Welsh Sport July 2015 by Wales and West Media

WELSH SPORT JULY 2015

NON IS BACK AND AIMING FOR RIO

FIVE PAGE CYCLING SPECIAL * TOUR DE FRANCE STAR LUKE ROWE * COMMONWEALTH GAMES ACE JON MOULD * WELSH CYCLING CEO ANNE ADAMS-KING

WELSH NETBALL EXCLUSIVE: THE LAST INTERVIEW OF FORMER CEO ALUN DAVIES

WELCOME

Editor Gary Baker at Hampden Park, Glasgow, athletics venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Contents Page 4&5 - COVER STORY. Non Stanford has’unfinished business’ Page 6 - Jade Jones. ‘I want to be a legend’ Page 7-11 CYCLING SPECIAL. Jon Mould, Luke Rowe, Anne Adams-King and Abergavenny Festival of Cycling Page 13- Badminton Pages 14&15 Netball. The final interview of former CEO Alun Davies Page 16 - Swimming. Jazz Carlin Page 17 - Athletics. Welsh Championships Page 18&19 - FUTURE STARS. Judo. Connor Ireland Page 20&21 - WALES OVER THE BRIDGE. Meet two outstanding Welsh sporting exiles Page 22&23 - Table Tennis. Charlotte Carey returns to Hungary Page 24&25 - Golf. News from around the greens Page 27 - Sports News. New Childrens Commissioner backs national School Sport Survey Page 28 - SQUASH. Welsh star Tesni Evans wins first major Tour title

Welcome to Welsh Sport issue three. It is rather scary to think that it is nearly a year since the record-breaking Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.That was an amazing fortnight for Wales. But - and this is even more scary - as our athletes across all sports tell us now, it is only two-and-ahalf years until we head to the next Commonwealths Games on the Gold Coast. We have just seen the 1,000 days to go marker crossed and our athletes are already making their plans for Australia. But before then, some of our athletes are eyeing the next 12 months and flying off to South America for the Rio Olympic Games. That is certainly the target for our triathlon golden girl Non Stanford, who tells us tthat she has ‘unfinished business’ now her inju-

ry worries of the past two years are - touch wood behind her. Taekwondo star Jade Jones already has a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics and she has added a European Games gold to that. Now, as she said, she wants to defend her title in Brazil and become ‘a legend’. Connor Ireland may not have Rio on his mind but he is certainly eyeing the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo as Welsh Judo continues to go from strength to strength. We speak to him in this issue. And we congratulate squash star Tesni Evans on achieving a debut Tour victory in Egypt. From cycling to netball and athletics, it has been an interesting few months in Welsh Sport.

Gary Baker Editor

Editor - Gary Baker (www.walesandwestmedia.co.uk) Designer - Helen Taylor (www.helentaylordesign.com) Contributors: Roger Hughes, James King Pictures - © SportingWales; Wales and West Media Ltd; Matchtight Ltd; Sport Wales

STANFORD AIMS FOR THE OLYMPIC

FORMER world triathlon champion Non Stanford admitted she felt ‘indestructible ‘ before a 20-month lay-off forced her out of the sport. But the Welsh star says she has ‘unfinished business’ after getting back into the groove and completing her first race since September 2013. Stanford is looking for top three finishes in the test event for the Rio Olympic Games in August and the Triathlon World Series Grand Final being held in Chicago this September to get qualification for the Team GB party heading to Brazil next year. Swansea-born Stanford came seventh in her first race back on the World Series stage in Yokohama, Japan in mid-May and had another run-out in the British World Series in London. Of course, London held incredible memories for Stanford who won her world title there in the 2013 Grand Final despite a 15-second penalty for a transition mistake during the switch from swimming to cycling. She was at the height of her career in 2013 after storming to the world title ahead of other huge names including current Series leader Gwen Jorgensen, of the USA, and British team-mate Jodie Stimpson. Stanford’s victory was a massive platform to drive her to further glories and establish her alongside the Brownlee brothers - Jonathan and Alistair - whom she trains with in Leeds, as a dominant force in the multi-disciplined global sport. But an ankle injury and other foot problems knocked the 26-year-old completely out of her stride after that title victory. Stanford admitted it was mentally exhausting during her rehabilitation but it has helped her discover more about herself. She said: “Being injured is soul-destroying at times. It was a long time that I was out and there were points where it has been tough to take. “But I have learnt a lot more about myself and about putting triathlon into perspective. “I am under no illusions that my injury was bad at the time, that I am now a former world champion and I have unfinished business. You cannot live in the past.

“I have always wanted to compete in the Olympic Games and my number one priority now is to get to Rio. And when you are on the start line of the race, anyone can win it. “I missed the Commonwealth Games last year with Wales which I was very disappointed with and that is another competition I want to go to.” Yokohama was Stanford’s first race since the London extravaganza when she beat Ireland’s Aileen Reid into second place to claim the global crown ahead of Stimpson. She added: “When you are going well, you start to feel indestructible. After 2013, my winter training programme went like a dream but then I had a little niggle that lead to my injury.” Stanford’s time in her comeback race of just under two hours for the swim, cycling and run over the Olympic distance was reasonable but way off the best she showed two years. So she is determined to make up for it over the coming seasons. Qualifying for the Olympics is the ultimate goal but, she admits, it is going to be incredibly difficult just to claim a spot in the Brazil-bound triathlon squad of Team GB due to the improved standard of the athletes. Stanford said: “Half of the qualification process is how you finish in the test event and the Grand Final in Chicago. It is the toughest selection process in sport which shows how good and strong British triathlon is these days. I need top three finishes because just making the team is hard enough.” And while the World Series may be two years older without the Welsh wonder, she believes she can return to her best and challenge for the title again. Jorgensen is the one to beat and is, said Stanford, ‘phenomenal’. “She’s in a league of her own and she is ahead of where we were in 2013. The rest have not really moved on too much and I definitely think I can get back up there. Gwen cannot win every race forever. “I did not do any racing before Yokohama so I did London and will now have a couple of months training with my French team before the test event.” Then, Wales hopes, it is Rio all the way.

