By Lucas Ball
Congratulations to Holcombe’s Claire Hales and the England o50s team on winning bronze at the Indoor World Cup over the weekend. Simon Major, playing for Wales o35s, came fourth at the same event.
Hales was involved in all six matches for England in Nottingham as the hosts won two pool matches, both against Alliance.
England kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Germany before beating Alliance 4-2 and losing 3-0 to the Netherlands.
In the second set of fixtures, England lost 5-3 to Germany before a 5-1 win over Alliance and narrow 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands.
Wales and Major, meanwhile, came third in the pool stage to set up a semi-final tie with Scotland, losing 8-4 ahead of a shootout loss to the USA in the bronze medal match.
Major played in all six matches, including a tough opening fixture for Wales as they lost 21-1 to Germany before bouncing back with a 9-8 win over the USA.
Scotland then edged out Wales 6-5 in a narrow loss before they beat Ghana 8-1 to seal third in the pool.
Scotland then won other Wales again, 8-4, before a 3-3 draw in the bronze medal match set up a shootout for third place, which the USA won 2-0.