coventry and Warwick Riga hosted Pool G, which had a three-way draw between the bottom three positions, with all teams winning one game each. 

The hosts won their match against Lincoln Cannons 2-1, but lost their other matches 2-1. 

Lincoln Cannons beat Sheffield 2-0, but were defeated by Wales Academy 2-0 and the hosts 2-1. 

Sheffield beat the hosts 2-1, but couldn't grab victory against the other two teams. 

As such, final standings came down to sets for, with Sheffield placing fourth, Lincoln Cannons third and Coventry and Warwick Riga second. 

Wales Academy took their place at the summit after winning all three of their matches, dropping only one set. 

Pool H was hosted by Worthing Lions, who found life tough and ended fourth after narrowly missing out in three setters against Richmond E and South Hants B. 

South Hants B came third after beating Worthing 2-1 (12-25, 26-24, 15-15), but lost to the top two teams, winning two pool points. 

Richmond E took second position after their two wins against the bottom-placed teams, but lost to the winners of their pool, Dartford, in a close 2-1 battle (26-24, 22-25, 15-6).

Pool J saw yet another tie on points between the top teams, with sets for and sets against being the deciding factor. 

South Bucks B and ENVC both won a single match.

South Bucks B beat MK City B 2-1, and ENVC beat South Bucks 2-0, but due to a one set difference, the latter took third place. 

MK City B and Bromsgrove School were both victorious in two matches, with MK City B winning their matches 2-0 and suffering a 2-1 loss to South Bucks B.

Bromsgrove beat ENVC 2-1 and South Bucks B 2-0, while losing to MK City B 2-0. 

Based on a one point difference in sets won, MK City City B claimed first place, and Bromsgrove School came second. 

Pool L was hosted by Wessex, who were the top dogs in beating all comers without dropping a set. 

Weymouth Ripples followed behind in second after losing 2-0 to the hosts, but provving too strong for Worthing Lions B and Winchester Eagles in straight sets.

Worthing Lions got the better of Winchester Eagles 2-0 (25-22, 25-19) to decide third and fourth.

All sides prevailed in at least one match but none won them all in a closely-contested Pool Pool M, hosted by Richmond.

Wapping Wildcats B won the pool after winning their two matches against Spelthorne and Richmond, and suffering a narrow loss to Harlow Bravos. 

Spelthorne and Richmond D both won and lost a match, but, due to timing restrictions, the match between them ended level at (12-15, 17-15).

Tied on points and set difference it was the former who finished second thanks to a better points difference (-3 as opposed to -16) above the Londoners in third.

Harlow Bravos came fourth after beating Wapping Wildcats B 2-1 (25-18, 14-25, 15-11), but missing out in three in their other two fixtures.

Results from Pools I and K are still to be confirmed.

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