Over 80s 2023

1

The first day saw the singles competition (Level, one set to 8) get underway, with some excellent performances throughout the draw. Willie Wilks, as a member at Holyport, was comfortable on the court here with a win against Number 2 Seed Robin Barlo. Willie would find himself in the semi final against the surprise package of the day, Harry Saint. Harry started his campaign against Richard McGregor, successfully winning through to play David Brazier (3) in the next round. Harry produced perhaps the performance of the tournament; overturning a 15 point handicap difference to win by 8 games to 5.

The remainder of the day on Wednesday saw the three first round losers move into the handicap plate competition, with David Shannon taking the honours here with two wins from two matches.

As the competition moved into Thursday, the singles semi finals took to the court, with Wilks and Saint kicking off the action. Harry Saint continued to impress, and continued his good run of form, playing excellent forehand cut shots into the backhand corner of Wilks. At 5 games all, it looked like Saint could complete another impressive win despite the handicap difference. However, Wilks steeled himself, tightened his game and won the decisive points to take the match by 8 games to 5. John Ward and Michael Seymour did battle next, with Ward showing his serve and shot quality in a comfortable 8/2 win.

Ward and Wilks combined as a doubles pair and dispatched Saint and Richard Dalzell, despite their valiant efforts. Robin Barlow and Michael Seymour became the second doubles finalists, beating David Shannon and David Peregrine-Jones.

The day finished with the doubles plate competition; Saint and Dalzell continued their excellent form and, despite giving away a healthy handicap, took the victory 8/3

Friday was finals day. Kicking things off with the singles, as Willie Wilks took on Number 1 Seed John Ward. At 3 games all it was anyone’s game, with Willie showing his excellent mobility around the court. At that stage John aggravated an old hamstring injury which gave Willie an excellent chance of taking the trothy . However as the match progressed, John’s serving was refined and the accuracy started to tell. Plenty of flush high serves meant he dominated the service end, and ran away with the match to take the championship 8/3.

John collected a wonderful winner's trophy kindly donated by David Brazier, for which we give thanks and congratulations in good measure.

The doubles final told a similar story; Seymour and Barlow were up for the battle and started brightly. They were serving well, with variety and quality, and were holding the service end for the first half of the match. However, at 3 games all, the tide began to change. Ward and Wilks improved their returns and serves, wresting back control of the service end and came away 8/4 winners.

With impressive performances throughout the tournament, we congratulate not just the winners, but all the players, and look forward to next season. Thanks to Holyport and the two Josh’s for hosting and organising the tournament on this superb court.