Batley represented at World Championships

Six octopush players from Yorkshire represented Great Britain in the 19th World Underwater Hockey Championships held in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Yorkshire players who represented Great Britain at the world Underwater Hockey Championships in South Africa.Yorkshire players who represented Great Britain at the world Underwater Hockey Championships in South Africa.
Yorkshire players who represented Great Britain at the world Underwater Hockey Championships in South Africa.

The Yorkshire contingent included players who train in Leeds and at Batley Sports and Tennis Centre who competed for Great Britain against 17 other nations between March 23 to April 2.

Laura Tiffany and Georgina Lamble played for the Ladies Elite team, who finished ninth in the competition.

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Belinda Archer, Jo Pitchforth and Angela Adams played for the Ladies Masters team and they finished in fifth place.

Angela’s husband, Richard Adams, played for the men’s masters team and they came away with a silver medal.

This is the highest achievement the men’s masters team has ever earned in a World Championships.

The Great Britain men’s team defeated New Zealand 5-4 but missed out on a silver medal when they conceded a breakaway goal in the final seconds of their quarter-final against Turkey to lose 3-2.

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Great Britain bounced back to secure the bronze medal beating Columbia 4-3 in their play-off.

Britain earlier lost 2-0 to France before overcoming Turkey 4-2, South Africa 4-3, Canada 2-1 and Belgium 1-0 in the group stages.

Bernie Tarling, from Selby, who helps coach junior players at Batley, was the Elite men’s coach.

Jo Pitchforth , Richard Adams and Belinda Archer are also coaches for Batley Junior teams who, are based at Batley Sports Centre and train on Sunday afternoons.

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Nine players from the Batley club are attending a junior tournament in Dordrecht, Holland, this weekend, beginning on Saturday.

The next world championships will be for the Under-19 and Under-23 age groups and will be held in Hobart, Tasmania in July 2017.

Batley players are hoping to be included in the Great Britain squads and are already training hard, while saving money to fund the trip.