Honours were kept in the family at the Bishop Auckland Bribar 2*, with several pairs of siblings going to the latter stages of the competitions.
A record entry saw players having to be turned away due to demand, with players attending from as far afield as Scotland and Grantham.
The Cadets saw both the 1st and 2nd seeds, Nick Keast and Josh Wetherby, taken out at the semi-finals by the 3rd and 4th seeds Joe Cope and Tong Wah Chan respectively. In the final Cope came out on top in a pulsating five-set match.
Joe continued his form to also reach the final of the Under-13s, where once again he met Josh Wetherby. Josh made up for the morning semi-final defeat to Chan, came out on top with a 3-1 victory.
Not to be outdone, Josh’s sister Charlotte took home the Cadet Girls’ title without dropping an end. In the final she beat Alex Robinson from Cliffedale Chandlers in Grantham.
Both the Cadet Boys’ and Junior Boys’ plate finals saw all-Bishop Auckland club clashes. In the cadets, Max Duffin overcame Sam Hume in five sets and in the Juniors Joe Hume beat Jack Jacomb in four.
The Cadet Girls’ plate title was taken home by Cleveland player Lilly Williams from Swerve, beating Abbie Maddison in the final, with Abbie also runner-up in the Junior Girls’ plate, losing to another swerve player Madeline Dunn.
Keeping the family theme going was Ruby Chan, going one further than her older brother and winning two titles – the Under-11 Girls, with Cumbria’s Rebecca Rigg in second and Bishop’s Anya Milne third, and the under 13’s title, beating Charlotte Weatherby over five ends. Erin Greensmith took the plate final, beating Lilly Williams in her second final of the day.
Luke Nimmo from Grimsby took home the Under-11 Boys’ title, beating Thomas Rayner in the final with Bishop’s Leo Pontone and Cleveland’s Adam Lambert the losing semi-finalists. The plate final saw best friends and club-mates Luke Mitchell and Joe Sparke play off with Luke winning 3-0.
Another brother who refused to let the younger sibling take the headlines was Jack Cope, who made his way to the final only dropping one set on route to Tom Whittaker in the quarters.
Nick Keast justified his top seeded position by also reaching the final without dropping a set until the final. The final was a classic attack versus defence, with the match swinging one way then the other, with Jack Cope coming out on top in the fifth.
The Junior Girls’ title was taken home by Erin Harrison from Bishop Auckland TTC. The group went to a three-way countback, with Erin losing to Georgina Peart and Georgina losing to Madeline Dunn. Erin had the better sets ratio and took the title
The next Bishop Auckland Bribar 2star is on March 24. Entry forms can be found on the club website, along with high-quality photos from the latest event, which are free to download – click here to visit the website
Matt Porter
February 9, 2015