Category D Open Championship (Level singles for Handicaps 30-39) 2017
Mar 24, 2017 - Mar 26, 2017 Hatfield J Dawes
Category D Singles Report
Hatfield once again had the honour of hosting the Category D Singles event for players between 30-39 handicap and as in previous years the event was split into 2 divisions 30-34 and 35-39.
In the 35-39 section the final ended up being an all Hatfield affair as Chris Handley took on David Hudson. Both players had done very well to get to the final as neither had been seeded for the event and they managed to beat the No.1 and No.2 seeds respectively in the semi-finals. Chris had a distinct advantage going into the final of being almost half David’s age and this seemed to tell early on as David was a little slow out the blocks, possibly being a little stiff after a tight semi-final earlier in the day. Chris powered his way to the first set by keeping the ball tight and making David work for every point eventually taking it 6/2. The second set was a much closer affair as Chris got a little tight and David started to move better and at 5/5 both players had set points to close it out but it was eventually Chris who won the set and the match 6/5.
In the 30-34 section Hatfield didn’t put up such a good show as all 3 Hatfield players went out in the first round. The final was between Andy Keeley of Holyport and Chris Kroeger of Leamington and proved to be a very close match and with a similar score line to the first final.
Chris had produced a dominant serving display to get to the final and struggled to get the same reward from his excellent railroad in the final as Andy was able to counter it and offer a better variety of serves and shots to take the first set 6/3. Much like the first final the second set was nip and tuck all the way as there was never more than one game in it but again like the first final it was all over as Andy clinched it 6/5 to take the title back to Norwich. Both finals, like all the matches, were played in a great spirit throughout!