Shaw and Fillingham take doubles tiitle at Halifax Championships
CONTINUED FROM back
But the fearless Sellado raced into a strong lead and eventually broke down the resolve of his older opponent, who had blocked tremendously throughout.
The semi-final saw Sellado play third seed Matthew Shaw, who hadn’t dropped an end on his path to the last four, beating younger brother Alex in the quarter-finals. Crucially, Sellado saved a game point to win the opening end 12-10 before Shaw fired back to win the second 11-8. However, Shaw’s aggressive approach eventually produced errors while Sellado remained errorless. Shaw overturned a 7-1 deficit in the third end to bring it level but Sellado eventually came through and took the fourth end.
Ellis had defeated fourth seed Cameron Sandhu in the semi-final 3-2 to avenge two defeats in the past month.
He had previously overcome Russell Senior and Liam Chipman, the latter of whom knocked out defending champion Fillingham in the last 16. Sixth seed Ian Marshall also went out at the same stage, losing to 14th seed Naz Ahmed, who gave Sandhu a scare in the quarter-finals.
Matthew Shaw picked up his fourth doubles title, prevailing with Ben Fillingham. The two top-seeded pairings reached the final, with Richard Aitken and Lewis Palmer advancing with a victory over Sellado and Jake Clarke in five ends.
Shaw and Fillingham had to overcome a scare in the semis to defeat Ahmed and Phil Mann, who had dumped out fourth seeds Alex Shaw and Liam Chipman in the round before. The final was a back and forth exchange but eventually, Shaw’s backhand, backed by Fillingham’s explosive forehand, saw them come through 11-9 in the fifth.
The veterans event was won by Aitken, who continued his recent good form by defeating Ellis in the final 3-1. Aitken had overcome Marshall to reach the final while Ellis dispatched of team-mate Senior to advance.
The Division 1 banded event was won by Jo Keighley, who defeated Mann in the final. Salamat Hussain was a surprise winner of the Division 2 competition, starting as sixth seed but defeating top seed Phil Gatehouse in the final.
Teenager Alfie Mawson won the Division 3 event, overcoming teammate Adrian Kelly in the final.