MAX Whitehall was celebrating this week after being chosen to fish for Britain in the Junior European Carp Championship at Prague later this year.

The 14-year-old from Leafield, near Witney, earned selection for this prestigious event by easily winning the qualifying event at Linear Fisheries, near Standlake.

This 24-hour ‘winner takes all’ match decided who would join the British champion Jude Ashken in the Linear Fisheries-backed team.

The Burford School pupil took an early lead in the contest, fished on Brasenose One Lake, with a cracking 25lb mirror.

Whitehall, introduced to the sport at the age of six by his father Ben, had in a close duel with Abingdon’s Jamie Standbridge before forging ahead with two late fish for a winning weight of 99lb 3oz.

Standbridge, who finished runner-up with 66.02, is a reserve for the Championships which will be held in May.

l IT was battle of the Daves when North Oxford took on Mason on the Oxford Canal at Aristotle Lane.

Dave Britnell (North Oxford) headed the field with 3lb 7oz 8drms of skimmers on bread punch

His clubmate Dave Scott-Picton was second, alternating between bread and worm to land skimmers and perch for 3.6.0.

Just for good measure, Dave Pether (Masons) was third with 2.11.8.

Kevin Dolton was a runaway winner of Littlemore AS’s Chandlers Cup, fished on Club Lake.

Dolton used the pole with double red maggot and had 20 bream to record weight 76.15.0 on peg one

Vernon Adams, on the next peg, had six bream for second spot on 30.9.0, while Dave Allsworth was third with 10.11.00.