Congratulations to Max Gerasimov, of Cheltenham, who has achieved another landmark in his refereeing career following selection as an official for the World Aquatics Championships, which take place in Singapore next July. Photo: Trevor Hyde

The list of appointments also includes former BWPL referee Frank Ohme, of Germany, who of course is already established as one of the world’s leading officials.

Penguin won the men's Champions Cup for the first time at Coventry today, outplaying City of Manchester, the 2024 winners, from the start and eventually triumphing 11-8.

Manchester missed chances early on and were also thwarted by fine saves from Penguin's goalkeeper Elliot McHugh. It was a different story at the other end where Penguin finished so effectively that goals by Charles Kingsmill (2), James Salt, Adrian Carreri and Tom Hutchens put the London side 5-0 ahead by the end of the first period.

The lead went to 7-2 in the second period, Manchester's frustrations increasing as McHugh saved a penalty. Almost immediately, Hutchens scored again - a superb back-hander while heavily marked in the centre-forward position.

Manchester rallied towards the end, but Penguin were able to coast to a victory that deprived Manchester of another Super 5s/Champions Cup double. 

Photos: Above: Penguin's players celebrate their win. Below: Penguin goalkeeper Elliot McHugh thwarts another Manchester attack.

City of Manchester retained their women's Champions Cup title at Coventry today, racing into a 5-0 lead in the first period against Liverpool Lizards and eventually winning 10-5.

Izzy Howe (3) and Lucy Blenkinship (2) were the early Manchester scorers. But there were no more goals until the start of the third period when Mhairi Nurthen made it 6-0 to Manchester with a neat lob.

Liverpool offered a spirited response - goals by Milly Wordley (2) and Holly Rooney - before Manchester went clear in the final stages.
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The trophy and medals were presented to Manchester by BWPL president Trevor Pledger.

​Above: Liverpool's Sophie Gilbert tackled by Jade Smith in the women's final today.

Below: Otter goalkeeper Sophie Schonbach faces a shot from Sheffield's Laura-Jean Skelton in the women's third-place match at Coventry. Sheffield won 11-8. In the men's third-place match, Welsh Wanderers beat Polytechnic 9-8.

Penguin and City of Manchester will contest the men's Champions Cup gold medal match tomorrow after a dramatic finish to day one at Coventry today.

Manchester had little difficulty booking their place - they defeated Welsh Wanderers 20-5.

Penguin then faced great rivals Polytechnic. The sides' two meetings in the Super 5s had both required penalty shoot-out deciders - one win apiece - and this thriller could easily have gone the same way. 

Early in the third period, it was 4-4, which progressed to 8-8 at the start of the last. 

Penguin then struck two crucial blows, smart finishes by Charles Kingsmill snatching a 10-8 lead. This  improved to 12-9 3.07 from the end as Albie Duffy scored. Back came Poly, scoring through Matt Klingenberg (2.34) and then Caleb Simpson, 52 seconds from the end, to cut the deficit to a single goal.
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At the restart, Poly somehow regained possession and called a time-out - 26 seconds remaining! They couldn't fashion a goal, so Penguin celebrated a thrilling 12-11 win.  

Liverpool Lizards will face City of Manchester in tomorrow's women's Champions Cup gold medal match after overcoming a battling challenge from City of Sheffield at Coventry today.

At the halfway stage, Sheffield were level at 6-6 - which was a cue for Liverpool's experienced international Katie Brown to make her mark in the third period with two breakaway goals. Sophie Gilbert made it 9-6 to Liverpool, but Sheffield were not finished.

​From 9-6 down, they pulled up to 9-8 in the last before Liverpool - who by now had seen Katie Brown majored out - eased their nerves with a goal 47 seconds from the end by Emily Pyper. 

Mariah Walker scored again for Sheffield almost on the final whistle, but Liverpool held out for a 10-9 win.

Earlier, Manchester proved too strong for Championship 1 champions Otter, winning 16-5. Otter fought back to trail 4-2 following a shaky start but after that struggled to beat the excellent Manchester goalie Sophie Jackson. Three players scored four times for Manchester - Mhari Nurthen, Rosie Huck and Lucy Blenkinship.

Watford Saxons and Otter will be back in BWPL men’s Division 3 next season after taking the two qualification places at Haberdashers today. But it could have turned out very differently.

Watford (team picture below) went into the final period of their match against the British Army trailing 10-7. Had they lost, the Army would have gone through along with Otter. But Saxons had other ideas, goals by Niko Obradovic, Gethin Dorrington and Ilija Crompton levelling it at 10-10 with 3.20 to go.

Just 1.16 remained when Sam Carling put Watford ahead for the first time. Another Obradovic strike followed a couple of seconds before the final whistle, securing  a 12-10 win.

Andrei Paternkin scored four as Otter completed their programme with an 11-7 defeat of Rotherham Metro.
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Liverpool Liver Birds and Caledonia claimed the two qualification places in the women’s competition. Both rounded off day two with wins against Welsh Wanderers – Caledonia triumphed 17-7, including four goals by Lucy MacNair; Charlotte Hopwood bagged six in Liver Birds’ 12-4 victory.

Qualification tournaments at Haberdashers today produced a series of close matches – including penalty shoot-out finishes in women’s and men’s competitions.

The top two in each progress to places in the League at the start of next season. Liverpool Liver Birds’ prospects did not look good as they trailed 6-9 to Caledonia after three periods, then 8-10 half way through the last.

Beth Bolton (Photo: Trevor Hyde) then emerged as Liverpool’s match-winner, bringing her side level at 10-10 with goals 1.09 from the end and then with just 16 seconds remaining. It all led to a penalty shoot-out, from which Liverpool emerged victorious at 15-14.

It was shoot-out time, too, for the men.  Otter and Watford Saxons finished at 11-11 in regular time. Watford then held their nerve to win 14-11.

Consolation for Otter came later in the day when they beat the British Army 19-13, including goals by Nicholas Corjon (4), Conor Flynn (3) and Andrei Patemkin (3). The Army had defeated Rotherham Metro 15-13 in their first match.
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Watford rounded off the day with their second win – another desperately close affair against Rotherham Metro. Rotherham, 8-3 down in the second period, recovered superbly to lead 12-10 at one stage in the third period.  It went to 15-15 in the last before Luka Atkinson and Bertie Dix scored vital goals for Watford in the last minute and a half, securing a 17-16 victory.