The British League have agreed a revised programme for next month’s Super Fives weekend at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, following the superb achievement of Great Britain women in qualifying for the World Championships in Doha next month.
The Doha adventure – clinched when GB claimed seventh place at the European Championships in Eindhoven – clashes with the Super Fives scheduled on 10/11 February.
With all Super 5s teams contributing players to the GB squad, the League committee faced a difficult decision in determining how to handle the Sheffield programme. Their solution:
▪ Super 5s matches will go ahead at Ponds Forge as planned but on a “non-points carrying” basis.
▪ As the Ponds Forge fixtures are repeated at the Super 5s finale weekend at Coventry on 23/24 March, the Coventry games will now be played as “double headers” carrying double points.
▪ The women’s Championship 1 programme will go ahead as planned at Sheffield. Unfortunately, the structure of that competition – with no double-headers – made rearrangement impractical.
BWPL chairman David Andrews said: “We spent a great deal of time discussing what is obviously a unique situation - hopefully everyone will understand the thinking behind our decisions. The bottom line, of course, was that BWPL should offer its full support and encouragement to our magnificent GB women’s team.”
GB qualified for their first World Championship since 2013 by defeating Croatia to take seventh place at Eindhoven. In Doha, they are drawn in the same group as Canada, South Africa and Italy.
The Doha adventure – clinched when GB claimed seventh place at the European Championships in Eindhoven – clashes with the Super Fives scheduled on 10/11 February.
With all Super 5s teams contributing players to the GB squad, the League committee faced a difficult decision in determining how to handle the Sheffield programme. Their solution:
▪ Super 5s matches will go ahead at Ponds Forge as planned but on a “non-points carrying” basis.
▪ As the Ponds Forge fixtures are repeated at the Super 5s finale weekend at Coventry on 23/24 March, the Coventry games will now be played as “double headers” carrying double points.
▪ The women’s Championship 1 programme will go ahead as planned at Sheffield. Unfortunately, the structure of that competition – with no double-headers – made rearrangement impractical.
BWPL chairman David Andrews said: “We spent a great deal of time discussing what is obviously a unique situation - hopefully everyone will understand the thinking behind our decisions. The bottom line, of course, was that BWPL should offer its full support and encouragement to our magnificent GB women’s team.”
GB qualified for their first World Championship since 2013 by defeating Croatia to take seventh place at Eindhoven. In Doha, they are drawn in the same group as Canada, South Africa and Italy.
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