I WANT TO BE A

LEGEND

SAYS JADE JONES

THE AMAZING Jade Jones is intent on becoming a sporting legend as the latest high of a rollercoaster year brings her another major medal. The Flint star was crowned a champion at the first European Games, which were held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in Tae Kwon Do’s 57 kilo event - and now the reigning Olympic champion is set on defending the title she won in London at the Rio Games in 12 months time. The European Games gold makes up in some way for Jones’ failure to capture a world crown earlier this year but, at 22 years of age, there are more than enough years for her to have another go at that global crown and complete a remarkable set of medals. But defending her title in Brazil would, she thinks, ensure her status among the sporting greats not just of Wales but of the United Kingdom. Jones said: “I will now be training to go there (Rio Olympics), defend my title and become a legend.” The latest step on that glory road came when she beat Croatia’s Ana Zaninovic by 12-9 in her Euro Games final although she admitted it was not her best contest throughout a day which saw her secure victories over Cyprus’ Despina Pilavaki, Hungary’s Edina Kotsis and Sweden’s Nikita Glasnovic to earn her right to fight for the gold medal.

Welsh Tae Kwon Do star Jade Jones on a rare night off as she looks towards the Rio Olympic Games and gaining legendary status

Jones said: “I didn’t fight at my best throughout the day and I scrapped through a few fights but I did my job, which you have to do sometimes. “In the final, I had a very tough Croatian and there were a lot of head shots in the contest.” It is good to see her happy again after the World Championships where she went out 10-9 in the quarter-finals to Iranian teenager Kimia Zernoorin, when the scoring system froze at a crucial time. The system did not award Jones a point when the pair were at nineall and, with her opponent gaining

a point, it meant the Welsh wonder was out of the competition and it hurt badly. Jones admitted: “In the World Championships, was distraught but Baku (European Games) came straight afterwards and so it was good to go straight in there and get this medal.” All that remains to get is that World Championships medal but, if Jones continues as she has in recent years, few would bet against her completing that glorious medal set - and rightly claiming her place among British sporting legends.

CYCLING

Mould is chasing the big time

JON MOULD is determined to follow in the footsteps of Welsh cycling stars Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe by getting a place on the biggest professional circuit of all. Mould, 24, from Newport, has a string of big performances behind him already on both the track and on the road and has just come away from the ten-round Pearl Izumi Tour Series, a bunch of city centre races, with an individual victory and several wins under his belt with his new ONE Pro cycling team. It has been a decade this year since Mould began bike racing with Newport Velo Cycling Club when the Wales National Velodrome was opened. And since then he has found himself in a group of new Welsh cyclists who are all aiming for the big time where double Olympic Games gold medalist Thomas has lead the way. Mould has won Welsh, British and European medals in those ten years and represented Wales at two Commonwealth Games, when he rode in Delhi five years ago and again in Glasgow in 2014.

He has ridden well in the Tour of Britain on the road and won the National Team Pursuit Championships and the National Madison Championships on the track, but his aims are higher than being just a good domestic British professional. Mould wants to take on the best there is, which is where Thomas and Rowe are at the moment on the ProTour with Team Sky. The Newport rider said: “It is really good now. I started with Newport Velo on the track but there is still a long way to go, I think. “I have got a long career ahead of me and I want to be doing what Luke Rowe is doing. I want to be riding the best bike races in the world.” All it needs is for Mould to get a break as his two Welsh counterparts achieved with Team Sky. He hopes he is not far away from that. “If you get a few races abroad, you get stuck into Europe. If that happens, then all you need is to get the breaks and you are in then. “If you look at the amount of Brits we have now at World Tour level that I have raced with and been on the (Brit-

ish Cycling) Academy with, it is definitely a chance for me to go.” He can only show what he is capable of in the big domestic rides, which include the National Road Race Championships in Lincoln, which were held in June, and the Tour of Britain that is coming up. Mould said of the Tour of Britain: “I will work hard for that now and get stuck in. I have a good team behind me and they have been spot on for me this year so far.” And whatever happens in his professional team career, Mould wants to represent Wales again on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018. “I definitely want to do the Commonwealth Games again,” he added. “I was ill just before Glasgow so it was pretty gutting (not to be at his best). I was going really well last year so it was disappointing for me that it went the way it did so for 2018 on the Gold Coast, I will be hitting that really hard.” The strength of Team Wales and their medal-winning exploits may then again in Australia put them into medal contention on the bike.

ROWE IS A HAPP Cardiffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Luke Rowe winds down and looks at his texts after a round of the Tour of Britain

PY SUPPORTER Cardiff ace has carved a real name for himself with Team Sky

UKE Rowe does not think he will become a Grand Tour team leader after making his debut in the biggest cycling race of them all, the Tour de France. Rowe rode the ultimate test of man, bike and road when he was called-up by Team Sky for his first appearance at the end of June. The Cardiff ace joined his life-long friend Geraint Thomas in support of former Tour de France winner Chris Froome over the 2,087 miles, 22-day marathon and became only the third Welshman after Thomas and Colin Lewis in the 1960s to take part in the event. And Rowe confirmed he was the right choice to support Froome by finishing fourth in the British Cycling National Road Championships in Lincoln just two days before the official announcement of the Team Sky Tour de France party. Rowe was excited and determined before the Tour started with a time trial in Holland on July 4 but, while Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford thinks Thomas can be in the same leader’s shoes as Froome in the future on the Grand Tour stages, his best friend is happy to play a supporting role. The 25-year-old said: “If I am honest, I don’t think I have the right characteristics to lead a team in a Grand Tour because it takes out-and-out commitment to achieve that. “Team Sky is all about the GC (General Classification) and for me to go to a Grand Tour and lead when there is that expectation is ambitious.” Rowe, has gone into a new venture outside Team Sky and become a businessman with girlfriend Danni King. They have set-up a coaching company called Rowe and King but his main aim is to ride his bike. He said making the Tour de France squad with Team Sky was an achievement that he has earned.

