Men’s Band 1
Ireland’s Gavin Maguire was the deserved winner of the Men’s Band 1 at the Bribar London Grand Prix after powering past the majority of his opponents on Saturday.
After conceding just one game during the group stages, Maguire went on to cruise past both Zoltan Hosszu and Colin Dalgleish 3-0. His biggest test of the day came against Steve Beerling who pushed him all the way during a dramatic five-game victory 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5).
In the other half of the draw it was eighth seed Conor Edwards from Wales who battled his way to the final after beating Sam Logue, Ian Musk and Ashley Robinson.
In searching for a third Irish scalp of the day, the Welshman fell short in the final with Maguire fully committed in landing a number of aggressive forehands frequently creating opportunities.
Sure enough, just three games later and Maguire had wrapped up the title in comfortable fashion after a fine day at the Redbridge Sports Centre.
Women’s Band 1
Yolanda King won the Women’s Band 1 title at the Bribar London Grand Prix following a four-game victory in the final over Welsh girl Nicole Hall.
The pair had actually met in the group stage earlier on where King recorded a 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9) victory before they reacquainted themselves in the final.
The group defeat meant that Hall had to play an extra knockout match, one that she negotiated well with a 3-0 win over Emma Tovey, before beating Jas Ould in four games to make the final. King meanwhile got past Modesta Vaitkeviciute (3-0) to set the pair’s second meeting.
The final turned out to be a repeat of the group game. King began well by winning the first two games before Hall could reply with one of her own. However, when the fourth game went to the girl from Sussex, the title’s destination was sealed.
Men’s Band 2
Laurence Sweeney overcame a group-stage defeat to win the Men’s Band 2 at the Bribar London Grand Prix.
Despite losing to Alex Forshaw 3-1 in his opening fixture, Sweeney recovered to reach the final with excellent wins over Alan Cherry (3-2), Gabriel Achampong (3-2), Jojo Senorin (3-0) and Adewale Adeoye (3-1).
His final opponent, Marcus Giles, was much more convincing en route to the last stage after comfortable wins over both Jack Bennett and Jon Hall. However, he was pushed right to the wire by Sweeney’s nemesis Forshaw 3-2 (11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10).
The final began with a surprising 11-2 romp for Giles but, after a few words of encouragement from Alex Perry, Sweeney pulled himself together to win the final three games 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 and claim the title.
Women’s Band 2
Emma Tovey won the Women’s Band 2 with a tight five-game final victory over Jas Ould at the Redbridge Sports Centre.
Tovey began her campaign in similar fashion after a battling encounter with Ikue Humphrey in her first fixture. She eventually scraped through 13-11 in the fifth to help her top the group.
Her semi-final meeting with Zoe Cheesman produced another close result with the eventual winner progressing narrowly 3-1 (10-12, 15-13, 11-8, 11-9).
Her final opponent, Ould, eased through her group with back-to-back 3-0 victories before beating Humphrey 3-1 in the other semi-final.
When the pair met in the last stage it was a fighting Ould that managed to keep hold of Tovey by replying in both the second and fourth games 13-11 and 12-10 to force a decider. However, Tovey proved too strong at the end, winning the last game 11-3.
Men’s Band 3
Dan Fielding won the Men’s Band 3 title with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Matt Spero.
With the event going on late into the evening it was a matter of concentration and adrenaline for the duo who had battled throughout the day to make the final stage.
Spero won an excellent semi-final 3-1 against Armagan Huseyin while Fielding had to get through a massive battle against Omar Khassal 3-2 (11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 10-12, 11-7).
In the end the final was one-sided with Fielding maintaining his form to beat the weary Spero.
Women’s Band 3
Zoe Cheesman defeated Teresa Bennett to win the Women’s Band 3 in a repeat of their group match just minutes earlier.
The result was a positive one for Cheesman in the first instance, winning 3-1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10), before repeating the dosage in the final with a 3-0 (11-6, 14-12, 11-9) triumph.
It was smooth sailing for Cheesman who only dropped one game en route to the title, meanwhile Bennett had to work hard to knock out top seed Ikue Humphrey 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6) in the quarter-final.
Men’s Band 4
Jersey ‘chopper’ Chris Morshead justified his seeding in the Bribar London Grand Prix Band 4 by winning the title on Saturday afternoon.
Having been seeded no. 1 he progressed serenely through his group before negotiating the first two knock out rounds against Adam Jepson and Armagan Huseyin comfortably.
He found a bigger obstacle in the form of Liam Grant in the semi-final, however, after five closely-fought games it was the Islander who came out on top 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7).
In the final he met Omar Khassal who had done well to make it to the last stage after embarking on a run that included excellent victories over both Tim Surrey (3-2) and Tyla Anderson (3-2).
Unfortunately, for the Greenhouse player, his run was ended at the final hurdle with Morshead’s consistency of defence proving too much.
Women’s Band 4
The earliest title on Saturday morning went the way of Teresa Bennett after a reduced-entry Women’s Band 4 swiftly came to a close.
The event wasn’t without its dramas though. Bennett fought hard to beat Deborah Auvache 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-5), while the unfortunate Auvache was also victim to another five-game defeat against runner-up Maria Lebedeva 3-2 (7-11, 11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6)
Men’s Band 5
Mitchell Jones won his second title of the day (see below) with a quick 3-0 victory over Steve Pound in the Men’s Band 5 competition.
Having progressed through the group stage and three knockout rounds he finally met Pound in the final. Pound, who had also suffered a tiring and long day, was no match for the younger player as the final rapidly slipped from his fingers.
Men’s Band 6
Mitchell Jones survived a late comeback from John Holland to secure the Men’s Band 6 title at the Bribar London Grand Prix.
Having taking the first two games 11-5 and 13-11, Jones saw the experienced Holland level the scores with 13-11 and 11-9 games before narrowly holding his nerve in the decider 11-8.
Perhaps the stamina had finally run out for Holland who had had to battle through another full-distance encounter in his semi-final against Igor Selivanov.
Bribar London Grand Prix Results
Men’s Band 1
Gavin Maguire bt Conor Edwards 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-7)
Women’s Band 1
Yolanda King bt Nicole Hall 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7)
Men’s Band 2
Laurence Sweeney bt Marcus Giles 3-1 (2-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7)
Women’s Band 2
Emma Tovey bt Jas Ould 3-2 (11-6, 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-3)
Men’s Band 3
Daniel Fielding bt Matt Spero 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-3)
Women’s Band 3
Zoe Cheesman bt Teresa Bennett 3-0 (11-6, 14-12, 11-9)
Men’s Band 4
Chris Morshead bt Omar Khassal 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8)
Women’s Band 4
Teresa Bennett won round-robin, Maria Lebedeva runner-up
Men’s Band 5
Mitchell Jones bt Steve Pound 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-9)
Men’s Band 6
Mitchell Jones bt John Holland Snr 3-2 (11-5, 13-11, 11-13, 9-11, 11-8)