Bristol Open Grand Prix

[Dave Robson]

Hampshire junior players Hannah Hicks and Matt Ware stole the show on day one of the Tees Sport sponsored Bristol Open Butterfly Grand Prix.
Held at the Bristol UWE Frenchay Campus sports complex, the dynamic duo did not have it all their own way en route to their respective Band One titles.

The Women’s seedings were spot on with Hicks at number one, being taken the full distance in an exciting Ladies Band One final against 2nd seed Sanja Clements from Dorset, with Hicks running out an 11-5 last set winner to take the winner’s cheque. Clements path to the final saw her enjoy a first round victory over Michelle Cohen, and then the pen hold player had a close encounter with Joy Whitehorn in the penultimate stage to set up her final with Hicks.

Joy Whitehorn had a particularly good tournament in reaching the last four stage with strong performances over Melissa Wright and Lisa Radford in the group stage, and then overcame a determined challenge from Sally Smith in the quarter final.

Hannah’s progression to the final was at the expense of Jurate Brazaityte at the last eight stage, followed by a straight sets win over her semi-final opponent Stephanie Donnelly. Hicks final with Clements was a topsy turvy affair, with Sanja cruising to an early 11-3 first set lead, then Hicks coming back positively to go two sets to one up. Clements then took the fourth set with some clever play, putting the defensive skills of Hicks under pressure by hitting hard then playing some skilful short touches. The last set saw Hicks quick out of the blocks and built up a lead that she kept through to the end.

Matt Ware completed the Hampshire double act with a straight sets victory against Adam Proszko in the final of the Men’s Band one competition.

However it was far from easy for Ware at the quarter final stage after a classic match with Chris Doran, which was worthy of any final. Ware went two sets to love up then Doran levelled at two all. The last set had all the excitement and drama with some fantastic rallies with Doran soaking up all that Ware could throw at him. Doran got his head in front 7-4, then Ware fought back to be 10-9 down, and after a long rally it went 10-10. The Hampshire player rode his luck with two net cord touches in his favour to close out the match. Alim Hirji then gave Ware another tough task, going one set up in their semi-final, then Ware came back strongly to win the next three sets, putting him into the final with Proszko.

The tall Polish player Proszko, endured four set wins against Mark Simpson, Abdul Wuraola and Gavin Maguire at the last four stage to become a worthy finalist.

Richard Andrews had a great day in taking the Men’s Band two trophy with a pulsating five set final win over Chris Lewis. Andrews enjoyed victories against Chris Smith and Vytas Rybakas to reach the final. In this band two event, there was a marathon group match with Chris Smith overcoming Jake Collins 13-11, 17-15, and 16-14! Chris Lewis defeated Steve Hall, and Chris Beckley to reach his final with Andrews.

The Women’s Band Two title went to Rachel Pilgrim gaining a straight sets win over Jas Ould in the final. Rachel had to work very hard against Annabelle Morle in the quarter final, and then beat Sue West in the semi final with both matches going the full five sets. Jas Ould’s path to the final saw her gain straight sets wins over Tressa Armitage in the last eight stage, and then another similar margin win against Sally Hoang to reach the final with Pilgrim.

Sally Hoang went one step better later in the day by taking the Women’s Band Three title with a close four sets defeat of Tressa Armitage in the final match. Sally had to be at her best to overcome Angharad Phillips in the quarter-final, and then another great showing to outplay Jas Ould at the penultimate stage. Tressa also had a very good event for one so young, reaching the final after an immense struggle with Charlotte Airey in the last eight stage followed by another gutsy win against Majada Yasmin, winning 11-9 in the fifth end.

Certainly all these young ladies have a bright future ahead of them!

Top seeded Dave Reeves from Avon county was victorious in the Men’s Band Three tournament. Dave got the better of Adam Ratajczak in a four set final.

Adam, unseeded in this event had to play exceptionally well to get past Mark O’Flynn, Nick Brown and then a colossal semi-final victory against Beijing Paralympian Will Bayley in five close sets, to reach the final with Reeves.

Earlier in the day Will Bayley was crowned Men’s band four winner, following a typical gritty tournament performance, overcoming the determined challenge of Ben Larcombe in a five set final belter. Earlier, Larcombe had a tough semi final encounter with Corey O’Rourke from Ireland. O’Rourke to his vast credit had to play magnificently to get past Harry Cutler, Dan O’Connell and Myles Collins, and must enter into the equation as “Player of the Tournament”.

Cory O’Rourke then walked away with the Men’s Band Five trophy after a magnificent effort throughout this event. His last opponent was Chris Edwards. Edwards had to win seven matches en route to his final with O’Rourke, which he must take great credit for.

The Men’s Band Six competition staged earlier in the day fell to top seeded Nathan Bingham from Dorset. Bingham too, was made to pull out all the stops after a titanic five set encounter with finalist, Paul Karabardak, another Beijing Paralympian. It was a solid performance from Paul to reach the final, competing in only his second ever Grand Prix, and hails from the Penlan club in Swansea.

Full Results from Day One as follows;

Men’s Band 1
Matt Ware (Ha) bt. Adam Proszko (Ha)
12-10, 11-7, 11-7.

Women’s Band 1
Hannah Hicks (Ha) bt. Sanja Clements (Do)
3-11, 11-9, 12-10, 5-11, 11-5.

Men’s Band 2
Richard Andrews (Bk) bt. Chris Lewis (Sy)
11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-13, 11-6.

Women’s Band 2
Rachel Pilgrim (Wa) bt. Jas Ould (K)
11-4, 11-9, 11-5.

Men’s Band 3
Dave Reeves (Av) bt. Adam Ratajczak (Av)
11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7.

Women’s Band 3
Sally Hoang (Mi) bt. Tressa Armitage (Ha)
7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8.

Men’s Band 4
Will Bayley (K) bt. Ben Larcombe (Sy)
11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 12-14, 11-6.

Men’s Band 5
Cory O’ Rourke (IRL) bt. Chris Edwards (Av)
11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 11-6.

Men’s Band 6
Nathan Bingham (Do) bt. Paul Karabardak (WAL)
11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9.


ETTA

[Tinykin]

I don't see Sunday's results as yet on the ETTA site so from memory, Ryan Jenkins beat Matt Ware in the final of the Mens' Open Singles. While Egle Adomylete beat Hannah Hicks in the womens Open.
In yet another Matt V Damien final, the <21 again went to 5 with Damien the winner this time. These two should simply start at game 5 each time they play.
Hannah won the <21 aginst Sally Smith. Both Matt and Hannah must have played at least 20 matches over the weekend. Congrats to them for displaying such stamina.
Abdul Waraola won the Veterans. His final opponent was Michael Levene from the USA. He's actually English, having moved to the USA about 5 years ago. I think he's from up north so maybe some of you will remember him.

[Belisar]

Nice to see Sally Hoang winning band 3. She was such a promising kid at 11 and has taken some time to find her game again but I think she picked up 4 or 5 maximums on the day.

[Mr Wilko]

Matt Ware is on fire at moment!!!!!!!