The Heathcoat Cup Finals 2018 were held on the weekend of the 21^st of April, at the University of Hertfordshire. This year PACE Boccia had a four athletes qualifying for the competition due to their performances in the Heathcoat Cup rounds in February. PACE Boccia fielded four athletes across three classifications.

Jamie Keat

Competing in the BC3 category, Jamie Keat got off to a strong start by beating Jamie Brown 5-4 and Ashley Wright 6-2, placing him first in his group and qualifying for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Jamie lost an incredibly tense semi-final match 4-3, against experienced athlete, Lee Croker. Jamie still had a chance to medal by winning his bronze medal play-off against experienced athlete, Beth Moulam. Easier said than done, as Beth is a strong player and has been involved in the sport for many years, as a thrower and a ramper. Unfortunately, Jamie missed out on the bronze medal after losing 7-2 against Beth, placing fourth in the overall standings.

Mitchell Robinson

Since making his Heathcoat Cup final debut in 2017, where he claimed a silver medal, Mitchell Robinson has gone from strength to strength. He’s made his debut for the A Team in the super-league, even captaining them on one occasion. On top of that, he has also recently captained and led his school team to victory in the Lord Taverner’s competition.

Mitchell got off to a perfect start by winning his first game against Jaqueline Woods 5- 2, and his second game against Layla Parsons 4 – 2. Advancing to the semi-finals, Mitchell was up against a player he has faced before in the Super League, Sam Oldknow, from the team, Rio Rockets.  Mitchell has never faced this player before in a individuals match and was unfortunately unable to advance to his second final in two years. The game ended 5- 1 to Sam, who went on to win the competition. Despite the loss, Mitchell bounced back in excellent fashion, winning his play-off against Archie Eaton 7 – 0, and earning himself a bronze medal.

Anton Walton

Anton Walton officially joined PACE Boccia at the start of 2018, although he has been training with the club and known to the players for the past three months. The Heathcoat Cup marked Anton’s first competitive Boccia competition representing PACE, where he aimed to launch a strong defence of his heathcoat cup title, earned by winning gold in 2017. Anton’s first game against Courtney Charman was forfeited by the opponent, resulting in an automatic victory by default for Anton. His second game was a much closer and tense affair, with Anton grinding out a 3-2 victory over Kyle Martin. With the top three players tied on wins, Anton had to win his last match against Joshua Nunn to advance to the semi-finals. His third and final group game finished with the score 5 – 1 to his opponent, which unfortunately meant Anton finished third in his group and was unable to advance. In the overall standing, Anton finished 8^th. He vows to come back strong next year and has already put in place a training programme to achieve this.

Savraj Sehra

As a relatively new athlete to PACE Boccia, Savraj is in her second season of competition. After claiming bronze at last years Heathcoat Cup, she gained qualification through the rounds this year and was making her second appearance at the finals. Unfortunately, 2018 was not to be her year. Savraj was unfortunate to loose her group games against Nick Brake 12-1, Max Russel 5-0 and Jack Wilding 7-1. Despite the results, Savraj played well and remained positive, gaining valuable competitive experience against tough opponents will be very beneficial going forward in her Boccia career.

All in all it was a successful competition for PACE Boccia . Congratulations to everyone who won a medal! The next competition is the BE Cup Finals in Sheffield on 18^th – 21^st May.