JOHNNIE Shacklady remains on course for his third straight men’s singles title at the Bolton Tennis Tournament after becoming the first player to book a place in the semi-finals.

This year’s third seed looks to be in great form again after dropping only four games in three matches on his way into the last four, following wins against David Drew, Richard Lane and seventh seed Charlie Foley in the quarter-finals.

There is a strong Lostock representation in the other games in the last eight, which are still to be played.

Ross and Ewan Smith will go head-to-head, while Lostock club-mate Andy Westmoreland will face Holcombe’s Alec Foote.

The only quarter-final not to be contested by at least one Lostock player will see 2000 and 2001 champion Nick Hinneghan take on Jay Hardy, who is based at Virgin Active in Bolton.

The statisticians look to have got it right in the mixed doubles handicap, with the majority of matches going to three sets while most of the two-set results have been by close margins.

Typical of the matches so far, Bradshaw’s Danielle Davies and James Edgington took more than two hours to see off Longsight’s Yvonne Hunt and Paul Nicholson. The Bradshaw pair came through 6-4, 5-6, 6-4 in the end.

In the same event, one of the quicker matches saw holders Dianne Hardman and Adam Gooddy progress 6-3, 6-4 against father and daughter combination Olivia and Nick Hadjinicolaou.