“I am over the moon with it and it’s been a long time coming. Every young kid for a living grows up looking to ride the Tour de France. I had a good feeling I could make it over the last couple of months.” Having Thomas on his wheel has been an added advantage to Rowe on the big Classic. He added: “Geraint and I have been mates for 15 years now and we have lived life together and so to be alongside him in the Tour is a little bonus. “That is because in Team Sky, we are not just a bunch of team-mates but a bunch of real mates and that makes it great as well.” Rowe is not just a workhorse. One reason why Brailsford picked him for the nine-man squad was his impressive performances over the last few years which have included a stage win in the Tour of Britain in 2012, fourth places in the National Road and National Time Trial Championships 12 months ago plus a stage win int he Tour of Romandie this season and high positional finished in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Luke Rowe’s great mate Geraint Thomas

Australia, the Tour of Qatar and the one-day classic the Paris-Roubaix over the cobblestones. He has also ridden in the Vuelta a Espania, which makes up cycling’s three great stage race classics along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Rowe has also got a great advocate for his work in the professional squad – and that is Froome himself. The 2013 Tour de France champion said: “Luke really has stepped up over the past 12 months and he has great leadership qualities. “He’s one of the youngest in the team but doesn’t lack confidence or experience.”

SUSTAINING OUR CYCLING FUTURE Anne Adams-King Chief Executive Welsh Cycling

CYCLING’S global stars like Tour de France riders Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe plus world champion Becky James are certainly the shop window of the sport in Wales but in the back room of the store, there are hundreds of people working hard to ensure these great riders are followed by others hoping to join them. Out in the Welsh world, cycling development officers and coaches are scouring around to find those youngsters with the ability to become the next big thing. Cycling in our Prinipality is not all about performance. Indeed, Welsh Cycling’s dream is to see everyone, young or old, out on two wheels, whether that is just social cycling or on the competitive side. The overall responsibility for the structures, development and growth of it all falls onto the shoulders of Anne Adams-King, Welsh Cycling’s chief executive. And now the organisation have funding in place for their medium term future, they can look ahead to the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018 and the journey beforehand with confidence. Adams-King said: “We are conservatively positive, I would say. We have come a long way in two years in terms of our governance structures,

our development structures and our performance structures. “We are looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in two-anda-half years time, which is creeping up on us, and we would like to know what events are going to be there which we won’t know until the Autumn. “Once we know what events will be there, we can set our sights and our targets. But we are very fortunate to have had our four-year funding in place from Sport Wales and we have been able to put in the infrastructures to build the capacity and then deliver our potential.” To reach that potential means inspiring a nation to cycle. It is im-

portant that children are taught to cycle, says their strategy document towards 2020. Adams-King said: “We know from the last Commonwealth Games that we had a very young team and still exceeded our (performance) targets. But those are the ones who will be our future. “We know from the number of riders we have from figures from British Cycling that we punch well above our weight with five per cent of the population (now riding). We have 18 per cent of riders from Wales on the world class programmes so that is very positive. So that shows we have depth as well as having the iconic few at the top.”

OLYMPIC STAR CLANCY HEADS TO ABERGAVENNY

Olympic Games gold medalist Ed Clancy in action for the JLT Condor team

Abergavenny Festival of Cycling 2015 LONDON Olympic Games gold medalist Ed Clancy heads the star-studded entry list for this year’s Abergavenny Festival of Cycling in August. The Barnsley-born star was one of the 2012 quartet, including Wales’ Geraint Thomas, that won gold in the Team Pursuit at the Olympic Velodrome and also set a world record in the process. Clancy, who also took bronze in the Omnium at the Olympics - cycling’s version of athletic’s heptathlon - has entered both the Chepstow Grand Prix on Wednesday August 5, which is the penultimate leg of this year’s British Cycling Elite Circuit Series, and the final leg which takes place in Abergavenny at the Welsh Open Critirum on Friday August 7. Clancy will be riding for the JLT Condor team that also includes the winner of the 2009 National Road Race Championships, which were staged in Monmouthshire, and top

circuit rider Kristian House. And the Series will also see the first appearance at the Festival of Cycling of the new Team Wiggins outfit, with six riders, lead by Mark Cavendish’s Isle of Man colleague Mark Christian, a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist on the track. The two town centre races precede the mass participation Iron Mountain Sportif on Saturday August 8 where cyclists of all abilities can ride the circuit taken by Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Cavendish and Thomas in those 2009 National Road Championships. And there is also a large entry for Sunday August 9’s conclusion to the Festival of Cycling - the Grand Prix of Wales road race in which House will be aiming to repeat his victory of six years ago. Home internationals Dale Appleby and Rhys Lloyd will be looking to take the title for Wales.

Entries for the Iron Mountain Sportif, which has five routes from 20 miles to 100 miles, two of which go over the famous Tumble Mountain climb, plus a women’s only ride, are available on www.abergavennyfestivalofcycling.co.uk or by searching for the Abergavenny Festival of Cycling page on Facebook.

