BY THE time tomorrow night comes the new 2001 Embassy World Champion will have been crowned but county officials are already looking forward to the next round of Inter-County matches.

From the Highlands to Cornwall county organisations will be getting themselves ready to battle for Championship points to ease the threat of relegation.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight are no different. They may be at the opposite ends of the league but they have exactly the same competition to play.

Isle of Wight have, in the past, been the whipping boys of Division 4. Over recent seasons the Island teams have been the strongest of all, holding up the others! But there are signs of success showing through.

Of all the counties in the Championship, the Island teams probably have the toughest trips to make. Every away match involves the ferry crossing and some involve a second night away.

The Welsh counties of Montgomery & Radnor, Gwynedd, Clwyd and Pembrokeshire are coupled with Tyne and Wear and Cleveland, making this season's visit of Northamptonshire almost a local derby!

In much the same way as Hampshire has done in past seasons, the ladies teams are doing their bit. Two wins and two draws from four games for the A team sees them just one point from the top of their table. Just one win and one draw for the B team sees them lie in seventh place, but only three points from the leaders.

Just three drawn games, two for the Men's A and one for the B, is all the success attained by the men's teams. But if they can build on the success of the ladies the Isle of Wight teams will begin to threaten the others around them.

While the Island teams have a rare local derby against Devon, Hampshire have a home 'local derby' against London.

For the first time this season Hampshire name an unchanged side for the visit of London, the 14th meeting between the two counties since Hampshire's 1987 Premier Division promotion.

And London has the better record in meetings between the sides.

Hampshire won 26-13 to beat London for the first time at the fourth attempt. That was some compensation for two previous defeats where Hampshire picked up a measly 23 sets out of 84.

But the current record is much better. Hampshire have beaten London three times in the last five meetings. Hampshire's latest defeat was in a freezing hall in Tottenham last January.

And for that reason alone Hampshire will want victory at Cowplain.

Among the players expected to appear for London will be former Hampshire star Mandy Solomons, winner of four Winmau World Masters and Embassy Gold Cup singles titles. She joined four other ladies in the first ever Embassy Ladies World Championship.

The matches are due to start at around 12.15pm on Saturday and Sunday, January 20 and 21 at the Cowplain Social Club, London Road in Cowplain.