A great entry to this first tournament of the season with 178 participants. If we continue to grow as we are year on year, then scheduling could become a bit of a problem!
WO60/65 - Susan Pynegar came through a pool of 4 players to win this event with Catherine Grinsell as runner-up.
WO55 - Lesley Sturgess benefitted from an injury to number two seed Pippa Green in the semis and then defeated top seed Beverley Brockway 3-1 in the final.
WO50 - This event went to seed until the final where number two seed Rachel Woolford managed to come from behind in most games and beat number one seed Helen Barnard 3-1.
WO45 - Sam Mueller looked unstoppable apart from dropping a game in a competitive semi against Sue Martin-Downhill. Sam went on to win the final 3-0 against Isabelle Tweedle.
WO35/40 - There were some close games in the early rounds here - until the semis where Ria Kennerley showed her class and took out number one seed Natalie Lawrence 3-0. The final against Victoria Smith was very tight but Ria came through as the winner of this event and a worthy champion.
MO75 - A few seeding amendments before this event proved successful as the number one and two seed both reached the final, where the silver fox Adrian Wright beat Nigel Belle 3-0.
MO70 - All matches in this event were unusual with a scoreline of 3-0 (except one!). However, Barry Featherstone never looked troubled and won his age group by beating Martin Day in the final - yes you guessed it .....3-0.
MO65 - A competiive group with Devon player Steve Morrall reaching the semi finals but eventually succomming to Paul Reader 3-1. Although there were close games, Paul couldn't get past Terry Belshaw in the final, where Terry was triumphant 3-1.
MO60 - A big draw for this age group saw recent World Semi-finalist Jeremy Goulding show his class. Jeremy never looked flustered at all and won all his games 3-0, with a win against Ian Bradburn in the final.
MO55 - A really competitive age group with lots of top players in the draw. Number one seed Darren Withey eventually made it to the final but was up against a very classy player. Alex Betts played clinically to win the final 3-0.
MO50 - This is probabaly the strongest age group there is with loads of talented depth. Too many great matches to mention but probably the stand out one was in the semi-final where Steve McLoughlin exercised an 11 year old ghost, to finally get his first win over British open Champion David Youngs - a superbly tactical display in 5 tight games. Andy Murray, sporting his improved physique, beat number two seed Phil Yerby in 3 very close games. Murray couldn't quite repeat his heroics in the final where Steve won 3-1.
MO45 - The imposing Masambo Selisho did well to come back from 2-1 down in his first round match to win 3-2 and then benefitted from his next two opponents injuring themselves in both their first games and having to retire! This meant, after the two retirements, Masambo found himself in the final against Paul Boyle where he committed himself well but lost a competitve final 3-1, for Paul to become champion.
MO40 - Number one seed Mick Biggs was looking a little out of sorts which culminated in him having to retire injured in the semis. This put Mike Potter through to play Matt Marshall where Matt won 3-1.
MO35 - A great depth of standard in this age group with some real class on display. The effervescant Jamie Goodrich beat number two seed Ross Gore 3-0 in one semi and top seed Darren Lewis took out Keith Timms in the other, after dropping the first game. The final against Jamie was very competitive with Darren winning 3-0 but two games could have gone either way.
Big thanks to Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, their members and committee, John Hollingworth (Club Chairman), Guy Birkett (Squash Chairman), Marc Hughes (Operations Manager) and Andy, James, Thomas (Operation Assistants). Thanks too, to the catering and bar staff.
Also big thanks to Louise the Physio, who was kept very busy!
Thank you to the referees - Brian, Guido and Ellis.
The biggest thank you goes to Brian Brock who has once again delivered a wonderful event. The hours put in along with the passion and focus that Brian gives, is outstanding. THANK YOU!
Jonathan Gliddon
Chairman