Cycling legend Hugh Porter (in white) takes on the Tumble Mountain at the Iron Mountain Sportif in Abergavenny

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04/09/2014 15:20

A TIME OF CHANGE BADMINTON IT has been a difficult year for Badminton Wales but the re-building process towards the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast is underway. When key players retire or move on in any sport, it is often tough to fill the void they have left. And when it is a sport like badminton where player resources are not exactly bursting at the seams, it is all the more difficult to plan for major competitions. Wales saw leading players Joe Morgan and Sarah Thomas drop out after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last July and August, but Welsh national coach Matthew Hughes is hopeful Wales can regain their momentum although he admits it is a transition period now. Hughes said: “It has been quite a difficult year, to be honest. As is in most sports, you get players who see that as their high point and pinnacle of what they want to achieve so the drop-off is quite big. “We had Joe Morgan who retired and who was our most senior player. Joe stopped and so did Sarah Thomas, who is completing her accountancy course. She has had to take a back step from badminton and it is a shame because she had a really good Commonwealth Games with Clarissa (Turner). “They were in the doubles and played really well. On the whole, there has been a lot of reshuffling.” Wales’ Dan Font and Ollie Gwilt got to the quarter-finals in the men’s doubles at Glasgow, while Sarah Thomas and Turner lost 2-0 to Canada in the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Font also made the last 32 of the men’s singles. Hughes said: “Dan and Ollie were playing together up until the Commonwealths. Dan then wanted to switch his focus completely onto singles so Ollie teamed up with Nick Strange who was without a partner and that partnership did not quite go to where we wanted it. “So it is transition for us. We have some youngsters coming through. We have Jordan Hart and Amy Moran

Welsh national badminton coach Matthew Hughes

who are up in Loughbourgh University and they have just pushed into the senior team.” Hughes said the changes have focussed the minds. “Adversity always pricks your ears up and forces you into some decisions that are not easy decisions. We have had to take a few of those over the last year or so. There have been some ups and downs, particularly with Dan because he is not based in Cardiff but lives up in Mold. “He trains under a good coach Colin Horton up in Manchester but he also travels down in Cardiff and also trains at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes so he is all over the place. Badminton England have just had a new singles coach in Dan Butler so we are not sure what that will entail with Dan going down there (Milton Keynes) to train. “We are a bit thin on the ground with players for one reason or another but it certainly does not stop us. We have one eye on the next Commonwealths. “The year after the Commonwealths is always a bit of a transition year to get yourself in order and set up for the next year which will see us

going into the qualification process for the Gold Coast.” Getting to the Gold Coast will mean getting good results right now, even though the Games are still around 33 months away, especially for Font in the singles. Hughes added: “As it is, we know the criteria will toughen up again because, in Delhi and Glasgow, it was top eight (who qualified) which equates in badminton to about top 60 in the world which is a reasonable level and is tough. “We have not had anyone qualify outright in singles for some years now because they have all been doubles based. On that basis, players have only qualified to play in the singles tournament because they are there at the Games. “Dan will, though, have to achieve that criteria in singles as he won’t be there as a doubles player. That is a big ask and it is also the same for Clarissa in her singles.” And the Rio Olympics next year ups the global standards. “Next year is tough because it is the start of the qualification period for the Olympics so the general standard will go up high.”

Davies: Wales can stand tall

In May, chief executive of Netball Wales alun davies spoke to welsh sport editor gary baker about his vision for the future but Within days, he had become the THIRD CEO IN A YEAR to leave the organisation. here is his last interview . . . ALUN Davies enthused that netball in Wales was ‘huge’ and had great potential when he spoke to Welsh Sport in the last week of May. A few days later and Davies, who had only been in the role of chief executive officer for Netball Wales for a matter of months, was gone from the job, the latest casualty in a year which has been littered with management departures. Before he left, Davies was optimistic that Wales’ excellent display in the Netball Europe competition in May where they finish as runners-up, would be translated into a storming performance in Australia in August’s World Cup. Davies said: “It was a tough but very successful campaign at Netball Europe. It was five games in four days and it is the first time we have had these games as double headers. “Every team had to play two games in one day but we did well. We came out with a silver medal which is what we targeted. We had the English and South African teams in the double-header so that was quite tough but it is a new squad with familiar faces but a lot of new ones coming in. “For Trish Wilcox, the head of elite performance and national coach, it was her first big event so a lot of work had gone on in the last six months in developing a new style of play and getting the girls to engage in those tactical and technical abilities. It all came to fruition on the weekend. “We are really pleased. It is the first step of the ladder, as everyone says. “ Davies followed Mike Watson from the Netball Wales CEO hotseat. He was replaced by Sarah Jones, on secondment from Welsh Gymnastics, who took up her place on July 1. Davies said Wales could stand proud alongside the best in the world, given the

limited resources available. “What you have to look at on the global stage is that the game is huge in the top four or five countries, who have hundreds of thousands of members. “It is a big sport in Australia, New Zealand and England as well. England has just grown over the last few years, competing with the top three or four countries, and then you have the next group of nations. Currently we are eighth. Wales has been up to sixth several years ago, and that would be a lovely target to go for, but it will be tough. “It depends on teams you play against and the competitions available to us. We have ambition but again it is one step at a time. “Qualifying for the World Cup is big. Trish has a squad of twenty-odd players and they have been competing for 12 places. “The squad will have their own

targets and create their own goals in the environment of the World Cup. We want to make sure they get out there and be competitive. “At the moment, we are eighth and it would be lovely to qualify into the quarter-finals. They are quietly confident and hopefully we can go in with confidence and enjoy the event. “The pool we are in with Fiji and Uganda is hard. Uganda had three players playing in the Superleague last season so they are investing a little bit. They are good players and they are all six foot four or six foot five. Every Welsh person wants to challenge themselves against the best teams in the world.” However, while captain Suzy Drane and coach Wilcox will lead Wales’ gallant dozen players into battle, Davies will not be among them. But if Wales can reach the quarter-finals, at least it will end a difficult 12 months on a high note.

