Over 60s Amateur Doubles 2016
Paul Weaver, Duncan Colquhoun, Richard Moore, John Prenn (Photo Philip Shaw-Hamilton)
2016 Report
With the largest entry for years (11 pairs), a complex repechage system was employed to ensure each pair at least two matches and to cope with a range of handicaps.
A pre-qualifying group saw Ian Barry/Andrew Johnson squeeze past Mac Bailey/John Deere and Bob Compton/Peter Mason (the latter in a very close encounter 8-5). They played with honour in the main competition, finally losing to Paterson/Bryant in a pleasing match. Paterson/Bryant finally lost to Dean/Shaw-Hamilton in the final repechage stage.
Early matches in the main event saw the three top seeds (holders Dean/Shaw-Hamilton, Prenn/Moore and Weaver/ Colquhoun) qualify comfortably, though Dean/Shaw–Hamilton then just lost to Preen/Moore 6/8 in a very tight match to reverse last year's score. Newby/Bebb lost to Weaver/Colquhoun but then battled through the repechage, just pipping Stefanovicz/Colegrave 6/5 in an epic encounter to reach the semi-final, where they fell to Prenn/Moore in a highly respectable 7/3 as (perhaps) fatigue played its part.
Colegrave/Stefanovicz had also battled through the repechage, beating Danby/Griffith-Jones 6/2 and then Deere/Cattermull in an exciting 6/4.
Paul Weaver and Duncan Colquhoun beat John Prenn and Richard Moore 7/5 in the final, though at 5-5 it was very finely balanced. With Prenn’s all-court presence, Moore’s solid serving and gallery defence kept them in the game until the very death, when Colquhoun’s steadiness under pressure allowed Weaver’s high-voltage attack to tip the scales in the last two games and the day, which had started at 0900, finally finished at 2030.
Results
- Compton/Mason bt Bailey/Rudd 8/2
- Barry/Johnson bt Compton/Mason 8/5
- Barry/Johnson bt Rudd/Bailey 8/5
- Dean/Shaw-Hamilton bt Danby/Griffith-Jones 8/0
- Prenn/Moore bt Colegrave/Stefanovicz 8/2
- Deere/Cattermull bt Barry/Johnson 8/3
- Newby/Bebb bt Paterson/Bryant 8/4
- Weaver/Colquhoun bt Deere/Cattermull 8/1
- Prenn/Moore bt Dean/Shaw-Hamilton 8/6
- Weaver/Colquhoun bt Newby/Bebb 8/1
- Colegrave/Stefanovicz bt Danby/Griffith-Jones 6/2
- Paterson/Bryant bt Barry/Johnson 6/1
- Colegrave/Stefanovicz bt Deere/Cattermull 6/4
- Dean/Shaw-Hamilton bt Paterson/Bryant 6/0
- Newby/Bebb bt Colegrave/Stefanovicz
Semi-finals
- Prenn/Moore bt Dean/Shaw-Hamilton 7/5
- Weaver/Colquhoun bt Newby/Bebb 7/3
Final
- Weaver/Colquhoun bt Prenn/Moore 7/5