Neptune British Open Doubles Championship 2012
Apr 12, 2012 - Apr 22, 2012 The Queen's Club O Harris
Sunday 22nd
J Coyne & W Hopton (1) bt N Smith & N James (2) 15/4, 14/17, 15/9, 15/6, 15/6
The top seeds and last year's defending Open Doubles Champions, James Coyne and Will Hopton, retained their title beating this year's US Open Doubles Champions Neil Smith and Nick James.
What an incredible match is was. Hopton and Coyne got off to a flying start, striking the ball with incredible accuracy and pace, whilst Smith and James were still finding their length. Neither looked very settled. The first game was over quickly with the reigning Champions drawing first blood, 15-4. It looked like it could be one way traffic. Neil and Nick really had to find their rhythm, and that they did! A variety of serves from Nick and some fantastic 'gets' from Neil gave them the momentum to turn the tables and put the pressure on Hopton/Coyne. At 14-6 they thought they were home, everyone did. Then came the fight back. Slowly Hopton and Coyne began closing the gap. They found their stride, putting Neil and Nick on the back foot once again. At 14 all Neil/Nick called a set to 3. Their tactics worked and they took the second game 17-14. The third game was crucial. It started off tense, both teams making 'easy' errors. They battled their way to 9 all, but once again Neil and Nick found themselves on the receiving end of Hopton's faultless serves and Coynie's pace!! The reigning Champions looked in control once again, winning the third game 15-9. It seemed the crucial third game did the trick and they were in cruise control from then on, winning the next two games both to 6. Neil and Nick played fantastically well, especially Nick who was playing on with a shoulder injury. They fought right to the end but credit to the British Open Doubles Champions 2012, Will Hopton and James Coyne for an amazing display of rackets and a successful defence! Another brilliant turn out for the final. Thanks to all those who came along to support and of course to Neptune for their generous sponsorship.
Please see the Facebook page for short video clips of the Semi Final and Final matches.
Friday's semi finals eventually followed the seedings with both matches going to 6 games. Neil Smith & Nick James, seeded 2, defeated Jamie Stout and Mike Gooding, seeded 3, in the early semi final; while in the second semi final James Coyne & Will Hopton, top seeds and defending champions, defeated the unseeded Ben Snell and James Male. In the first match the Stout & Googing partnership led 1-0 and then 2-1 before Smith & James fought back to seal the match. Then it was first blood to Snell & Male before the favourites took the next 3 games to lead 3-1. The pairs then traded games to see Coyne & Hopton winning through.
Thursday evening saw Stout and Gooding see off a very talented pair of young pretenders, Christian Portz and Al Orchard in six hard fought games.
Snell and Male are playing well beating the number four seeds 4-0 in Wednesday evening's second quarter final. Meanwhile Smith and James eased through their own quarter final 4-1 but not without a spirited fight from GSB and Gourlay. At 2-0 and 13-4 in the third, the writing seemed to be on the wall. However, with AG playing out of his skin and GSB showing his power play they pulled the game back to 14-all and then took the set to 3. Sadly AG was injured at the beginning of the fourth; despite a short break and competing the remainder of the match on one leg, and with GSB covering about 95% of the court at times, the silky skills of their illustrious opponents was always going to prevail.
Results
Sunday 22nd
J Coyne & W Hopton (1) bt N Smith & N James (2) 15/4, 14/17, 15/9, 15/6, 15/6
Friday 20th
J Coyne & W Hopton (1) bt B Snell & J Male 16/17, 15/3, 15/8, 15/4, 11/15, 15/9
N Smith & N James (2) bt J Stout & M Gooding (3) 13/15, 15/9, 10/15, 15/7, 15/11, 15/6
Thursday 19th
J Stout & M Gooding (3) bt C Portz & A Orchard 15/18, 15/3, 15/5, 4/15, 15/9, 15/6
Wednesday 18th
N Smith & N James (2) bt A Gourlay & G Smith-Bingham 15/5, 15/12, 14/17, 15/6, 15/2
B Snell & J Male bt M Bailey & J Beaumont (4) 15/7, 16/14, 15/6, 15/7
Tuesday 17th
N Smith & N James (2) bt O Howick & C Hammond 15/8, 15/4, 15/9, 15/10
J Stout & M Gooding (3) bt P Sutton & J Fuller 15/7, 15/5, 15/3, 15/1
Sunday 15th
M Bailey & J Beaumont (4) bt M Hubbard & A Falconer 8/15, 15/12, 9/15, 15/10, 17/15, 15/13
J Coyne & W Hopton (1) bt R Tulley & T Billings 15/2, 15/6, 15/6, 15/9
B Snell & J Male bt J Bailey & P Maxwell 15/5, 15/6, 11/15, 15/0, 15/9
Saturday 14th
P Sutton & J Fuller bt A Dick & W Myatt 15/5, 15/0, 15/10, 15/1
R Tulley & T Billings bt N Hutton & A Coldicott 11/15, 15/5, 15/11, 15/12, 16/13
J Coyne & W Hopton (1) bt H Angus & J Rowland-Clark 15/5, 16/13, 15/10, 15/6
M Hubbard & A Falconer bt J Clements & D Dundas (4-0 - game scores tbc)
Friday 13th
J Bailey & P Maxwell bt O Harris & A Lyons 15/7, 15/8, 15/7, 15/5
C Portz & A Orchard bt H Franks & W Nicholls 15/6, 15/4, 4/15, 15/3, 18/13
Thursday 12th
O Howick & C Hammond bt B Sayers & J Lumley 15/5, 5/15, 15/10, 8/15, 15/10, 15/12
H Angus & J Rowland-Clark bt W Telling & W Murray 15/6, 15/8, 15/10, 15/5