Women's Final
Edgbaston Priory 3-2 Pontefract

Vicky Lust 0-3 Vanessa Atkinson           8/11 6/11 4/11
Lauren Selby 0-3 Deon Saffery             5/11 8/11 8/11
Leonie Holt 3-1 Katie Smith           8/11 11/3 11/4 11/6
Vicky Hynes 3-0 Sarah Bowles            15/13 11/7 11/7
Julianne Courtice 3-0 Hannah Shipley    11/3 11/6 11/8

Men's Final
Edgbaston Priory 3-1 Nottingham

Chris Ryder 3-0 Eddie Charlton           11/7 11/2 12/10
Joel Hinds v Lewis Walters
Jonny Harford 3-0 Mark Fuller               11/7 11/9 11/2
Chris Truswell 0-3 Olli Holland               3/11 9/11 8/11
Anthony Graham 3-0 Neil Rossin           11/9 11/9 11/5

Edgbaston Seal Double win as they go back to the midlands Men and Women National Champions
Paul Houghton reports

As the case has been this weekend for a lot of teams, strength in depth won yet again.

The Women's final saw Edgbaston take a commanding 2-0 tie lead with two relatively quick 3-0 matches at 4 and 5 strings. Katie Smith started well against Leonie Holt taking the first game but couldn’t keep going as Edgbaston's Captain regained control and won the title with a 3-1 victory.

Deon Saffery and Vanessa Atkinson won both their matches 3-0 but it wasn’t enough to stop Edgbaston taking the trophy out of their hands this year.

The Men's final ran much the same way, Edgbaston taking early leads through Ant Graham and Jon Harford. Olli Holland gave the home side some hope as he took a 3-0 victory against Chris Truswell, the pressure transferred to the top seeds with Chris Ryder taking on Eddie Charlton, a close first game to Ryder, then a bad start in the second for Charlton gave Ryder a 2-0 lead.

Charlton battled back with his never say die attitude to force the 3rd game into a tie break but he couldn’t quite push through, Ryder taking it 12-10 and the game 3-0 to give Edgbaston a Triple Winning weekend and the Double Men's and Women's titles which hasn’t been seen since Pontefract in 2002!

Men's O55 Final
Nottingham 1-2 Colets

Richard O’Connor 0-3 Dave Clarke       9/10 1/9 0/9
John Limb 0-3 Stuart Hardy                  0/9 5/9 9/10
Alan Turner 3-0 Geoff Howes                 9/4 9/0 9/6

It was hard to separate both teams on paper and from yesterday’s performances. As expected the 3rd string and 1st string matches were split. The last match on was a classic and showcased a contrast of styles.

John Limb the home favourite and excellent touch player looked to be in a strong position at 2/1 up. However, Hardy a Gritty player didn’t give up the ghost and wore Limb down taking the last 2 games quite easily to Colet’s delight.

Colets end the two year run of Nottingham and take the MO55 title for the first time.

Men's O55 3/4 Play Off.
Brighton 1-2 Chesham Bois

Peter Smith 0-3 Phil Ayton                       4/9 4/9 6/9
Rob Ballingal 3-0 Alan Hyde                     9/6 9/5 9/7
Chris Jordan 2-3 Dave Bowen       9/6 9/7 6/9 1/9 6/9

The Brighton number 3 Dave Bowen in case he was noticed was wearing a “100% Brighton Shirt” should be proud of his great 3-2 victory over Chris Jordan.

This left Former English number 1 Phil Ayton (who duly delivered) to secure 3rd place for Brighton.

Women's 3/4 Play Off
Colets 5-0 Nottingham

Dom Lloyd-Walter 3-0 Emma Beddoes    11/3 11/1 11/6
Alexa Prior 3-0 Heidi Walters                  11/4 11/5 11/7
Sandra Dann 3-1 Sue Pynegar      11/6 12/10 5/11 11/9
Amanda Gee 3-0 Jane Walsh                  11/8 11/8 11/5
Kim Ricks 3-0 Deb Anthony                  11/9 11/4 13/11

Colets secured third place with a comfortable 5-0 victory over home favourites Nottingham.

Dom Lloyd- Walter played well beating rival Emma Beddoes a relatively straightforward 3-0. Sandra Dann played well to beat Sue Pynegar in a tight four games.

Men's 3/4 Play Off
Colets 3-2 Hallamshire

Scott Handley 3-0 Aaron Francomb       11/7 11/4 12/10
Jesse Englebrecht 0-2 Chris Fuller                  6/11 2/11
Lee Drew 2-3 Nathan Lake      11/6 11/8 8/11 9/11 3/11
Mark Cairns 3-0 Dan Lawrence               11/5 11/5 11/3
Danny Meddings 3-0 Luke Watkins          11/3 11/1 11/4

Colets won the first three matches 3-0 to secure third place with Scott Handley taking out Aaron Francomb who improved on yesterday’s performance but is still searching for his previous form.

Nathan Lake, the new European Junior Champion, is playing well at the moment with a hard fought five sets victory coming from two games down. Chris Fuller also looks to be in good form winning another 2-0 vs Jesse Englebrecht.

