Men’s Singles:

Gavin Rumgay repeated his victory at the 2011 Bribar Bristol Grand Prix by claiming the title from the South West once again with a comprehensive final victory over surprise finalist Mike O’Driscoll.

Rumgay’s passage to the final was straightforward compared to his final opponent’s. The Scot beat Ed Slot, Shaun Hall and Denis Bernhard 3-0 before completing a remarkable turnaround against Tees Sport Newcastle Grand Prix winner Chris Doran in the semi-finals.

After losing the opening two games 11-4 and 14-12 he saved two match points in the third to eventually win it 12-10. When he leveled the match with an 11-8 fourth game the comeback was on and, despite throwing away a 5-1 lead in game five, he still managed to win it 11-7 and reach the final.

If that sounded dramatic, then O’Driscoll’s passage to the final was nothing short of impressive.

The Band 1 runner-up from Saturday first beat fourth seed Matt Ware 3-0 (12-10, 16-14, 11-8) before defeating second seed Darius Knight 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8) in the semi-final.

Unfortunately, O’Driscoll was unable to reach the levels he attained against Ware and Knight in the previous matches as an inspired and pumped-up Rumgay raced home in a one-sided 3-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-7) final.

Rumgay is the fourth victor already in this season’s Grand Prix season with the Scot joining Irishman Paul McCreery, Welshman Ryan Jenkins and Englishman Chris Doran in leaving with the Grand Prix crown.

Women’s Singles:

Emma Vickers was again left to rue a missed opportunity in this season’s Grand Prixs as Tressa Armitage snuck in late to win the women’s singles title in a thrilling final.

The drama began in the groups with Sue Collier, Sanja Clements and Natalie Slater tying in their group with Collier’s 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-9) victory over Slater proving crucial as Collier went through first and Slater missed out.

With Vickers and Armitage both progressing as their own group winners, they were seeded for the semi-finals where they met Clements and Collier respectively.

Ultimately neither of the more experienced opponents had any effect on their younger adversaries as Vickers beat Clements 3-0 (11-4, 14-12, 12-10) and Armitage beat Collier 3-1 (17-15, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9).

In the final Vickers began confidently with an 11-7 first game but she was pegged back in the second when she served into the net at 10-10 to gift Armitage the game 12-10 and level the scores.

She made a crucial move in the third game from 6-6 to win it 11-6 but, just when she though she was on top, she was once again pegged back by the plucky southerner who stormed her own fourth game 11-4.

Into the decider the final went and at 9-8 to Vickers there was everything to play for. At 10-8 the Trent University girl forged herself two match points but she was unable to take them as she netted a high smash for the match to allow Armitage to level at 10-10.

Armitage then opened up her own match point, which was saved by Vickers, but when she created a second, there was no reply and Armitage had secured an amazing Grand Prix title.

Men’s Under-21s:

Lewis Gray survived a comeback from Liam McTiernan in the under-21s final to secure the title after returning from Germany this week.

Gray beat Ryan Farrell in his quarter-final before receiving a bye against Scott Barton who, for the second time this year, had to fly back to Scotland before the end.

McTiernan meanwhile beat both Christoph Zickert and impressively 3-1 against Ashley Robinson to reach the final stage.

The final was under control by Gray with a 2-0 lead but McTiernan fought back with successive 11-6 games to force the decider. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete the comeback as Gray moved up another gear to win it 11-6.

Women’s Under-21s:

Yolanda King won the women’s under-21s after remaining unbeaten throughout the competition.

Her biggest test came against Yuki Wat where she was extended the full five games 3-2 (11-9, 11-7, 2-11, 10-12, 11-6). Megan Knowles successfully took second place with only one defeat against King while her closest triumph came against Bribar Player of the Weekend Rebecca Bayley 3-2 (4-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5)

Veterans’:

A weary-looking Mike O’Driscoll finally secured a Bribar Bristol Grand Prix title after winning the veteran’s singles over Jojo Senorin.

Having already played all of Saturday and Sunday, the last thing he wanted was a five-game semi-final against Dave Harvey in the veterans. However, determined to reach the final, he came from 2-1 behind to win 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 13-15, 11-6, 11-5)

With defeats in the men’s singles and band 1 finals already under his belt, this time O’Driscoll made no mistakes at the last hurdle as he secured a simple 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7) win in the final.

Doubles:

Matt Ware and Richard Andrews won the doubles after coming through the match of the tournament against Danny Lawrence and Chris Doran in the semi-final.

Ware/Andrews and Lawrence/Doran fought out an epic, high-class doubles encounter late on Sunday evening.  All of the first four games went to deuce, Ware/Andrews struck the first blow 12-10, before Lawrence/Doran retaliated 14-12.

A marathon 18-16 game also went to the latter pair but a massive net on match point saved Ware/Andrews – allowing them to win the fourth game 13-11. The momentum from that game carried into the last as Ware/Andrews reached the final with an 11-7 decider.

Their final opponents Jekwon Choi and Tom Maynard meanwhile made the final after a bye in their quarter-final and a relatively tight 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 13-11) victory against Igor Morais/Sherwin Remata.

The final itself was very one-sided with the Bristol Academy players succumbing to the power of Ware and Andrews 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-8)

Sudden death:

Again the single point sudden death tournament provided a surprise winner in the form of Steve Foster who walked away with the £64 prize pot.

With a record-high 64 entrants the single point tournament created a buzz of anticipation and there were shocks aplenty with all of the top seeds falling at some stage.

Men’s Singles Champion Gavin Rumgay was beaten in the first round by an Ed Slot edge while Chris Doran lost to chopper Chris Morshead in the last 16. Darius Knight was beaten by Matt Ware in the second round while Ware himself was beaten by Marcus Giles in the semi-finals.

In the final, Giles met Foster who beat Morshead in his semi-final but it was the latter who came out victorious with a big £64 grin on his face.

Bribar Bristol Grand Prix Results:
Men’s Singles:
Gavin Rumgay bt Mike O’Driscoll 3-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-7)
Women’s Singles:
Tressa Armitage bt Emma Vickers 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4, 13-11)
Men’s Under-21s:
Lewis Gray bt Liam McTiernan 3-2 (11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6)
Women’s Under-21s:
Yolanda King won round-robin
Veterans’:
Mike O’Driscoll bt Jojo Senorin 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7)
Doubles:
Matt Ware/Richard Andrews bt Jekwon Choi/Tom Maynard 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-8)
Sudden death:
Steve Foster bt Marcus Giles
Bribar Player of the Weekend:
Rebecca Bayley