Sam Mabey and Hannah Hicks won the main singles events at the Bath Grand Prix as the series reached its halfway point at the fourth event of the season.
Men’s Singles
The largest event of the weekend turned out to have many twists and turns before the final. Sam Mabey was the most consistent player of this competition and beat Matt Leete in straight sets to win it, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8.
It wasn’t plain sailing for Mabey as he was in the top half of the group competiting against the likes of top seed Michael O’Driscoll and Band 1 winner Callum Evans.
He won Group 10 and came through to the quarter-finals well with straight set wins against Andy Frain and James Hobson.
Next up was O’Driscoll and this game went the distance with a real fight in three of the five most important sets. O’Driscoll managed to battle past Mabey 13-11 in the first but the youngster took the next 11-6. Then there was a real fight for the third set with Mabey pinching it 14-12 only for O’Driscoll to come back 11-6. There was almost deuce in the fifth set but Maybey pipped the experienced O’Driscoll to the finish line 11-9.
Sean Doherty was next up in the semi-finals after dispatching an in-form Callum Evans in four sets in the quarter finals in a tight game; 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 and 11-8. Doherty took the first set 11-7 but Mabey saw out deuce to win 13-11 in the second and raced into a 2-1 lead with an 11-5 set in the third. This wasn’t going to be an easy game, none of them are, and Doherty hit back 11-8 before Mabey finally booked his place in the final with an 11-9 win in the fifth.
Leete was in the bottom half of the draw and faced the likes of Niall Cameron, Carl Baldry and No 2 seed Adam Nutland.
There was a real determination about Leete’s play and he stormed through to the semi-finals in great form. After winning Group 3 Leete beat Joshua Dye, Thomas Earley and Victor Shi and the closest he came to dropping a set was against Earley in their first game which ended 12-10 to Leete.
The other side produced a real shock before the quarter-finals with Liam McTiernan beating Nutland in five sets. It was actually the first set which would prove vital in this game as McTiernan took it 12-10. Nutland came back 11-9 but then lost 11-5 before winning 11-6 forcing the fifth. It was McTiernan’s day though as he saw out the game 11-6.
Niall Cameron awaited him in the quarter-finals but the Scot had to be at his best to be there too. Youngster Carl Baldry battled back from two sets down to level and force a fifth set after taking the fourth 13-11. Experience told in the end and Cameron won 11-6 to seal his place in the last eight against McTiernan.
This game almost went the distance as well with the score at 1-1 after two sets but Cameron managed to edge out the next two sets 11-8 in both.
The semi-final could have gone either way with Leete and Cameron going toe to toe in the first four sets. Cameron took the first 11-7, Leete 12-10, Cameron 12-10 and Leete 11-8 in the fourth. This is where Leete showed a real winner’s quality being able to hold his nerve and coming through 11-4 in the final set.
Women’s Singles
Hannah Hicks retains her Bath GP title with a straight set run to the finals. She beat Patricia Ianau in the final 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 after beating Natalia Ianau and Raquel Sao Pedro to get there.
Patricia did incredibly well to beat Mollie Patterson in five sets in the quarter finals after Patterson came back to 2 sets each. The youngster kept her head and managed to see out the final set 11-7 before a show down with inform Katherina Bondarenko-Getzger. There was almost a five-set thriller again with the fourth set going to deuce but Patricia held her nerve to see it out 12-10.
This Grand Prix gave a lot of high pressure experience to a group of young women and credit must go out to them as each competitor gave it their all.
U21 Men’s Singles
Matt Leete beat Band 1 winner Callum Evans in a tight three-set game in the finals. Leete had to overcome the disappointment of losing in the Open finals and Evans ran him close in deuce twice with Leete winning 14-12, 12-10, 11-8.
Leete and Evans both had a relatively easy route to the final due to the form that they are in this weekend. Local teenager Louis Price proved the sternest test for Evans early on taking a set off of the finalist.
James Hobson almost overcame Leete in the semi-finals taking the first set and forcing the game into deuce in the third set. It was all over in the fourth set with Leete winning 11-7 to book his place in the final.
U21 Women’s Singles
Another tightly contested competition after the group stages with Katherina Bondarenko-Getzger winning this event. Bondarenko-Getzger managed to beat Mollie Patterson in three straight sets but was made to work hard for this score line with a 14-12 first set win followed by 11-5 and 11-8.
Patterson beat Grace Clement in three straight sets before going the distance with Patricia Ianau in the semi-finals. She was quickly one set down but came strong with winning the next two 11-7 before Ianau levelled the match with a 11-7 win of her own. A tight fifth set ended 11-9 to Patterson much to her delight.
Josefine Hearing ran Bondarenko-Getzger incredibly close in five sets but was defeated 11-4 in the fifth. Bondarenko-Getzger was made to work hard again in the semi-finals taking four sets to beat Natalia Ianau before progressing.
Veteran Singles
Martin Gunn proved too strong for the rest of the competition in this event winning the quarter, semi and final without dropping a set. Ben Willson was the losing finalist 11-7, 11-9, 11-3.
An on-form Simon Morgan took Gunn close in the quarter finals by reaching deuce in the second set and narrowly losing 11-9 in the third.
On the other side of the draw Willson beat the experienced Rory Scott in a close encounter 12-10, 11-8 before winning 11-5 in the last set. Ryan Stockham was unlucky to miss out on a place in the final but Willson held his nerve to win in the fifth set 11-5 in the semi-finals.