The 6’ 6” tall Chris Doran was masterminding a plot to remove all the higher seeds on his way to the Men’s Open title. One by one he gunned down players the calibre of Ed Slot, Eddie Famberly, and then at the last 16 stage he blew away Barry Chen S4, in a devastating fashion. Next opponent, Damien Nicholls (who was responsible for the exit of Sam Perry, Ryan Collins and David McBeath) and surely Doran could not sustain these power performances! Going 0-2 down in sets the writing was on the wall, and in an unbelievable third set he got his nose in front 18-16, and from there on in removed the gallant Shropshire player in five sets to book his place in the first semi-final.

So the remaining last eight matches featured Paul McCreery v Matt Ware, which went to the Irishman in the closest of five sets and Rumgay v Zheng which went to the Scottish player in four sets. McCreery S13 then had to face Danny Reed S3 and once again the England number 3 was extended to five sets, but as before showed all of his international experience to proceed to the final, but who would be his final opponent?

Step in Chris Doran S10, and still running on high octane fuel, surely he could not dislodge the top Scot and winner of so many Grand Prix titles! The stage was set for the remaining semi-final with over 100 eager spectators surrounding court 3.

Chris was just unstoppable and everything thrown at him by Rumgay was returned with utter contempt. Doran came through in the closest of three straight sets to fill his final place with Danny Reed.

Could another upset be on the cards with Mr Doran in unstoppable mode? You would bet on Danny Reed to once again show his class as he had done so many times in coming through against all the odds, especially after surviving many match points against him in the earlier rounds! The first set of the final saw the younger Doran take first blood 11-5. Reed quickly addressed the balance to level at 1-1. Doran nicked a close third end 13-11, but to Danny’s credit he fought back to once again level at 2-2. By this time and after so much that Chris had gone through, with travelling back from a 35 hour journey from Colombia just two days earlier, would the jet lag come into the equation?  Simple answer NO!

Chris just kept finding more at the vital points of the last set to get his head in front at the winning post.  Rounding off a most entertaining match by these two heroes of our sport – Chris Doran was crowned the Bribar London Open Grand Prix Champion, both Danny and Chris received a standing ovation after a brilliant and spellbinding match.

The Women’s Open Championship reached a climax with the two top seeded players Egle Adomelyte and Emma Vickers contesting the final. The surprise of this event was the outstanding performances by Sue West from the Bournemouth Sports club who reached the semi-final. Unseeded in the competition, Sue won her group then achieved brilliant results over Cherith Graham.

Fast and furious rallies were the order of the day in this super final with Egle getting the upper hand in three very close sets to be crowned the Bribar London Open Grand Prix Champion of 2009 and receive her cheque for £175.

Men’s Open
Chris Doran (Np) bt. Danny Reed (Cv)
11-5, 5-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7

Women’s Open
Egle Adomelyte (Mi) bt. Emma Vickers (Dy)
11-7, 12-10, 11-7

U21 Men
Chris Doran (Np) bt. Sam Hanley (IRL)
6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3

U21 Women
Emma Vickers (Dy) bt. Susan Nealon (IRL)
11-2, 11-2, 7-11, 11-6

Restricted Singles
Umair Mauthor (E) bt. Leo Stynen (GER)
7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7

Veteran Singles
Abdul Wuraola (Sy) bt. John Dennison (E)
9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4

Men’s Band 1
Chris Doran (Np) bt. Victor Shi (FRA)
11-9, 11-6, 12-10

Women’s Band 1
Annabelle Morle (Ha) bt. Hang Li (La)
4-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8

Men’s Band 2
Derek Yeung (La) bt. Tomasz Rzeszotko (WAL)
5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9

Women’s Band 2
Anja Esketveit (NOR) bt. Annabelle Morle (Ha)
11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 13-11

Men’s Band 3
Ceri James (WAL) bt. Jared Patel (E)
11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7

Women’s Band 3
Susan Nealon (IRL) bt. Helen Rutherford (Sx)
11-2, 11-4, 11-7

Men’s Band 4
Reece Placid (Sy) bt. Ryan Maynard (Mi)
11-6, 6-11, 11-3, 11-1

Men’s Band 5
Stephen Joslin (E) bt. James Glass (K)
11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7

Men’s Band 6
Fabian Mauroy (K) bt. Bradley Tuttle (He)
11-8, 11-6, 11-6

By Geoff Ware