Craig Howieson produced his best individual performance in a British tournament to win the Bronze medal in the singles competition. Seeded 12th, he defeated Paul Drinkhall, the England No.1, in the quarterfinal before losing in the semi-final to David Meads, of England
In the team event the boys team finished in 5th place just failing to reach the last 4 after the lose of two epic matches in the qualifying group.
This was a good performance in a match that lasted for 3-1/2 hours and the boys will know that they could have taken it closer. Scott played well against Gavin Evans, but later let a 2-0 lead slip away against Damien Nicholls when attempting to level the match to 3-3. Craig Howieson destroyed Bradley Evans in his first match but he did not enforce the play against Gavin Evans. Craig Hardie, who has a good record against Damien Nicholls in previous matches didn’t get himself up for the start of their match and never looked capable of turning it round. He later played very well against Bradley Evans but let his tactics slip from 8-8 in the 5th set.
Scott Johnston lt Gavin Evans 1-3: 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 12-14
Craig Howieson bt Bradley Evans 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-3
Craig Hardie lt Damien Nicholls 0-3: 1-11, 9-11, 8-11
Howieson/ Johnston bt G.Evans/ Doran 3-2: 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9
Craig Howieson lt Gavin Evans 1-3: 7-11, 13-11, 8-11, 5-11
Scott Johnston lt Damien Nicholls 2-3: 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 7-11, 9-11
Craig Hardie lt Bradley Evans 2-3: 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 10-12
This was a difficult match that contained a few awkward moments before the win the secured. After a good start with wins from Craig and Craig followed by David Owen’s expected win over Richard, things got tighter than expected when the doubles was lost after being 2-0 up. Patrick Thomas also caused Howieson and Hardie problems before they both came through 11-1 in the 4th set. With the win assured at 4-2, Richard lost his second match to an improving Ceri James in the 5th set.
Craig Howieson bt Patrick Thomas 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-1
Craig Hardie bt Ceri James 3-1: 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6
Richard Main lt David Owen 0-3: 6-11, 8-11, 7-11
Howieson/ Johnston lt Owen / Thomas 2-3: 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 6-11, 8-11
Craig Hardie bt Patrick Thomas 3-1: 11-9, 2-11, 12-10, 11-1
Craig Howieson bt David Owen 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
Richard Main lt Ceri James 2-3: 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11
This match was for a place in the medal playoffs and it was another 3-½ hour struggle. The first four games were crucial and they all went to the 5th set. Craig Hardie flew into his match with Matt Ware and played brilliantly to lead 2-0. Matthew hung on during the third before turning the match in his favour. It was level at 8-8 in the deciding set when Craig gave his opponent two cheap points and a decisive 10-8 lead. Ever one for a drama, Scott came back from 0-2 down against Darren Reed but he too lost in the deciding game. The match was leveled when Craig beat Gareth Kinlocke and then teamed up with Scott to produce a great comeback to win the doubles. However from this point the match started to slip away and the English team won comfortably in the end.
Craig Hardie lt Matthew Ware 2-3: 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 8-11
Scott Johnston lt Darren Reed 2-3: 6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 8-11
Craig Howieson bt Gareth Kinlocke 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5
Howieson/ Johnston bt Reed/ Marshall 3-2: 11-7, 5-11, 14-16, 11-7, 11-5
Craig Hardie lt Darren Reed 0-3: 3-11, 9-11, 6-11
Craig Howieson lt Matthew Ware 1-3: 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 12-14
Scott Johnston lt Gareth Kinlocke 2-3: 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 2-11
Play-off for positions 5-8
Craig Howieson bt Neil Baker 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7
Scott Johnston bt Mark Roscaller 3-2: 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-3
Richard Main bt Joshua Bleakley 3-0: 14-12, 11-5, 11-9
Howieson/ Johnston bt Roscaller/ Baker 3-1: 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8
Play-off for positions 5/6
Craig Howieson bt Paul McCreery 3-2: 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6
Scott Johnston bt Ashley Robinson 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-3
Richard Main lt Keith Knox 1-3: 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 3-11
Howieson/ Johnston bt Knox/ McCreery 3-2: 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8
Craig Howieson bt Ashley Robinson 3-0: 11-1, 11-7, 11-7
In the end Scotland boy’s team finished in 5th place for the second time. This was a slight disappointment as they were involved in two marathon matches involving some really close games. However, when viewed in conjunction with the results from the European Youth Championships in July, it is obvious again that the team lacks the experience of playing matches of this calibre, where they need to produce that little bit extra when it comes to the crunch.
Craig Howieson caused the biggest upset in the whole competition when he defeated Paul Drinkhall from England - North East at the quarter final stage. This was by far the best match I have seen Craig play and was definitely not a fluke. Craig played confidently and with the high level of consistency needed to beat someone of Paul’s standing. Having produced such a quality match in the quarterfinal it was a little disappointing that Craig’s semi final against David Meads was such a tepid affair with Meads winning in straight games. However Craig collected a well deserved Bronze medal for his efforts.
Scott, Craig and Richard were all off form in this event probably due to the rigours of the team event the day before.
Craig Howieson
Group F bt Stephen Slater (NIR) 3-0:
lt Bradley Evans (ENG) 2-3:
bt Mark Roscaller (Eng) 3-1:
Last 16 bt Paul McCreery (NIR) 3-1:
Q-final bt Paul Drinkhall (Eng) 3-2:
S-final lt David Meads (Eng) 0-3:
Scott Johnston
Group G .w.o. Ben Barlow
bt Joshua Bleakley (E-NW) 3-1:
lt William Maybanks (E-SE) 1-3:
Last 16 lt David Meads (E-NW) 0-3:
Craig Hardie
Group B lt Darius Knight 0-3:
bt Ashley Robinson 3-1:
lt Daren Reed 0-3:
Richard Main
Group E lt Damien Nicholls 0-3:
lt Patrick Thomas 1-3:
lt David Meads 0-3:
Cons. lt Mark Roscaller 2-3: