Mixed Doubles

The first semi-final went to the defending champions Drinkhall/Parker to set up a repeat of the usual mixed doubles finals against Kelly Sibley and Darius Knight.

Final

A rather frustraited Darius, let the game get the better of him giving him caressing the table with his foot and earning himself a yellow card. Despite some great rallies and some acrobatics from Drinkhall, it was the Drinkhall/Parker partnership that were the dominant force in the title fight, eventually coming out 3-2 winners.  That makes it two trophies out of two for Drinkhall, just two more to go!

Drinkhall/Parker bt. Sibley/Knight 3-2

Doubles

There were no real upsets in either the men’s or women’s doubles, with all the top seeds getting ever closer to the silverware.

Men’s Singles

Number two seed Darius Knight was the only one of the top seeds to be dispatched prior to the quarter-finals, as he came up short in a close fight with Matt Ware.

As a tense Geoff Ware (dad) paced the balconies, Matt Ware was going hammer and nail with Darius Knight down on the court, in a match that saw what has to be the shot of the tournament, Knight seemingly out of range to returns Wares shot, swapped hands to smash the ball right into Wares body and take the point. This was not enough for the former champion, going all the way to seven ends, Ware eventually stole the advantage to take his quarter-final spot.

Firm favourites from now on must be Paul Drinkhall and Andrew Baggaley.

Women’s Singles

The first two rounds saw clean and consistent play by all the higher ranked players, with the quarter-finals happening first thing Sunday morning.

Women’s Doubles

To reach Sunday’s semi-finals all of the pairings finished of their day with impressive performances, with only Le Fevre/Vickers dropping a set.

Parker/Sibley, 3-0
Fuller/Bates, 3-0
Hicks/Reynolds, 3-0
Le Fevre/ Vickers, 3-1

James Cornford