JONNY Shacklady and Laurie Clark were the stars of finals day in the Bolton Tennis Tournament on Saturday.

Shacklady won a brilliant treble when he retained the singles title and won the men’s and doubles events, while Clark won the ladies’ singles and doubles.

With the rain playing havoc with the original scheduling of finals day on the Bolton School shale courts the finals were moved indoors at Bolton Arena and David Lloyd.

In the men’s singles final against Alec Foote, Shacklady took the first set with a display of powerful hitting before Foote produced some great angles and disguise play to take the second set.

Shacklady would not be denied as he powered back in the third set.

The two met again in both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals, Shacklady winning with his dad, Phil, and Rebecca Baldwin, respectively.

Local lady Clark produced a fine 6-0, 6-4 victory to win the ladies’ singles against number one seed from Penrith, Laura Steel.

Paired with Annabel Rowlands, she then won the ladies’ doubles, seeing off the might of five-time winners Lisa Cartwright and Rachel Branagan.

A tie break was needed to decide the first set before Clark and Rowlands clinched the title with a straightforward 6-1.

The unluckiest finalist had to be chair of the league, Diane Hardman, who lost both the senior veterans’ handicap mixed doubles final with husband Bruce, and the veteran ladies’ handicap doubles final with tournament secretary Liz Perry.

Both sets were decided over three sets with Hardman on the wrong side of 6-5 scoreline in the final sets of both.

Finally, on a sad note, it is appropriate to note that this week saw the funeral of Jimmy Abbott.

He was a county player in his younger days, past president of Lancashire County, stalwart of Hawkshaw Tennis Club and, latterly, a keen golfer at Harwood Golf Club.

 

Finals day results: Saturday

(For level events the numbers in brackets are the seedings) Men’s singles final: Jonathan Alex Shacklady (2) bt Alec John Richard Foote (1) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Ladies’ singles final: Laurie Clark (3) bt Laura Steel (1) 6-0, 6-4.

Mens’ doubles final: Jonathan Alex Shacklady and Philip Shacklady (1) bt Charlie Foley and Alec John Richard Foote (2) 6-4, 7-5.

Ladies’ doubles final: Laurie Clark and Annabel Rowlands (2) bt Rachel Branagan and Lisa Cartwright (1) 7-6, 6-1.

Mixed doubles final: Jonathan Alex Shacklady and Rebecca Baldwin (3) bt Alec John Richard Foote and Sarah Kidd (2) 6-3, 7-6.

Under-18s boys’ singles final: Richard Garcia (1) bt Jordan Halsall (5) 6-1, 6-4.

U18s girls’ singles final: Emily Digby (1) bt Shannon Fitzpatrick 6-3, 6-2.

U18s boys’ doubles final: Jordan Halsall and Scott Williams bt Richard Garcia and Samuel Muller (1) 6-1, 6-4.

U18s girls’ doubles final: Rebecca Baldwin and Amy Hadjinicolaou (1) bt Lucy Ault and Miranda Whitby 6-0, 6-0.

U18s mixed doubles final: Mark Rushton-Woods and Annabel Rowlands (1) bt Scott Williams and Amy Hadjinicolaou (4) 6-4, 6-1.

Handicap men’s singles final: Joshua Aryan Sabery bt Joe Thompson 6-3, 6-4.

Handicap men’s doubles final: Jordan Halsall and Adam Thompson bt Paul Biggins and Andrew Brian Parton 6-4, 6-1.

Handicap ladies’ doubles final: Luisa Morley and Elle Ward bt Natalie Sweet and Ruth Walmsley 6-1, 6-0.

Handicap mixed doubles final: Luke Blackburn and Gail Blackburn bt Adam Thompson and Donna Billings 6-5, 6-0.

Handicap veteran men’s doubles final: David Gregory and Bryan Pike bt Derek Hopkins and Bernard Kirkbright 6-1, 6-4.

Handicap veteran’s ladies’ doubles final: Karen Hosker and Sara Rowan bt Diane Hardman and Elizabeth Perry 6-2, 4-6, 6-5.

Handicap veteran’s mixed doubles final: Paul Spencer and Helen Lord bt Robert Lister and Yvonne Hunt 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Handicap senior mixed doubles final: Geoff Scott and Marilyn Sweet bt Bruce Hardman and Diane Hardman 6-5, 3-6, 6-5.