Following his disappointment at the previous Grand Prix held in London, where he went out in the quarters, this time Gavin Rumgay made no mistake and always held all the aces in the final with Damien Nicholls taking the title and the winner’s cheque for £300. The flying Scotsman dropped just the one set during the knockout rounds and that in the semi-final with fellow countryman and fourth seed Niall Cameron. Gavin terminated his challengers one by one which included Sherwin Remata, Emran Hussein and quarter-finalist Darren Reed to come through to muscle it out with Cameron and then finalist Nicholls.
With only five players contesting the Women’s Singles, the title and cheque went over the Severn Bridge to Wales in the hands of top seed Charlotte Carey. She was in brilliant form throughout this round robin competition, dropping just the one set to the title and that to runner-up Haylee Potts who won her other three remaining matches.
The Women’s U21 round robin was next to finish with a poor entry of a trio of players; once again Charlotte Carey took the title, but only just, Haylee Potts was in the zone and this deciding match in the group went right to the wire.
The Men’s U21 final was played out by the two top seeds, Damien Nicholls (S1) and Matt Ware (S2), which was the very last match to finish, and boy oh boy what a great advertisement for the sport it was. Both these Grantham Academy players know each other’s game so well, it was always in the balance and almost a carbon copy of their earlier semi-final in the Men’s Singles. None of the 30 or so spectators left watching wanted it to end; it was just a sensational match with at times utter brilliance from both these young men. It was played in a friendly yet ultra competitive spirit with exhibition style of play at most points with those crowd pleasing back from the table long rallies at every point. Damien looked to be registering yet another victory over his house-mate Ware, going 2-1 up in sets. But as we all know in this game it’s not over till it’s over, and would you believe Matt clawed his way back into this match (as Damien did earlier) to ride the storm and come through to take the title in five glorious sets.
The Bribar Player of the Tournament award and a £50 voucher was presented to Kieran Smith of Buckinghamshire for his great performances over the weekend.
Men’s Singles
Gavin Rumgay (SCO) bt. Damien Nicholls (Sp)
11-5, 12-10, 11-6
Women’s Singles – round robin
Charlotte Carey (WAL) winner and runner-up Haylee Potts (He)
Under 21 Men’s
Matt Ware (Ha) bt. Damien Nicholls (Sp)
11-3, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8
Under 21 Women’s – round robin
Charlotte Carey (WAL) winner and runner-up Haylee Potts (He)
Restricted Singles
Umair Mauthoor (E) bt. Billy Pegg (Sp)
11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9
Veteran Singles
David Butler (Sx) bt. Paul Beck (K)
7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6
Men’s Band 1
Matt Ware (Ha) bt. Niall Cameron (SCO)
11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8
Women’s Band 1- round robin
Charlotte Carey (WAL) winner and runner up Haylee Potts (He)
Men’s Band 2
Rob Lemon (Sy) bt. Alastair McTavish (K)
11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9
Women’s Band 2
Sue West (Do) bt. Evangeline Collier (E)
11-5, 11-8, 12-10
Men’s Band 3
Ping Ho (Mi) bt. Nathan Bingham (Do)
11-2, 11-6, 11-4
Women’s Band 3 – round robin
Evangeline Collier (E) winner and runner-up Lucy Burks (Sy)
Men’s Band 4
Andrew Hodges (Wi) bt. Andy Smith (Av)
11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9
Men’s Band 5
Gary Morgan (He) bt. Alan Cherry (Bu)
11-6, 11-6, 12-10
Men’s Band 6
Max Tupper (JEY) bt. Danny Lawrence (K)
12-10, 12-14, 11-6, 11-4
By Geoff Ware