South Open Series finishes with Brunel lifters claiming titles

The BWL South Open Series closed on 09 November with lifters from Brunel University WLC claiming both Senior titles. 39 lifters entered the competition from across the UK for a chance to achieve a qualification total ahead of the new lockdown which came into effect earlier this month.

With the Regional Open Series shortened to just two events in each region as a result of the disruption caused by coronavirus, the South Series presented the final competition of the 2020 Series.  Despite the uncertain times a show of force was in order from many of the south’s premier lifters, with appearances by lifters from other parts of the nation as well.

Brunel University WLC lifters Kristian McPhee and Jess Gordon Brown won the Senior men’s and women’s category respectively.  McPhee with a score of 299 Sinclair points, and Gordon Brown with 258 points.

In the men’s Senior category, Brunel teammate Soloman Ocquaye closely followed McPhee into second place with 297 points, and Piyush Pandey rounded up the top 3 with 272 points.

Northern Ireland lifter Caroline Doyle, 3 White Lights WLC took second place with 234 points and Jessica Tea of Oxford Powersports placed third with 226 points.

Edward Owen finished first in the men’s Youth category with 278 Sinclair points, ahead of Connor Kemp from Essex WLC who scored 176 points.

Master’s lifter Sarah Dawes-Clark took top spot in the women’s category with 149 SMF points in a closely contested field.  Jenni Ball (Orwell WLC) was second with 144 points and Alexandra von Hasenberg (Guidlford WLC) was third with 137 points.

Men’s Masters lifter Mihai Bagutiu dominated his field, winning by a commanding 50 points with his 268 SMF points to second place James Colman’s (RAF WL) 217 points.  Richard George of CrossFit Tuffnell edged into third place with 211 points, just one point ahead of fourth-placed Steve Harris.

The full results from all lifters are now included in the BWL rankings: click here to view

For lifter who want to record an official total there are still virtual competitions available to enter including the Virtual Welsh Open.  Click here to visit the virtual competition hub.