THE BRIAN WARNE DOUBLES TOURNAMENT

 

Thursday 19th March at CPC

 

by Ron Kemp

This year’s Brian Warne doubles tournament attracted a bumper 34 players, and organiser Karen King was therefore able to made 17 doubles teams, with the top ranked player in the league paired with the lowest ranked player in most cases.

 

The 17 pairings were drawn into 5 groups, 2 groups having 4 pairs, and 3 groups with 3 pairs. Each pair played all other pairs in the same group, and the 5 winning pairs at this group stage went directly through to the quarter final. Another three pairs were needed to complete the quarter final lineup, and so a draw of the 3 second placed pairs in the groups was made, and those three pairs made up the quarter finals. Bad luck to the other two pairs who lost out on the draw.

 

Quarter Final 1 (QF) saw Lee Orton and Dave Williams beat Alan Hulbert and Ted Martin 17, 9

QF 2 Martin Dove and Martin Parsonage beat Karen King and Roy Wiltshire 19, 14

QF 3 A thrilling match saw Dave Johnson and John Winkles just squeeze by Dave Rendle and Kevin Allen 22, -18, 15

QF 4 The strong pairing of Jim Hall and Trevor Farmer beat Brian Farrelly and Bert Paice 19, 11

 

Both Semi Finals were a lot more clear cut, as both winners cruised through to the Final.

SF 1 saw Lee and Dave crush Dave and John by 14, 10

SF 2 Jim and Trevor just edged past Martin and Martin 15, 19

 

The stage was then set for the final which was played between top players Lee and Jim, accompanied by their partners Dave and Trevor. And a truly remarkable final match this proved to be! In the first game, Lee’s impressive serve and forehand loop completely flummoxed the other team, and with partner Dave playing a full part in the match, the game was won 21-18. The second game was a lot closer, and because of the change in order of play, Lee’s serve was now not as effective, being returned by an ever increasingly confident Jim, playing a variety of clever swinging loops and quick backhand smashes. The game went to Jim and Trevor 21-19 to set up a thrilling final set. This time, Trevor was able to return far more of Lee’s serves, and this made an incredible difference to the score, as they opened up a reasonable lead. Lee was then forced to attempt hitting winners in order to catch up, but unfortunately his vicious loop suddenly deserted him, and the ever steady Trevor was able to keep the rallies going, for Jim to finish in splendid style. The final game then finished 21-12 in favour of new champions Jim Hall and Trevor Farmer.

 

Final: Jim Hall and Trevor Farmer beat Lee Orton and Dave Williams -18, 19, 12

 

Congratulations to both teams for an outstanding final match! Thanks also to Karen King for organising the tournament in her usual inimitable style.