All
Peter Davies report on a day high octane duel slalom racing
After a great day of racing in the individual event, the racer’s
attention was drawn to the team dual slalom with two competitions up
for grabs. One of which is the main club team event that only allows
members from one club in a team, the other is the open event where
teams can be made up of many different club members.
Over recent years, the open team event has been getting very popular
with many fast racers participating in the competition. Four teams
from each group qualified to bring out a variety of teams for the
knockout stages. There were no real favourites because of the
mixture of racers in each team, but Oliver’s Army which had Sega
Fairweather and James Greenwood looked to be the team to beat. This
was certainly the case as they progressed to the semi’s against
Anglo Welsh.
A strong performance ensured
that Oliver’s army got to the final with Anglo Welsh heading for the
third/fourth playoff. Aldershot Aces (with three female racers)
faced Norfolk Open A and progressed to the final after chaotic race
with skiers flying all over the slope. The third/fourth playoff was
a close encounter but Anglo Welsh won the tie to get third in the
open team event. Both teams originated from Aldershot in the Open
Final (although Oliver’s Army had Sega Fairweather and Will
Wheeler), Oliver’s Army proved too strong though for Aldershot aces
to win the open team event.
The Inter club team event threw up many surprises with many skiers
skiing out and others hiking back up to gates missed throughout the
day. The main upset being
Aldershot were awarded third place because of Norfolk B’s
abandonment, which was another shock of the event. The final was
between Hemel and Cardiff, both showing strong skiing throughout the
day, but the Cardiff team were too strong and won the first two legs
to win the event outright. Hemel were given the perpetual trophy for
being English champions, but
Full results of the 36th All England Championships
Please send me pictures from the racing (click here)