Welsh Netball captain Suzy Drane on the atttack

Alun Davies in happy mood at the end of May. Days after this picture was taken, he left Netball Wales, the second CEO of the body to do so in six months

SWIMMING

Welsh star Jazz Carlin (pictured after winning her Commonwealth Games gold medal last year) won three titles at the British Championships, held at the London Olympic Games aquatics centre in Stratford, and is now off to Russia for the World Championships. Picture: Sporting Wales

Golden girl Carlin JAZZ Carlin warmed-up for her big summer in the pool with spectacular results at the British Championships this year. On the final night of action at the London Aquatics Centre, Carlin brought the curtains down on the competition in style by completing a hat-trick of gold medals plus recording a Welsh national record. Commonwealth Games champion Carlin was the star of the show. She posted a time of one minute 56.88seconds to win the final event of the competition, the women's 200m freestyle, ahead of Siob-

han Marie O'Conner, the defending champion and a woman Carlin trains with at the University of Bath. Carlin also won the 400m and 800m freestyle events during the Championships, said it was not going to be easy to beat O’Conner, who shone at the Commonwealth Games last year. Carlins said:: "I was pretty nervous beforehand I knew it was going to be a tough race. It’s so good to get on the podium with Siobhan because we train together day in, day out so it’s really nice for us to share that moment. “It had been an up and

down five days and there’s been a lot of emotions, but obviously I’m really happy to end it with a best time.” Wales’ Dan Laxton swam to gold in a new Welsh record in the men's 100m butterfly, clocking 52.40secs. It was a performance that has earned him a place in the British squad for the World Championships. Laxton is on the comeback from injury but the victory showed he is well on the road to recover He said: "This win means everything to me and to get the Welsh record as well is great. “I glided and looked

across at the finish and I thought I’d lost it but when I looked at the scoreboard and saw the confirmation, I was over the moon. “I’ve changed coach in the last year, I now train with Ian Hulme and we’ve really been working on the last 20 metres of my race. So to be able to put that into practice and hold on until the end is great.” Commonwealth Games medalist Calum Jarvis and Olympic ace Jemma Lowe take up the other Welsh spots in the 30-man British team for the World Championships which take place in Kazan, Russia, next month.

ATHLETICS

ACE WILLIAMS RETURNS TO TAKE CROWN Welsh Championships

RHYS Williams returned to claim the Welsh Senior Championships title and, with it, turn his back on a year of turmoil. Williams was thrown out of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last summer after taking a supplement which, unknown to him, had been contaminated with a banned substance. The former European Championships 400 metres hurdles gold medalist was banned along with fellow Welsh half-lap man Gareth Warburton, who had also taken the same supplement, for four months last January. Having already served six months out of athletics, both men were clear to run again from the time the bans were imposed. Williams has begun to make up for lost time and raced across Belgium, France and Switzerland in the opening months of the outdoor athletics season. And, after winning the Welsh Senior Championships title last year, the Cardiff AC hurdler retained the crown at Leckwith Stadium in June. Williams ran 51.90secs to cruise home ahead of fellow Cardiff AC man Paul Bennett in second, although that time and the times he has recorded so far are way short of his personal best of 48.84secs he notched up in Switzerland two years ago or the season best 48.95 he clocked in Geneva in June 2014. So while 32-year-old Williams gets back into his stride, another athlete is doing the same at the other end of the age range. Swansea Harrier Hannah Brier, 17, showed she was a real sprinter to look out for last season when coming second in the Senior Championships 100m in a time of 11.57secs and winning the 200m in 23.63secs. This year, she has bettered that and won the Welsh Senior Championships sprint double. Brier took the 100m title in 11.40secs and followed that by retaining her 200m crown by over a second from Bristol and West AC’s Hannah Williams in 23.62secs. Commonwealth Games long distance ace Dewi Griffiths took the 5,000m title by a comfortable 22 seconds in 14mins 30.27secs, while Brett Morse once again won the men’s discus with a distance of 58.69 metres.

Rhys Williams (above) took the 400 metres hurdles title while Hannah Brier (below) won the women’s sprint double at the Welsh Senior Championships in Cardiff

Cwmavonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Connor Ireland is aiming to reach the top and follow in the footsteps of Welsh Commonwealth Games gold medalist Natalie Powell (insert below in white). Pics: Wales and West Media and Sporting Wales

