Match fishing was dealt a vote of confidence today as a new and exciting calendar was announced for the UK Angling Championships.
The event, which started in 1984, is one of the longest running events in the country and one look at the roll of honour shows how seriously it is taken by the match angling fraternity. With the likes of Clegg, Nudd, Piecha and Pickering reigning in the 80s, the Scothorne and Raison era through the 90s, and the noughties seeing a whole host of hot shot new talent picking up the honours, 2010 looks to be the most exciting year yet.
With over £20,000 of hard cash up for grabs across the series it’s a pretty wealthy event too. The 4 round nationally recognised tournament in now under the control of Barston boss Nigel Harrhy who ran the event for the first time last year as a “taster year”. Tommy Pickering took the honours, becoming the first angler to win it three times, but it was an incredibly close run event with a count back required to decide the winner. “Last year was a real eye opener for me and it was brilliant to organise such a prestigious event” announced a grinning Harrhy as he discussed his aims for the 2010 tournament. “I want to get the UK Champs back into the forefront of anglers minds. It’s always been a great competition as the records show but I want to make it bigger and even better than ever”
Harrhy has pulled out all the stops to launch the UK Champs into the new decade with a bang, and having seen the coverage and profile the British Carp Angling Championships gets, has appointed angling PR company RHAP Media to take control of the promotion of the event.“You’ve only got to take a look at the Roll of Honour to see how important this event is in terms of match angling. Any serious match angler MUST want to get his name on this list. It’s mega-credibility” said Rob Hughes, the main man behind RHAPMedia.
“We’re already in discussions with TV stations to televise the event in a 4 part series and this will lift “The Champs” to the next dimension adding extra value for both anglers and sponsors alike. In addition we’re working on a deal with on line bookies Betfair to allow anglers to have a punt on the event, and we are hoping to attract a new sponsor to help boost the prize fund. Our joint aim is to make this the biggest tournament in the match angling calendar”
The tournament is open to 80 anglers, with half of the slots already filled by the top 40 from last year. Entry costs £240 for the series with £20 pool fees at each event.
For more info check out www.ukanglingchampionship.co.uk
EVENT CALENDAR
Round 1 19th May
Colemans Cottage, Essex
Round 2 23rd June
Lindholme Lakes, Yorks
Round 3 14th July
Larford Lakes, Worcs
Round 4 11th August
Barston lakes, Warks
Contacts
Promoter – Rob Hughes RHAP Media 07939 277801
Organiser – Nigel Harrhy Barston Lakes 07850 377766
Website – www.ukanglingchampionship.co.uk
