FORREST D were victorious in the first round of the Bolton Badminton League Handicap Competition as they defeated Deane A in the Jane Fletcher Memorial Cup.

Forrest D, who sit fifth in Section B, started well when Georgina King and James Wallen won the opening games with a nail-biting 22-20 victory followed by a more convincing 21-3 win against Jean Smith and Umer Azeem.

Karen Holden and Shalin Patel defeated Janice Jackson and Tony Waring with 21-11 and 21-14 wins to continue Forrest D’s form.

Despite Forrest pair Catherine James and Peter Lambert winning their games in the third round, their narrow 21-17 and 21-19 victories against Sam Robertson and Brian Strickland vastly improved the points tally of Deane A, who are currently ninth in Section B.

The start of the ladies’ games saw Deane pick up their first win as Robertson and Jackson defeated Jameson and King 21-16.

Forrest hit back with a thrilling 25-23 victory but this was still a valuable result for Deane.

Wins for Forrest's men’s pairing of Lambert and Wallen and women’s pair James and Holden kept Deane A at bay.

Forrest’s Lambert and Patel ended the cup tie with the biggest result of the day, beating Strickland and Azeem 21-9 and 21-6.

Deane A’s final score of 247 was bumped up to 327 with their handicap of plus 80, but it was not enough to defeat a rampant Forrest D who notched up 378 points.

Forrest D will play the winners of GMT versus Forrest B in the next round of the competition.

Also in the Jane Fletcher Cup, Deane B gained victory against Markland Hill A.

Deane, who are eighth in Section B, had the handicap in this tie so it was important to keep as close to Markland Hill A as possible to make it count.

Patricia Beck and Rob Brocklehurst earned 13 points as they were defeated 21-10 and 21-3 by Bev Hamblet and David Saunders.

Deane continued to gain important points despite losing with Margaret Wong and Tony Waring securing 19 points in 21-10 and 21-9 losses to Hill’s Rachael Dawes and Liam Walsh.

Markland Hill, who are second in Section A, continued to win their games but Deane built up a solid points tally.

Despite Markland Hill A achieving the maximum score of 378 points, 172 was enough for Deane B as the envelope revealed a handicap of plus 250 giving them a total of 422 to take them into the next round.

Deane B will play the winners of Westhoughton A versus Westhoughton C.