CONNOR Ireland had an amazing experience in Glasgow last year where he competed at his first Commonwealth Games for Wales. But even though it is less than a year since that Scottish extravaganza, the realisation that the next Games on Australia’s Gold Coast are rapidly closing in was brought home the other week. The four year cycle between Games is slightly less for the 2018 Games as it is being held between April 4 and 15 instead of July and August as with Glasgow, so it will not be long before minds will once again turn towards the Commonwealths in seriousness. Ireland, who has just turned 20 and took silver in the Junior European Judo Cup in May, was part of the Glasgow Welsh judo team that came away with medals, including a gold for Natalie Powell. He said: “Natalie was saying it is only three more years. I couldn’t believe it. It has come around so quickly.” Ireland, who fights at under 73kilos, is a full-time judo player, having been drawn to the sport, which his father competed in, as a teenager. The product of Cwmavon, Port Talbot, was a prolific rugby player but found judo and has not looked back since. And, as he enters his first year of senior judo, Ireland has his sights set on reaching the Olympic Games – although not the next ones in Rio de Janerio. He added: “That is a bit too soon, to be honest. The one after that, touch wood, I am going to try and go for. But Rio? I don’t think I can make the team. “So it will be the one after that (2020 in Tokyo, Japan) and I want to get a medal there. If I don’t, I will try for the next one in 2024.” And those goals mean that Ireland is happy to sacrifice the normal life of a young man to train five days a week and live on his own at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff. He said: “Since I moved here, I have stopped everything and am doing this full time. “Craig Ewers (Welsh national judo coach) saw me and he wanted me to come here full time. The only thing I needed to pay for was petrol to get here. I do not have to pay for accommodation or food and have training on my doorstep. “And stuff like going out with my mates does not bother me. That is because I want to go to the Olympics whereas my mates will just be working all day. I would rather be training, enjoying myself and doing something I love rather than working.” And that experience last year in Glasgow has made him all the more determined to achieve his goals. “It was amazing, especially where there were four of us (from Wales) in the weight division I was in. It was my first Commonwealth Games and it was a experience I won’t forget easily,” added the rising Welsh star.

‘Not going out with my mates doesn’t bother me .. I want to be at the Olympics’

Ireland is going for it

MEET TWO AMAZING WE

DPJ TAUGHT BIG ENGLAND rugby star Billy Vunipola is a hard but disciplined individual. The number eight has rarely been yellow carded during his professional career because he learnt a lesson from a former Welsh referee who has been a stalwart of Thornbury RFC – and sport in South Gloucestershire – for generations. Although David Parry Jones is 71 years old now, he still gets up on Sunday mornings to officiate with Thornbury RFC’s junior teams as well as the other strings to his bow which are acting as an umpire for Thornbury Hockey Club and also Almondsbury Cricket Club. But it is that moment in time on the rugby field when a big teenage player learnt a hard lesson about keeping his discipline in the white-hot heat of battle that the Welsh exile recalls most. Parry-Jones – DPJ to everyone – said: “I sent Billy off four or five years ago when he was at Castle School (in Thornbury). I always remind him of that when I see him and say that I sent you off to make you disciplined.” Even then, the big young back row, whose family stayed in Pontypool for a while before moving to Gloucestershire, was a one-man battering ram. DPJ said of the man who is aiming to take on Wales in the World Cup this Autumn: “Billy was so big and strong that all the teams he played for used to do was give him the ball and he would score. “There were times when he used to run through everyone and stop short of the line to pass to someone else to score.” DPJ is one of those unsung heroes that all sports clubs have. The former teacher has dual loyalties. He was on the Welsh Rugby Union’s referee panel and officiated throughout the grades to the top-flight. In fact, he had to ensure he kept his Welsh connections intact from a community near

Pontypool to be a WRU ref. Even though he has lived in Gloucestershire for decades, he said: “I was always known as David Parry-Jones (Griffithstown) because I had to be in Wales to be on the WRU panel.” He has been the Gloucestershire RFU’S disciplinary panel secretary for years but it is not only rugby that keeps him occupied. DPJ took up hockey umpiring when his daughters began playing. He was also a cricketer of some repute, playing for Glamorgan second team and was captain of the Welsh Schools in his youth. And, when he began his teaching career in Bristol, he was quickly snapped up by Almondsbury Cricket Club when his headmaster looked at him with one of those looks with which you already knew the answer and said: “You WILL play for Almondsbury, won’t you?” Thornbury RFC are grateful to DPJ for helping raise thousands of pounds over the years as their sponsorship secretary, although he admitted: “It is hard these days because there is not the money around.” But as a Welshman in England, he expected to have his leg-pulled when Wales lost to England in the last Six Nations DPJ’s solution? “I just wore my Engllish RFU jacket and they (Thornbury) didn’t bother me!”

DAVID PARRY-JONES Rugby, Hockey, Cricket

ELSH SPORTING EXILES

BILLY A LESSON! A WOMAN OF RUGBY RUGBY is in the blood of Annie Parker, as you would expect from a woman born in the capital of Wales. Yet there are many women rugby players – and English ones at that - who are indebted to her for helping them enjoy the sport and, for some, excel to high levels within the game. Even Annie’s own daughter, Rhiannon, has thrived due to her mum’s support and that of Thornbury RFC to a position where she was on scrum-half stand-by to play Wales in the last Women’s Six Nations Championships just finished.in the Spring. Hundreds of players have known Annie since she arrived in Thornbury 21 years ago. But she has now retired and moved back ‘home’ to Cardiff, a city she left when she was 18-year-old as she went across the Severn Bridge to train as a nurse in Bristol.. Annie’s main aim during her time in Gloucestershire was not about finding individual players who may shine in the future. She wanted girls to enjoy the sport and, even during her latter months of exile in Gloucestershire, she was still coaching a couple of young girls at Castle School, Thornbury. She said: “Why am I still coaching little ones after all this time? It’s about what rugby does for them. “What I love about it is you can be male or female and whatever size you are, you can play. “Rugby teaches them to play as a team and respect each other. There are a lot of young ones who lack some self-esteem – and rugby can help give them that.” She has worked in the wider rugby arena too, most notably helping the Gloucestershire RFU’s female coaches and management which was recognised when she was honoured for her services to the game by the Princess Royal. Annie has travelled all over the place, from Bristol to Glasgow, Saudi Arabia to Edinburgh and Petersfield to Thornbury in her nursing capacity. But once settled in Gloucestershire, she wanted her son to play rugby. She said: “He was under eight at the time and I had my daughter with me as well.”