Racketball Final
Edgbaston Priory 4-1 Devon & Exeter

Anthony Graham 2-3 James Snell   9/11 11/9 12/10 5/11 8/11
Joel Hinds 3-0 Cristian Turner                       11/7 11/6 13/11
Jake Grayston 3-2 Ashley Knight 11/6 8/11 11/13 12/10 13/11
Ashlee Knight 3-1 Rob Watkins                11/8 6/11 11/6 11/4
Matt Pugh 3-0 Mark Grant                               11/8 8/11 11/5

The racketball final saw Edgbaston Priory retain the title with a 4-1 victory. The score doesn’t really tell the story as each game was hard fought.

The number ones played the longest match of the weekend as James Snell snatched the only victory for D&E, 3-2 in 90minutes!

Junior Mixed Final
Pontefract 4-1 Wimbledon

George Wileman 1-3 David Wardle        4/11 9/11 11/7 3/11
Taminder Gata Aura 3-0 Dan Zammit-Lewis        11/5 6/2rtd
Alex Hodgetts 3-0 Seigo Masuda                   11/7 11/6 11/7
Hannah Shipley 3-2 Clare Wright  7/11 14/12 11/8 9/11 11/9
Walkover to Pontefract

Pontefract already had a head start in this match after Wimbledon conceded the 5th String, to have a chance of winning they needed to all play well and have a little bit of luck.

David Wardle took his match against George Wileman to give them a chance but then Daniel Zammit Lewis retired injured in the second game leaving a lot of pressure on the others.

Hannah Shipley beat Clare Wright in 5 which sealed the win with Pontefract retaining the national junior title.

Men's O35 Final
Colets 4-1 East Anglia

Danny Meddings 3-0 David Youngs            11/5 11/7 11/6
Alex Couch 3-1 Ian Cox                11/9 12/10 14/16 11/9
Alan Thompson 3-1 David Gouldby     4/11 11/7 11/7 11/9
Dave Peck 0-3 John Cordeaux                   7/11 7/11 2/11
David Stanton 3-1 Richard Hunt        11/7 11/7 10/12 11/6

Colets continue their dominance in the Mens O35 event by claiming their 10th title overall. East Anglia did their best to put a stop to that record but were only able to seal a victory in one of the 5 ties.

Colets take the title back to Surrey yet again with a comprehensive 4-1 win.

Men's O45 Final
Nottingham 1-2 Harpenden

Gawain Briars 0-3 Eamonn Price              4/9 4/9 0/9
Andrew Foley 3-0 Marvin Rust                 9/2 9/3 9/7
Greg Watkins 0-3 Andrew Eilfield             0/9 0/9 1/9

Harpenden take their first Mens O45 title, spearheaded by the MO45 national champion Eamonn Price, Harpenden always looked favourites.

Price dominated his match to take the advantage to Harpenden and Eilfield sealed the victory with only dropping 1 point in his match!

Women's O35 Final
New Eltham 2-0 Chapel Allerton

Mandy Akin v Claire Walker
Lucy Murphy 3-2 Paula Arrowsmith
Karen Hume 3-2 Lucy Robins              8/10 6/9 10/8 9/4 9/2

New Eltham retain the title as their 3 and 2 strings both come through 5 set battles!

With Karen Hume taking the first match 3-2 in 50 mins the pressure was on Lucy Murphy who was pitted against Paula Arrowsmith.

Murphy won the first two games 10-8! It was a fantastic 5th game with the score level at 7-7 it was anyone's!

Murphy the victor as she managed to he the final two points and the victory for New Eltham.
 

Sunday's Finals

Men: Nottingham v Edgbaston Priory
Women: Pontefract v Edgbaston Priory

Junior Mixed: Pontefract v Wimbledon
Racketball: Devon & Exeter v Edgbaston Priory

Men O35: Colets v East Anglia
Women O35: New Eltham v Chapel Allerton

Men O45: Nottingham v Harpenden
Men O55: Colets v Nottingham

Sunday Schedule

Colets move into the men's o35 final to face east Anglia after beating nottingham 4-1.

Danny meddings bt Matt oxley 11-5 9-4rtd.
Alex couch bt Andrew foley 10-12 11-6 11-5 11-5
Alan Thompson bt Karl Murray 3-11 11-7 9-11 15-13 11-1
Dave peck lt Harvey Thomas 7-11 6-11 9-11
David Stanton bt Craig Archibald 11-6 9-11 11-8 11-6

Surbiton win the racketball plate final with a hard fought 3-2 victory over The Northern. Strength in depth was again the key factor as Surbitons 3rd, 4th and 5th strings wrapped it up.



Ray nevin bt mark Rodger
12-10 11-8 11-7.
John richmond bt Adrian Morris
 11-9 11-6 11-5.
Taro nabetani lt Kevin mcgonnigle
6-11, 9-11 11-7 8-11.
Mick regan lt rob lelliot
3-11 5-11 7-11.
Rick ainley - walker lt Roger monteli
 3-11 3-11 10-12.

