The sixth running of the Weston Handicap Tournament proved just as successful as the previous five, with 78 players taking part in three events totaling 119 games.
The morning session saw the men’s (11 pairs) and ladies’ (eight pairs) events with the afternoon seeing a huge mixed entry of 20 pairs.
The ladies event saw a full entry of eight pairs in a one-box format into main and plate semis and finals.
A hotly contested box saw many close games and the box winners on 147 were Nicola Wall and Abigail Kemp, followed by Jane Watson and Pai (139), Clara Fitzpatrick-Milton and Bethan Evans-Brain with (138).
The plate semi’s saw Aimee Morgan and Alice Morgan gain a walkover v Alice Lamb and Bridget Jones as Bridget sadly had to withdraw due to injury.
The other semi saw Eloise Radcliffe and Abby Radcliffe overcome Carrie Higgins and Katharine Robinson. This set up an all Feathers final with Aimee and Alice running out the plate winners.
In the main event, Bethan and Clara (-4) overpowered Jane and Pai (-2) 21-13 and in an absolute thriller, Emily Page-Symonds and Pippa Larkin (-6) defeated Nicola and Abi (-4) 21-20. This set up a grand final which Pippa and Emily triumphed 21-17.
In the men’s event consisting of 11 pairs, it was split into two boxes with the top two in each making main semi’s and third and fourth making the plate event.
In the plate, the semi-final make-up saw Rohan Weekes and James Sole (21) defeat Rhys Davies and Harry Gardner (17), before Gabs Hutchinson and David Tse overcame Matthew Ralph and Paul Gardner 21-16. The final saw Gabs and David run out 21-18 winners.
In the main event, unbeaten Box B winners Will Robinson and Mathew Jose beat Andrew Stewart and Raymond Tse in a thriller 21-20. The other semi saw Alex Lam and Steve Lewis defeat unbeaten Box A winners Sam Hedges and Tom Higgins 21-16. The final saw Alex and Steve (-2) run out winners 21-17 versus Will and Matt (-2).
The mixed event saw 20 pairs with four boxes of five. In the plate event, Antony Forster and Tracey Hooper beat Mathew Jose and Anna Bickell 21-19; Callum Grayson and Katharine Robinson beat Ben Nye and Eloise Radcliffe 21-18; Rob Morray and Abby Radcliffe beat Tom Higgins and Carrie Higgins 21-17; James Sole and Bethan Evans-Brain beat Matt Heal and Pai 21-14.
In the semi’s, Anthony and Tracey defeated Callum and Kate 21-10, with Rob and Abby beating James and Bethan 10-21. The final saw James and Bethan 21-17 winners.
In the main event, the quarter final results were as follows: Mike and Alice Brett beat Paul Gardner and Alice Lamb 21-17; Olly Powers and Aimee Morgan beat Alex Nash and Jeanette Legg 11-21; Matthew Ralph and Alice beat Andrew Stewart and Kelly 15-21; Gabs Hutchinson and Clara Fitzpatrick-Milton beat Paul Edwards & Nicola Wall 7-21.
The semi’s saw Mike and Alice beat Alex and Jeanette 19-21; Andrew and Kelly beat Paul and Nic 18-21. In a top quality grand final, Paul and Nic (-6) turned it on to win a close battle 21-18 against Alex and Jeanette (+2).
This concluded a mammoth day of local badminton and thanks were given to Mark Edwards, Paul Edwrads and Rob Morray on their running of the tournament.
Original article – http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/sport/weston-handicap-tournament-proves-a-successful-event-1-5004479