ANNIE PARKER

Annie Parker receives her award from the Princess Royal

Rhiannon started playing rugby for the Thornbury under-sevens team and, by Christmas 1994, Annie found herself as team manager of the side. One girl who passed through Anne’s tutelage is Amber Reed, a centre who played for Bristol and who has won 17 senior England caps. She was with Annie for two years.

Her meeting with the Princess Royal in Gloucester in 2012 was, to say the least, unexpected. She did not know she had been put forward for an award. Anne said the Princess Royal was charmingt. “It was just a blur as there were other awards. “But the Princess Royal said something like ‘How many women are playing? She was lovely.”

TABLE TENNIS Back in Hungary - Welsh star Charlotte Carey

Carey will learn from the Magyrs and Chinese C HARLOTTE Carey could not be in better company as she builds towards her first full season as a senior player on the European table tennis circuit. The 18-year-old from Ebbw Vale has re-joined a past club in Hungary and will have some incredible partners from the Far East to practice with while she is there. Carey has recent experience of the Chinese as she was in that country with the Welsh squad at the World Championships at the end of April and start of May where Wales had great success. Carey won two matches of preliminary round singles but agonisingly lost her place in the main tournament on countback. She said: “We took six players from Wales - three girls and three boys. I went out on countback, unfortunately, but played in the Suzhou Cup and beat a Chinese player and one South American girl. “Myself and Dan O’Connell got to the last 32 of the doubles and we were the only Commonwealth country other than Singapore to get to that stage. “We beat a Brazilian partnership during the doubles who were, I think, 50th and 100th in the world and so were a lot higher ranked than us. That was a really good result. Even though

we did not do very well in the singles, we were happy with that doubles because it is a good result to take to the Commonwealth Games (in 2018). “It gives us a lot more confidence going into the Commonwealth Championships in mixed doubles as well.” Carey was back in Wales for a few weeks during the quieter time for table tennis this summer and put in the practice with her friends in Cardiff and Bristol, including national coach Ryan Jenkins, before her new campaign begins. And when it does, she will be able to learn much more from some outstanding players that her new club are drafting in. The Welsh teenager said: “They are bringing some players over from China to train with so that will be great for everyone.” She added: “I actually played for the club in Hungary two years ago and they are now still in the first division in Hungary and wanted me to sign again. “I am going to practice out there in their new centre. Another reason for bringing the Chinese over is to attract players to their new centre. “I am sure there will be a lot of good practice partners for us along with the Hungarian national side, who will be

there at the centre a lot.” Carey hopes that the experience of practicing with the Chinese plus being in one of the traditional homes of table tennis in Europe will help her with the step from junior player to seniors. “The Hungarian girls seem to have improved a lot in the last five years and now they are competing with the best in the world. The last time I practiced in Hungary for a year, I felt like I was improving a lot. “People were nice and they always want the best for you.” And the summer training in Wales, Bristol and some camps in Ireland will serve her well when she starts her season iin Eastern Europe. Carey added: “We have the European Champioinships in the Autumn and then Commonwealth Championships just afterwards so I will just be looking to get a high finish in the Commonwealth Championships - that is really important for the Gold Coast (2018 Commonwealth Games). “I would like a top six finish in those Championships and then, with the doubles, we will just see how it goes.” So the next stage of Carey’s rise in table tennis is firmly underway and, with the experience she will gain, it bodes well for her future and for Wales too.

O’CONNELL AND TWO THOMAS’ WIN TITLES WELSH CHAMPIONSHIPS DAN O’Connell became Welsh champion when he took the men’s singles title at the National Championships in Cardiff. But O’Connell was given a really tough match in the final against Callum Evans before coming out on top. The match went to six games before O’Connell finally took the

crown. He won the first three games but the resilient Evans would not lay down and fought bravely to take the fourth game 1210 and then waltzed through the fifth game 11-4. However, O’Connell re-grouped and made sure he won the title by strolling through the next game 11-3 to win the match 4-2. Meanwhile, Chloe Thomas won the women’s singles the hard way when, after beating Welsh number one Charlotte Carey in a gripping semi-final, she was taken

all the way to a deciding game by Megan Phillips, who had played nine games in two matches before reaching the final. Phillips went 1-0 up but Thomas went ahead 2-1 by winning the second and third games both by 11-8. Phillips drew level with an 11-6 fourth game but Thomas turned on the style to run away in the decider and win 11-2. Nathan Thomas was also a singles champion in taking the national disability standing competition crown.

O’CONNOR ‘AMAZED’

Katherine O’Connor has become the Welsh Ladies Amateur champion for 2015 but is more used to organising entries to events rather than winning them herself

KATHERINE O’Connor organises the entries for the top ladies golf events in Europe as her day job, but now she has made her own entry into the golfing record books by winning the Welsh Amateur Championship. O’Connor, aged 25, beat Wrexham’s Chloe Williams 2&1 in the final of the Welsh Ladies Closed Match Play Championship at the Vale of Llangollen Golf Club. The West Byfleet player, who studied at the University of Newport and plays for Wales thanks to her dad from Cardiff, works for the European Tour at Wentworth as the membership and entries administrator, slipping out at lunchtime

and after work to use the superb practise facilities to improve her own game. That paid off at Llangollen as she picked up the top title in Welsh ladies amateur golf for the first time, thanks to steady play throughout the event. “It is absolutely amazing to win it. I cannot quite believe it,” admitted O’Connor. “Everyone wants to win this one, I have worked so hard on my game and it paid off in my first final. “I have been playing in this event for so long, nearly 10 years, and I have gained a lot of experience so I was able to concentrate on the next shot rather than worrying about the weather or the other play-

ers. I work so I play golf to enjoy it, which means I am more relaxed about it. “I missed out on playing for Wales in the European team last year, so hopefully this can help me back into that. “I work in the week and use my holiday to play in golf events. I love golf so much so working for the Ladies European Tour is great and being based at Wentworth is very nice.” O’Connor added: “I can watch all the top players through my job and see their scoring, so that has helped as well.” O’Connor beat former champion Becky Harries from Tenby in the semi-final, while Williams beat Llanishen’s Georgia Lewis.

