Lu hits form to win thriller and become new county champ
LU Ying beat reigning champion Kate Hughes in the women’s singles final at the Warwickshire Closed Championship at the St Nicholas Sports Centre in Warwick.
The attacking star from the Smiths Wood Bribar club beat Hughes 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 in a match that produced a plethora of high-quality rallies, in what was considered to be the best final for many years.
The women’s singles showed the quality of female players that the county is currently blessed with, as Ying beat Lisa Rinnhofer at the semi-final stage, while Hughes got the better of Lisa’s talented sister Sophie.
Sophie had beaten Olivia Fletcher at the group stage to show just what a rapid advance in the game she is making.
The prolific Shirley-based Colebridge club provided the winner of the men’s singles, with Paul Lenormand in a class of his own to take the title without dropping a game.
Lenormand beat Sam Weaving 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 in a one-sided final, having defeated Ryan Lines in the last four.
Weaving had a titanic clash with the big-hitting Ryan Stockham,
going through to the last stage with an 11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8 success in a superb encounter.
Hughes and Lisa Rinnhofer beat the top seeded Ying/Fletcher partnership 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10 to take the women’s doubles title in another high-class contest.
Ying collected her second county closed title, in partnership with ageless Birmingham legend Mike Browne, with victory over Hughes and Lenormand in the mixed doubles final.
Lenormand and Colebridge team-mate Ben Willson collected the men’s doubles crown, with a final success over the David Ramsey/Weaving duo.
England cadet hopeful Nathaniel Saunders brought more glory to Colebridge, with success at both Under-15 and U18 level.
The 14-year-old displayed his rich promise to beat the talented Christopher Ho at the last stage in both events.
Saunders was taken the distance in the U15 final, producing a dramatic comeback to eventually win 5-11, 11-13, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7, but recorded an uncomplicated straight-games triumph in the U18 final.