There were 93 entrants this year, which is a slight increase of three from last year. Unfortunately the number of women/girls reduced from 14 to just nine, which meant very small groups and the merging of women’s and men’s events in some cases.

Men’s Band 1:

This was a group of four players. Top seed Niall Cameron (SCO) won all three of his matches, beating Matt Outhwaite (Wa) in three close games, Joseph Langham-Ferreira (Sy) 3-0 and just winning 11-8 in the decider vs Joe Pilkington (La). The other three players all won one match each, but it was Outhwaite who grabbed the silver medal and the cash prize, due to a superior sets difference.

Men’s Band 2:

This was a group of four and a group of three. Top seed Pilkington won Group 1 with ease, with Mohammad Owadally (Mi) in the runners-up spot. Second Seed Martin Matuzevicius (Ha) won Group 2, with Joe Killoran (La) getting an unexpected win over Fabien Mauroy (K) to get second place in the group. In the semi finals Pilkington beat Killoran in three and Owadally knocked out Matuzevicius 11-8 in the fifth. Then in the final Pilkington repeated his victory over Owadally 11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8.

Men’s Band 3:

There were 29 players in this band. The quarter final line-up was as follows: Matuzevicius vs Josh Nashed (Mi), Lawrence John (WAL) vs Killoran, Owadally vs Kin Fung Chan (Ch) and Emma Tovey vs Leo Veinsreider (Sy). No. 1 seed Matuzevicius was toppled by seventh seed Nashed in four. Nashed had only just scraped through his last 16 encounter with Michael Julian (Av) 11-9 in the fifth, having lost in his group to Marc Castro (WAL). Killoran beat John and Chan beat Owadally, both matches in three sets. However the last quarter final was a battle between Fusion team mates Veinsreider and Tovey. Eventually Veinsreider prevailed 11-9 in the fifth. In the semis Killoran defeated Nashed in four and Chan ended Veinsreider’s run in the same amount of sets. Killoran then won the final 12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9.

Men’s Band 4:

This was the largest banded event with 33 entries. The only seed not to progress from the group stage was fourth seed Julian, who was suffering with tonsillitis. There were some upsets in early rounds with third seed, Jody Bevington (Wa), who had lost in the group to Jack Josephs (Mi), losing in the fifth to Dan Pound (Sx). Matt Craig (Sy) also beat team mate and number 9 seed, Mark Collins (Sx). In the quarters Craig beat the number 1 seed Nashed 3-1, Mike White (Sx) beat Tony Morris (Sx) 3-2, Kin Fung Chan (Ch) beat Phil Thomas (K) 3-1 and Joel Webb (La) beat Jarek Klamut (Sx) 3-1. White ended Craig’s good run in four in the semis and Chan beat Webb also in four in the other half. Chan then beat White in another four-setter in the final 11-4, 3-11, 11-7, 11-4.

Men’s Band 5:

There were 32 players in the Band 5. An unranked top Danish U13 player, Mikkel Emborg made his way to the final in this event, belying his young years to beat ‘more experienced’ opposition. Having lost in the group to Samson Bekele (Sy) 11-9 in the fifth, Emborg knocked out John Holland Snr (Mi) 3-1, Daniel Simonsen (another top Danish U13-more on him later) 3-0 and Chris Price (Av) 3-1 and then beat Simon Kempton (Sy) in the final 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4. In getting to the final Kempton had overcome Ade Akinboyewa (Sx) 3-1, Ross Brown (Nk) 3-2 and Bekele 3-2.

Men’s Band 6:

There were 23 players in this category. Again Emborg made the final, but this time he was joined by his Danish compatriot Simonsen. Emborg had accounted for Miroslav Danadzhiev (K) and Jamie Liu (Bk) on the way to the final and Simonsen had ended the hopes of Barry Ross (Ha) and Jiakun Lin (WAL). The only end dropped between them in the knockout stages was Emborg dropping a game to Liu. The final was a reverse of what was to occur later in Band 5, with Simonsen winning 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

Photo missing.

Women’s Band 1:

There were just two players in this event, so for extra matches they were placed in a group together in the Men’s Band 3. Emma Tovey (K), who is number 27 in England, had a very good win over the England no. 9 Abbie Milwain (Dy) to decide the medals and prize money for Women’s Band 1. The score was an emphatic  11-6, 11-2, 11-4.

Women’s Band 2:

This was a group of three players. As expected, Tovey won the group, with Lydia John (WAL) in second place and Ruth Marsden (K) in third place. All the matches were three straight.

Women’s Band 3:

This was originally a group of three players, but unfortunately Danielle Kelly (Sy), who had played the Band 4 in the morning, became ill and couldn’t play in this event. This left a straight match between John and Marsden, which John won 11-3, 11-2, 11-2. Again for some more matches, the girls played in Men’s Band 5 as well.

Women’s Band 4:

This was a group of three. Holly Holder (Sx) beat Kelly 3-0 and Lynne Trussell (Sx) beat Kelly 3-1. In the decisive match Holder did well to come back from a 0-2 deficit and finished off well in the fifth winning 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.

Men’s Singles:

There were 40 entrants in the Men’s Open. There were some upsets at the group stage, with Emborg taking out seventh seed Outhwaite in straight sets and the unranked Lin overcoming both sixth seed Jojo Senorin (Mi) 11-5 in the fifth and Band 4 winner Chan 11-9 in the fifth. Webb also had a good win over eight seed Matuzevicius 11-8 in the fifth. In the last 16, Lucas Papantoniou (Mi) stopped Lin in his tracks in four sets, Simonsen lost out 11-9 in the fifth to fourth seed, Sam Cowan (Mi) and Senorin managed to beat Emborg in four. In the quarter finals Papantoniou faced club-mate Cowan and had a match point in the fifth set, but failed to take it and went down fighting 16-14 in the fifth end! At the same stage top seed Darius Knight (Sy) ended Outhwaite’s run 3-0, Cameron edged past Pilkington in five ends, second seed Matt Ware (Ha) dispatched Senorin 3-0. The first semi was an easy win for Knight over Cowan, but the second was closer with Ware taking out Cameron 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4. The final was a competitive match, with Knight prevailing 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9.