O’Connor went two holes up early in the final and was never behind, a birdie two at the 14th helping her to close out the match. There was some consolation for Williams as she won the stroke play event by four shots in qualifying for the match play stages. “It was a good performance by so many of the players with very high quality throughout,” said Golf Union of Wales Championships Manager Gavin Reen. “However the Vale of Llangollen club was also superb all the way through. It certainly challenged the players while the hard work on the course paid off as it was in marvellous condition.”

OLF

ALL CHANGE! THERE will be changes to the 120-year-old Welsh Amateur Championship to be held at Prestatyn Golf Club this year. The top Welsh amateur event for male golfers was first played for in 1895 and for most of its history was purely a match play event. However the 2015 Welsh Amateur Championship will start with 36 holes of stroke play, from which the leading 32 players will go forward to the match play stages. Golf Union of Wales director of performance Ben Waterhouse explained: “The new format will increase the competitive intensity right from the start of the event. “Only a third of the en-

trants will make it through to the match play stages so everyone will have to play well under pressure just to reach the second stage.” As is to be expected for this championship, most of the leading amateur players in Wales will be taking part at Prestatyn. Entries include all eight members of the current Welsh national squad including Evan Griffith who will be attempting to defend the title he won last year at Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club. The field is full of Welsh capped players including David Boote, Richard James, Owen Edwards, Joshua Davies and Mike Hearne who, along with Evan, form Wales’ team for the 2015 European Team

Championships. However, local interest and support will perhaps be focused on the performance of Prestatyn members, father and son John and David Williams who will be flying the flag for the home club alongside Lee Williams (no relation). They will be trying to repeat the success of Prestatyn golfer Jason Shufflebotham, winner of this championship in 2011 and 2012. Prestatyn is no stranger to hosting major amateur events having held the Welsh Men’s and Ladies’ Open Stroke Play events and the Welsh Open Seniors’ Championship in recent years. The club will also play

host to this year’s Senior Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship. Prestatyn Golf Club Manager Chris Owens said: “We are delighted to be hosting this prestigious event. “We have a long history of hosting top level amateur events for the Golf Union of Wales and we are looking forward to seeing the best Welsh amateur players compete at our club. “The course is in excellent condition and will provide a really good test for everyone.” Qualifying for the match play stage starts on Monday July 27 with the match play section beginning on Wednesday 29th July.

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SPORTS NEWS

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland

SURVEY GIVES KIDS A VOICE NEW Children’s Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland has called on schools to embrace the national School Sport Survey as an aid to make lasting health and well-being changes for young people. Sally Holland has highlighted the importance of listening to young people to make sporting experiences as engaging as possible. The survey, the largest of its kind in the UK, saw 110,000 school pupils across Wales complete

the online questionnaire in 2013. “Giving young people a voice is crucial and something that the School Sport Survey gives on a very large scale,” said Holland. “We have to be able to listen to views, thoughts, opinions and perceptions if we are going to truly engage with young people and give them positive experiences.” With the biennial survey now open throughout the summer term, the hope is to match and sur-

pass the record-breaking response rate. Schools and pupils have until the end of term to complete the survey and get a formal report on their pupils’ attitudes to sport and activity. Holland added: “For schools, listening to pupils is not only the right thing to do but it can draw out vital information about life in and out of the school yard and classroom that can be tracked over time. “As well as evidence to use for Estyn or as feed-

back to parents, this is all about young people’s health and well-being while enjoying sport. The survey helps make informed decisions on what makes young people happy and will get them more active now, and in the long-term.” The survey will formally close on the July 17. Schools that have yet to take part are encouraged to seek support in doing so by contacting Sport Wales for their local support lead at schoolsportsurvey@sportwales.org.

SQUASH

TESNI’S TRIUMPH

Welsh number one Tesni Evans (hitting the ball) on her way to a first major Tour title

TESNI Evans was the toast of Egypt when she completed her best ever win to take a first women’s Tour title. A very fair crowd saluted Evans’ outstanding performance as she beat Egypt’s Heba El Torky in Sharm El Shaikh. The Welsh number one took just over an hour in a five-set match to win the Women’s International Championships in the African city. And she showed huge amounts of courage and determination to secure the win after going 2-1 down to the home favourite.

Evans went ahead in the first set with a 12-10 victory but then lost the next two sets 11-6 and 11-7. That could have spelt the end of the challenge but Evans, who loves her five-setters, bounced back to win the fourth set 11-7 and set-up the decider. An excellent start for El Torky in the fifth saw her lead Evans 3-1, but Evans played some great shots to level it at 3-3. Then a couple of good strokes saw the Welsh wonder run off to a 6-3 lead before she gained complete control to go ahead by 7-3

and then 10-4. There was no way back for El Torky and Evans sealed her first title by 11-5 to the delight of her watching supporters. Later she said: “I’m very happy to win this. I was 2-1 down, and at that point, I was really down. I couldn’t see a way through, I couldn’t see the end. So I told myself, this is it - push. “And when I got the fourth, I thought, ‘ok, just one more game’. “I think that Heba tensed a little bit from the fourth, maybe because I wasn’t giving her any pace.”

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