A PACKED Wednesday night of tennis saw several long doubles matches in the Bolton Tennis Tournament
In the Open Mixed Doubles, the winners of the junior event in mixed doubles for the last two years, Matthew Bowers and Cat Jameson, faced the experienced pairing of Martin Bromley and Theresa McCarren and came out on top in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
In handicap events, an all-Lostock match-up saw Bob Woodcock and Kath Taylor overcome Gary Daley and Marilyn Sweet 6-5, 5-6, 6-3.
The winners were giving two points every game so had to keep focused to pull back the handicap.
In yet another three-set match, lasting more than two hours, Alex Murphy and Claire Dorey came from a set down to beat Martin Jordan and Catherine Donegan 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Donegan then had to play in the Ladies' Handicap Singles and this turned out to be one of the best matches of the night.
She was up against Nicola Cunningham and the match finished under the floodlights at 10.25pm as Donegan came out on top with the maximum number of games played in each set.
She lost the first set 5-6 but then took the next two by the same scoreline.
The final game went to deuce and both ladies had match points.
Eventually, Donegan won after Cunningham put a forehand long and netted the last shot of the match.
Results
Wednesday
Women's Handicapped Singles
RR1: Hannah Vosper bt Laura Hughes 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Catherine Donegan bt Nicola Cunningham 5-6, 6-5, 6-5.
Men's Handicapped Singles
R16: Martin Jordan bt Bryan Pike 6-1, 6-4; Joseph Rogerson bt Matthew Brindle 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
U18 Boys' Singles
RR2: Joe Jackson bt Kai Bury 4-2, 4-0.
RR4: Gregory Collins bt Sina Ghanbari-Saheli 4-2, 4-0; Richard Flanagan bt Joshua Kay 4-2, 4-0.
RR5: Richard Flanagan bt Sina Ghanbari-Saheli 4-1, 3-4, 1-0 (0).
U18 Girls' Doubles
RR2: Anna Bayman and Grace Preston bt Helena Flanagan and Emilia Tonge 1-4, 4-1, 1-0 (8).
U18 Mixed Doubles
RR4: Gregory Collins and Natalie Flinn bt Joseph Rogerson and Eve Gould 4-1, 4-0.
RR5: Joseph Rogerson and Eve Gould bt Richard Flanagan and Helena Flanagan 4-1, 4-0.
Open Mixed Doubles
R16: Matthew Bowers and Catherine Jameson bt Martin Bromley and Theresa McCarren 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
45-plus Mixed Handicapped Doubles
R16: Gary Daley and Marilyn Sweet bt Dominic Kneafsey and Karen Hosker 6-2, 6-3.
Quarter-final: John Davy and Elizabeth Perry bt Brad Gould and Anne Vosper 6-4, 6-4; Bob Woodcock and Kath Taylor bt Gary Daley and Marilyn Sweet 6-5, 5-6, 6-3.
Open Men's Singles
Quarter-final: Jonathan Alex Shacklady (1) bt Matthew Dearden 6-0, 6-0; Oliver Saunders bt Matthew Bowers 6-2, 7-6; Richard Massey (3) bt David Slamin 6-0, 6-2.
50-plus Men's Handicapped Doubles
Quarter-final: Nick Hadjinicolaou and Mark John Pearson bt Sam Baksi and Dominic Kneafsey (w/o).
Semi-final: Olivier Cavaliere and Steven M Knowles bt Stuart Maxwell and Stuart Roach 6-2, 6-3.
Open Women's Singles
Semi-final: Vicky Coxen (2) bt Jill Boyes 6-0, 6-0.
Open Women's Doubles
Quarter-final: Rebecca Baldwin and Lauren Williams (1) bt Elizabeth Cunningham and Claire Dorey 6-2, 6-2.
50-plus Women's Handicapped Doubles
Quarter-final: Joanne Crompton and Debbie Purtill bt Kathleen Hadjinicolaou and Anne Vosper 5-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Semi-final: Sheila Collins and Maggie Sloss bt Shirley Deakin and Sue Shephard 6-1, 1-0 (retired).
Mixed Handicapped Doubles
R16: Alex Murphy and Claire Dorey bt Martin Jordan and Catherine Donegan 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Quarter-final: Olivier Cavaliere and Yvonne Hunt bt Julian Digby and Emily Digby 6-2, 6-5.
Men's Handicapped Doubles
Quarter-final: Joe Jackson and Stuart Jackson bt Paul Kay and David Phillpots 6-3, 6-2; Majid Ali and Omer Butt bt Rhyan Fletcher and Philip Mansfield 6-4, 6-5.
Women's Handicapped Doubles
Quarter-final
Alison Hodgkinson and Christina Millington bt Katharine Abbott and Rachel Egan 6-3, 6-3; Pamela Bracewell and Claire Topping bt Helena Flanagan and Susan Welch 6-4, 6-3.
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