Women’s Singles:

This was a round robin of five players. Top seed and England number four, Karina Le Fevre (Cv) won all four of her matches and only dropped one end to Sally Hughes (Sx). Milwain took second place winning her remaining three matches in straight sets. Hughes came third, with Trussell fifth and John sixth. The only five-setter was when Trussell defeated John 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9.

Doubles:

There were eight pairs in the doubles event. Pilkington and Killoran beat Ware and dad Geoff in the fifth set in the first quarter final. Simonsen and Emborg then beat Ben Larcombe (Sy) and Sam Priestley (Sy) 3-0, John Callcut (Sy) and Trussell won 3-0 over Kempton and Robert Barr (Mi) and Papantoniou and Tommy Gritton (Mi) won against Casey Mansfield (E) and Steve Hirst (K) 3-0.  In the semis the Danes beat the Joe’s 3-1 and the U21s (Papantoniou and Gritton) beat veterans Trussell and Callcut 3-0. The young Danes won the final 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.

Restricted Singles:

There were seven players in this event. Top Seed Rory Scott (Sx) lost in his group to Steven Gray (SCO), who won the group. Antony Constantinou (Mi) was unlucky not to progress with two five set losses. White won Group 2, with a reversal of his result in the men’s singles vs Dave Wetherill (Co), who came second in the group. In the semis Wetherill defeated Gray in three close ends and White did the same to Scott. In the final, Wetherill repeated his men’s singles victory over White 11-8, 11-6, 17-15.

Veteran Singles:

In the veterans there were two groups of four and two groups of three. Top seed Senorin suffered an unexpected loss in the group to John Callcut (Sy) in four sets and very nearly went out of the group, as he only won in the fifth vs Ken Lewis (Sk). Kempton also had a big win over Morris, the third seed and Dave Randall (Ha) excelled to win his group, defeating fourth seed Paul Martindill 3-1 and Steve Pound (Sx) 12-10 in the fifth. In the quarters Callcut knocked out Dean Rose (K) 3-0, Randall got a walkover vs Morris, who had an injury, Martindill knocked out Kempton 3-0 and Senorin beat Steve Kerns (E) 3-1. In the semis Callcut beat Randall in four and Senorin beat Martindill 3-0. The final was a cracker, with Callcut taking an early lead winning 12-10 and 11-7, but he was pegged back and Senorin triumphed 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.

U21s Singles:

There were five groups of four players in the U21s. In Group 1 Emborg had a good win over Webb 11-8 in the fifth, but lost to top seed Cowan 3-1. In Group 2 Simonsen provided another shock by coming from 0-2 down in games to beat no. 2 seed Pilkington. Lawrence John had a good 3-0 win over Killoran in Group 4 and Lin continued his good form, beating Daniel Pound in Group 5. In the knockout stages Killoran won in five vs Pound in the last 16 and Chan overturned his earlier loss to Lin in five sets at the same stage. Pilkington defeated the higher ranked Cowan in four in the first quarter, with Matuzevicius knocking out Killoran 11-9 in the fifth, John beating Chan in four and Simonsen winning the third encounter between the Danes 11-6 in the fifth. In the semis Matuzevicius beat Pilkington in four and John beat Simonsen surprisingly easily in three games. Matuzevicius won the final comfortably 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.

Summary of Results:

Men’s Band 1: – 1st: Niall Cameron (SCO), 2nd: Matt Outhwaite (Wa)

Men’s Band 2: – Joe Pilkington (La) beat Mohammad Owadally (Mi) 3-1 (11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8)

Men’s Band 3: – Joe Killoran (La) beat Kin Fung Chan (Ch) 3-1 (12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9_

Men’s Band 4: – Kin Fung Chan (Ch) beat Mike White (Sx) (3-1)11-4, 3-11, 11-7, 11-4

Men’s Band 5: – Mikkel Emborg (DEN) beat Simon Kempton (Sy) 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4)

Men’s Band 6: – Daniel Simonsen (DEN) beat Mikkel Emborg (DEN) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)

Women’s Band 1: – 1st: Emma Tovey (K), 2nd: Abbie Milwain (Dy)

Women’s Band 2: – 1st: Emma Tovey (K), 2nd: Lydia John (WAL)

Women’s Band 3: – 1st: Lydia John (WAL), 2nd: Ruth Marsden (K)

Women’s Band 4: – 1st: Holly Holder (Sx), 2nd: Lynne Trussell (Sx)

Men’s Singles: – Darius Knight (Sy) beat Matt Ware (Do) 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9)

Women’s Singles: – 1st: Karina Le Fevre (Cv), 2nd: Abbie Milwain (Dy)

Doubles: – Mikkel Emborg (DEN)/Daniel Simonsen (DEN) beat Lucas Papantoniou (Mi)/Tommy Gritton (Mi) 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9)

Restricted Singles: – Dave Wetherill (Co) beat Mike White (Sx) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 17-15)

Veteran Singles: – Jojo Senorin (Mi) beat John Callcut (Sy) 3-2 (10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9)

U21s Singles: – Martin Matuzevicius (Ha) beat Lawrence John (WAL) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7).