The Midland Masters 2018 was a record entry by some margin. The previous record set a few years ago was 164 entrants but this tournament achieved 216 entrants which smashed that previous record easily. An amazing achievement and testament to the success of our organisation and all those involved. I am sure that the location and this particular quality venue at Edgbaston Priory contributed to this success.

WO60 - Lynne Davies seeded number 1 came through a very close 3-0 semi final against Sue Wastie but fell to the experience of Bett Dryhurst in the final in another close 3-0.

WO55 - Susan Pynegar from Nottingham took out the number 1 seed Karen Hume in the quarter finals and then won a tight 5-setter in the semis vs Pippa Green. However, Susan didn't have enough gas to win the final as Jill Campion had cruised through to win 3-0 and become champion.

WO50 - Another top seed falling early was Rachel Woolford who succumbed to Hilary Kenyan in a 5 gamer, but Mandy Akin from Kent recorded her first Masters Regional success with a 3-1 win over Hilary in the final.

WO45 - Sarah Parr came through as 3/4 seed and continued the theme of taking out the number one seed Andrea Santamaria in a nail-biting 3-1 score line. Sarah continued her great form & beat Isabelle Tweedle 3-1 to win the title.

WO35/40 - There were lots of close matches all through this event with only one 3-0 match all the way through. Selina Sinclair showed her class though and although dropped a game in the final to Rachel Calver, Selina ran out the winner3-1.

MO75 - With the number one seed withdrawing late on, Nigel Belle won the pool event with Mick McLaughlin achieving runner-up spot. The 3-2 score line between these two is all that separated them though.

MO70 - The way that some of these guys in this event move around the court is just amazing and fantastic to see. A couple of close matches to note were Jack Halford losing to Rodney Boswell 3-2 after being 2-0 up and our President and founder Martin Pearce winning 3-2 against Adrian Wright after finding himself 2-0 down. In the final though, Barry Featherstone won the event by beating Ian Ross 3-1 in an athletic final that they should be very proud of. This was Barry's 25th Regional title to date which is fantastic!

MO65 - Number one seed Terry Belshaw stayed with the theme of the event and fell early to Peter Smith, who then in turn fell to John Goodrich 3-0 in the semi. In the bottom half, Ian Holmes beat John Rae 3-0 to set up his final against John Goodrich but the giant killer continued his run & John won 3-2 to become champion.

MO60 - Mark Cowley came through an eventful quarter final with Simon Evenden 3-1 with his usual fast paced squash & met John Guyatt in the semis as he came through against Stuart Hardy who had to retire due to illness. Mark won that one 3-1 to meet Gordon McManus in the final who took out Ian Bradburn in a very tight 3-2 semi. Gordon and Mark played out an extremely close 3-2 final where Mark Cowley won by only a couple of points in the end to win another Regional title.

MO55 - John Parkes was extremely strong in this event but came up against Martin Greenslade in the final. Martin showed his Cornish class to come though to the final as an outsider in terms of seeding, which was perhaps down to his hiatus from Masters events for about 5 years! However, Martin didn't quite have enough for John who won the final 3-1.

MO50 - Steve Dodridge played very well to beat Eamon Price 3-1 in the quarter final but couldn't handle the style of top seed David Youngs who booked his place in the final. In the other half, Andrew Cross was looking sharp & beat the National Champion Steve McLoughlin 3-0 to set up another final with David Youngs. The final swayed back and forth but Youngs came out the winner by a 3-2 score line.

MO45 - Jonathan Gliddon added to the casualty list of number one seeds departing the competition early and went in in the first match injured to James Piddington. James eventually lost 3-0 to Matt Stephenson in the semi finals where Matt then met local professional Mike Harris in the final. A superb match with real quality and lovely conduct. The local favourite pleased the vocal crowd and Mike eventually won the final 3-2 to win his second Regional tournament of the season.

MO40 - Jonathan Gallacher from Devon looked very strong all the way through this event & came up against Ben Hutton who was making a return after many months out due to a broken ankle that he gained in a match during one of last seasons Regional events. A very good game of quality squash with Jonathan coming through to win 3-1 and win his second Regional title of the season.

MO35 - Mick Biggs played out of his skin in this event and beat Keith Timms 3-1 in the quarter final and went on to show a gallant display of squash and effort to take the top seed Darren Lewis to 5 games in the semis. Matt Marshall showed some renewed form to beat the veteran Jamie Goodrich 3-2 in his semi and also played superb against Darren in the final. However, Darren did just enough and won an entertaining final 3-2 to take another Regional title.