Under 25 international series

hi my name is ashley clipston and this year i went to ireland to represent england in the under 25 junior international series.

In january the international series was being play in ballymoney in ireland. All the 4 countries manage to arrive safely even with the bad weather conditions.

The format for the games is 4 rinks of 4 players which play 21 ends in each game.
With England winning the series last year in scotland there was more pressure on us to try and retain the title.

The first game was against wales which england won 2 rinks and lost 2 rinks but england managed to score more shots seeing the total england 92,wales 67.

In the other game between Scotland and irleand,scotland won with 109-73 total.

Englands next game was against the hosts ireland with england spirits high manged to beat the hosts with and impressive 100-67 total.

Scotland and wales was a very close game which wales come out victorios with a 83-82 shot win.

England had scotland in the last game with england being the only team to win the first 2 games meant all we needed to do was to beat scotland to retain the title.
The games was very close and with 18 ends played out of the 21 there was only 6 shots the difference. A pulsating game ended with England winning by 13 shots and Jamie Chestney’s rink winning by a magnificent 32 shots which is the rink i was on.

Overall i was very pleased with my achievements over the weekend and will hopefully be selected again next year to represent my country again.

Isobels Table Tennis update

This is my first blog. On 27th and 28th February I played in the Safri International
table tennis tournament in Sweden beating a Russian girl and a Swedish girl before losing to a very good Chinese girl playing for a Swedish club, the experience was great and the weather in Sweden was very snowy which was good to see. On Friday the 5th March I played in the Derbyshire Schools under 13 (Y7/8) which I managed to win without dropping a set, I will now represent Derbyshire in the National Finals at Doncaster Dome at the end of April where the opposition will be much stronger but if I play well should have a chance at doing well.

Been training really hard for the past few months now to ensure i have been prepared for the female Great Britain boxing assessments, i have my final assessment camp on the 19th of march till the 21st of march then the female Great Britain boxing team will be choosen. Secondly i entered into the BUCS boxing championships this took place on saturday and i won :)

English Senior National Championships

Just played in senior nationals at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

Not been playing well up to tournament but started in under 21's on Friday. Won both group games then in round 1 played number 9 seed (I was number 39!) Lost 11-9 in fifth (3-2) but played really well.

Next day - mixed doubles, mens doubles and mens singles. Got to quarter finals in mens doubles - went out to number 1 seeds. Got to last 32 in mens - lost 4-2 to number 8 seed but played well.

Now feel more confident. Training going well - just need to bring some of training into match play.

Playing in Czech republic at end of March in World Schools. Got China in our group match - should be really good as China are the best at table tennis

Got to really work hard now as some tough Junior competitions coming up

against the best

Hi there this is my first blog of 2010.

Having won 2 European Golds and 2 bronze medals in Croatia last year the expectation on me to do well this year was huge.

It all began in Nottingham in February where the WAKO British championships were held.

I was entering in the under 12 and the under 16 extreme forms divisions in both open hand and weapons.

I was very nervous due to the expectation and due to the fact this was the first competition of the year.

I came away with all four titles which was a huge achievement.

On 05/03/10 I travelled to Dublin to take part in what is widely recognised as the biggest martial arts tournament in the World.

In this competition I was up against the best in the World including competitors from all over Europe as well as America and Canada.

There was a total of 2300 competitors from over 32 countries.

I again entered all 4 cattagories and came away with 3 golds and 1 silver medal.

I am really excited what 2010 has to offer as I will be travelling to Austria,Italy and finally Hungary to represent Great Britain.

I feel very privelaged that I am allowed to travel to all these fantastic countries and represent my country.

I will keep you updated as to my progress and will continue to train 5 days a week in the hope I can bring home a World Title for Great Britain in September.

2009-2010

Moving on up

at the moment there aren't any big comps coming up so no pressure but in a couple weeks i will be going for my 2nd Dan black belt down in Swindon. only problem is that part of the test is that i have to learn all about Korean history and learn a load of Korean words... sounds fun eh?
it worth it anyway because at the end of it (if i pass) it's not the achievement or anything like that I'm looking forward to, it's the shiny new belt.