Review of the sporting year - part two

With 2018 having drawn to a close, we've decided to take a look back at the sporting highlights from the year that was.
Jimmy Robertson clutches the European Masters trophy. Picture courtesy World Snooker/Tai ChengzheJimmy Robertson clutches the European Masters trophy. Picture courtesy World Snooker/Tai Chengzhe
Jimmy Robertson clutches the European Masters trophy. Picture courtesy World Snooker/Tai Chengzhe

Here are some of the memorable moments from the final six months of 2018.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l A well-respected and successful football coach is celebrates global glory. Dan Collins, from Catsfield, is the head coach of the Great Britain team which is victorious at the World Medical Football Championship 2018 in Prague.

Dame Kelly Holmes (second-right) with Run Together's Jess Austen, Jacqueline Scott and Karen WilliamsDame Kelly Holmes (second-right) with Run Together's Jess Austen, Jacqueline Scott and Karen Williams
Dame Kelly Holmes (second-right) with Run Together's Jess Austen, Jacqueline Scott and Karen Williams

* A golfing talent from St Leonards produces a superb performance to finish runner-up in the 2018 Sussex Amateur Championship. Joshua Davis, an 18-year-old from Sedlescombe Golf Club, achieves the finest feat of his young career to date.

l A Hastings & Rother Triathlon Club member wins a national age group title. Gail Wright is victorious in the 35-39 age group at the British Triathlon National Aquathlon (Swim/Run) Championships.

l Elliot Hooper returns superb bowling figures of 8-50 for Hastings Priory Cricket Club during its Sussex League Premier Division game away to Brighton & Hove.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l The locality enjoys plenty of success at the county bowls finals. Sidley Martlets BC wins the men’s pairs and triples championships, the under-25 men’s singles goes to Spartan & Lakeside player Ajay Morphett, and Polegrove ladies talent Jo Watt clinches the under-25 women’s singles.

Rye Cricket Club celebrates securing promotion from Sussex Division Four EastRye Cricket Club celebrates securing promotion from Sussex Division Four East
Rye Cricket Club celebrates securing promotion from Sussex Division Four East

l Emma Cooper helps England to victory in the British Isles Women’s Bowls Council (BIWBC) Junior International Series at Royal Leamington Spa.

AUGUST

l A Hastings Athletic Club talent clocks the fastest 10k time in the country by an under-17 athlete this year. Hot prospect George Pool runs a superb personal best of 32 minutes and 38 seconds in race two of the 13th Rye Summer Classic Series.

l Dame Kelly Holmes pays a surprise visit to Hastings parkrun. The double Olympic champion at Athens 2004 finishes third in a time of 17 minutes and 48 seconds, shattering the previous VW45-49 course record.

Hastings United captain Sam Adams receives a framed shirt from president Dave Ormerod (left) and manager Chris Agutter (right) in recognition of his 500 appearances for the football club. Picture courtesy Scott WhiteHastings United captain Sam Adams receives a framed shirt from president Dave Ormerod (left) and manager Chris Agutter (right) in recognition of his 500 appearances for the football club. Picture courtesy Scott White
Hastings United captain Sam Adams receives a framed shirt from president Dave Ormerod (left) and manager Chris Agutter (right) in recognition of his 500 appearances for the football club. Picture courtesy Scott White
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l Little Common Football Club goalkeeper Matt Cruttwell scores a dramatic last gasp equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw at home to higher grade Bedfont Sports in the Emirates FA Cup.

l Rob Cross claims his maiden World Series of Darts title - and first televised title since the World Championship - by winning the Brisbane Darts Masters, beating the world’s top two ranked players in the semi-finals and final.

l Two locally-based bowls players help Sussex win a prestigious national competition for the first time. Denise Hodd and Emma Cooper are part of the Sussex side which clinches the Walker Cup double rink event in Royal Leamington Spa.

l Jack Shonk scores hat-tricks in each of his first two appearances for Bexhill United Football Club, both of which were 7-1 victories away from home.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l Bexhill Rowing Club clinches the Coast Amateur Rowing Association league title for the 18th consecutive year.

SEPTEMBER

l Rye Cricket Club is crowned Sussex League Division Four East champions after winning 13 and losing just one of its 17 completed matches.

l A Hastings Athletic Club young talent clocks the fastest 10k time in the country by an under-20 female this year. Lizzie Clarke runs a phenomenal 35 minutes and 52 seconds over a testing course to finish first lady and third overall at the bbb10k in Battle.

l Bexhill Giants host the World Club Basketball Tournament at Summerfields Leisure Centre in Hastings. Teams from the USA, Poland, England and Wales take part in an event won by Las Vegas Unknown.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l Hastings United Football Club achieves two remarkable cup victories in five days. A 9-2 Bostik League Velocity Trophy success at East Grinstead Town (from 2-1 down at half time) is followed by a 4-3 Emirates FA Cup triumph away to Leiston, despite finishing with eight men and an outfield player in goal.

l Cathy Bargh wins a silver medal at the European Seniors Badminton Championships. The Sedlescombe-based player is the runner-up in the over-55 women’s singles in the Spanish city of Guadalajara.

OCTOBER

l Jimmy Robertson claims his maiden World Snooker title. The 32-year-old from Bexhill wins six matches, the first three of them on the last ball of the last frame, to be crowned European Masters champion in Belgium.

l Ajay Morphett wins his fourth medal in three years at the British Isles Indoor Bowls Council Under 18 Mixed Championship. The Egerton Park Indoor Bowls Club player claims singles bronze while representing England in the prestigious annual event in Newport.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l Bexhill United, Little Common and Sidley United football clubs all express interest in playing at the disused Gullivers sports ground in Sidley should it be redeveloped.

l Mark Davis reaches the final of a World Snooker full ranking event for the first time. The St Leonards cueman is the runner-up in the English Open at K2 Crawley after knocking out four-time world champion John Higgins and five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.

NOVEMBER

l Hastings Borough Council leaders agree to move ahead with plans which could see a new football stadium built in the town. The council’s cabinet agree to support a Hastings United FC scheme to build a home at Tilekiln in Hollington by agreeing in principle to the sale of council-owned land.

l Well over 1,000 people take part in a fabulous sold-out day of distance running on Bexhill seafront. There are 489 finishers in the Poppy Half Marathon, 359 in the Poppy 10K, 187 in the Poppy 5K and 50 in the Poppy Youth Mile.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l A Hastings bar billiards talent is the runner-up at the World Championships in Jersey. Phil Osborne beats a former champion and the current world number three on his way to the final.

l Golf star Ben Evans secures a European Tour card for 2019 after a nerve-shredding finale at the Qualifying School final stage. The Staplecross-based professional produces a birdie, par, par finish to his final round at Lumine Golf Club, Spain, to earn his card on the mark.

l Sam Adams makes his 500th appearance for Hastings United Football Club, captaining the side to a 3-1 victory at home to Whitstable Town.

DECEMBER

l Badminton ace Cathy Bargh wins a pair medals at the 24th English National Masters Championship 2018. She is victorious in the over-55 women’s singles and a runner-up in the women’s doubles at Hertfordshire Sports Village, Hatfield.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

l Talented Hastings United midfielder Adam Lovatt goes on a two-day trial with Sky Bet Championship high-flyers Leeds United.

l Golf star Ben Evans achieves one of his best ever results on the European Tour. The Staplecross-based professional finished tied fifth in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek CC in South Africa.

l Hastings United sit second in the Bostik League South East Division and Bexhill United third in Southern Combination League Division One after both teams win on Boxing Day.

l Rob Cross reaches the last 16 in his defence of the William Hill World Darts Championship.