Boston win the
 Men's O45 Plate

Mark Hildred bt Brendan Murphy
9-1, 7-9 9-6 9-5
Colin Fisher bt Alan Boulden
 6-9 9-7 9-6 9-1

2010 Finals

Men's semi-finals:

Charlton seals final spot for Nottingham!

Nottingham were 2-1 up, holland and Rossin both taking 3-0 victories and lake pulling one back for hallamshire it was left to the number ones. Charlton took it 3-0 in just under 40 mins.

Hallamshire 2-3 Nottingham
   Aaron Francomb 0-3 Eddie Charlton    5/11, 1/11, 3/11
   Chris Fuller 2-1 Lewis Walters
   Nathan Lake 3-1 Mark Fuller    9/11, 11/8, 11/2, 12/10
   Alex Cutts 0-3 Olly Holland           10/12, 11/13, 10/12
   Dan Lawrence 0-3 Neil Rossin          6/11, 13/15, 4/11

Colets 1-4 Edgbaston Priory
   Scott Handley 0-3 Chris Ryder               5/11, 7/11, 9/11
   Jesse Engelbrecht 0-2 Joel Hinds                     8/11, 8/11
   Lee Drew 0-3 Jonny Harford                 6/11, 10/12, 3/11
   Mark Cairns 3-0 Chris Truswell              11/4, 11/8, 11/3
   Danny Meddings 1-3 Anthony Graham 11/7 4/11 7/11 8/11

Women's semi-finals:

A quick semi final done and dusted as Edgbaston show their strength in depth to move into the final. Edgbaston have hopes on doing a double this year and reclaiming the women's title they lost to Pontefract in last years final. With two quick 3-0's and an unfortunate injury to kitty newsman in the first game has won the semi final for Edgbaston before their top players had a chance to step on court.

Edgbaston Priory 3-0 Nottingham
   Vicky Lust v Emma Beddoes
   Lauren Selby v Heidi Walters
   Leonie Holt 3-0 Kitty Newsham           11/3 rtd
   Vicky Hynes 3-0 Sue Pynegar          11/2, 11/5, 11/5
   Julianne Courtice 3-0 Jane Walsh     11/2, 11/4, 11/5

Colets 0-5 Pontefract
  Dom Lloyd-Walter 1-3 Vanessa Atkinson 11/7 2/11 6/11 7/11
  Alexa Prior 0-3 Deon Saffery 5/11 6/11 5/11
  Tammy Bennett 0-3 Katie Smith 3/11 2/11 4/11
  Sandra Dann 0-3 Sarah Bowles 7/11 6/11 6/11
  Amanda Gee 1-3 Hannah Shipley 8/11 11/9 9/11 7/11

Nottingham v Hallamshire
Theo Woodward reports

Number 5s: Neil Rossin vs Dan Lawrence

The second game was well fought Rossin was finding the nick too often for Lawrence. However Lawrence did make a good comeback and took the game to a tie break. A couple of decision seemed to frustrate Lawrence which showed with some cheap points and the loss of the game 13/15. Tired and frustrated Lawrence wanted to get off court and duly earnt the nickname ‘Tin Tin’!

Number 3s: Mark Fuller vs Nathan Lake

Fuller was a different player to I had previously witnessed. Once Nicknamed “Beat the Bleep Test” he was opening up the court a lot more with his attacking play in particular showcasing his backhand crosscourt drops.

It worked well for Fuller in the 1st taking it 11/9. Lake who typically takes his time to get going (hes a big chap!) got into his stride with some accurate volleying taking the second with stern resistance and third easily. Fuller’s attacking still was taking its toll. The fourth was an exciting game with a Lake racing to a 9-4 lead and then 10-6.

A pickup which Fuller couldn’t believe was up riled him and from 10-6 he transformed from David Banner to the Hulk winning the next 4 points, one with a memorable crosscourt roller. It looked as though the match was going to a fifth set but Fuller seemed to transform again and hit two cheap errors giving a focused Lake the match.

Number 4s: Ollie Holland vs Alex Cutts

This was a extremely close match and Cutts was extremely unfortunate not to win at least a game. Each game went to a tie break. Holland was taking the game to Cutts while Cutts was playing a more conservative game looking to counter punch.

Cutts got into some winning positions but some errors at the front of the court cost him dearly. Holland finished supremely with a forehand straight kill to the delight of the home crowd giving Nottingham a 2 rubbers to 1 lead.

Number 1s: Eddie Charlton vs Aaron Frankcomb

To sum up this match Charlton was on fire and Frankcomb looked rusty making mistakes uncharacteristic of his trademark high octane disciplined game. After a heated point and disputed call a collision occurred and this was followed by a call by Frankcomb of: “its going to get physical”.

Unfortunately for Frankcomb he just couldn’t find his rhythm and get into the match and Charlton won in straight sets. This secured the tie for Nottingham and their place in the Final where they will face either Reigning Champions Colets or the young guns Edgbaston Priory.

Number 2s: Lewis Walters vs Chris Fuller

Chris and Lewis competed well in a close best of three match with Chris remaining focused taking the match 2/1.