As hosts of this year’s Lady Milne Trophy — the women’s home international series — England get to field two teams. At the last minute, I decided to compete with a young and talented player, Qian Li — despite the fact that we’d never played together before. We managed to fit in just two practice games, so we were obviously delighted to end up coming fifth in the trials, winning a place on the second England team. Now we can put some proper time into our partnership before April’s championship!
Another new(ish) partnership — Nicola Smith and Sarah Bell — also took part, and came second. Just weeks earlier, they’d come second in the European women’s trials, securing their place on the England team. Nicola is, of course, a multiple women’s world champion; Sarah is an up-and-coming star. Together, they seem to have a wonderful dynamic.
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