Steele shows his mettle by reclaiming the title
CHURCHTOWN and Woodvale were the big winners in the first individual tournaments of the ‘Master Lock & Safe’ Southport and District Badminton League as they won seven of the ten finals on offer.
It may have been the last match of the evening at Greenbank High School, but it was the men’s singles final of the ‘A tournament’ that stole the show.
After losing the first set, Churchtown’s Joe Steele reclaimed the singles title he won back in 2015 by defeating Mawdesley’s Steven Andrews in a highly entertaining encounter 10-21, 21-19, 21-19.
The high quality of Badminton on show matched their memorable final from last season’s ‘B tournament’ where Andrews came out victorious. For many playing members, they are hoping that this is the beginning of a long rivalry for many tournaments to come.
An impressive milestone was accomplished in the ‘A’ women’s singles final, as Woodvale’s Millie Hyde secured a triple-crown of singles titles with a dramatic three-set win over fellow Woodvale player Lisa Dewhurst 19-21, 21-13, 22-20.
In the space of two seasons, Hyde has now won the singles titles in the A, B and C tournaments.
However after the first set, it saw Dewhurst looking firmly in control and Hyde was struggling not only to turn the match around, but to breath as well.
Amazingly, she managed to virtually reconstruct the way she won the ‘B’ singles final last season.
Dewhurst had match points at 20-18 in the deciding set.
But Hyde managed to grind it out and win four points without reply to take the final set 22-20.
The final that is seen as the blueribbon event of any tournament, is the men’s doubles.
This year’s final in the ‘A’, it ended up being quite an eventful one.
It saw the partnership of Woodvale and West End Park’s Rick Wallbank and Phil Brinskman recover from the brink of defeat, to beat the Mawdesley and Victoria Hall pairing of Steven Andrews and Matt Tolman.
After winning the first set in comfortable fashion 21-10, Andrews and Tolman looked almost immovable. But Wallbank and Brinksman managed to regroup and snatch the second set 25-23, whilst saving a few match points in the process.
They never looked back after that and confirmed victory by taking the third set 21-17.
Meanwhile in the ‘C tournament’, the singles finals saw a lot of new blood come through and take some silverware.
The women’s singles went to Woodvale youngster Tasha Johnson after defeating Formby’s Vicky Wolfe in three sets.
After a bright start by Johnson, Wolfe showed real determination to take the opening set 21-16.
Sadly for her, Johnson seemed to gather her thoughts and looked determined to locate her opponents’ weaknesses and force her way back into this contest. The Woodvale junior did that in impressive fashion with two well-deserved sets to claim the title.
In the men’s singles of the ‘C’, it was a match-up that neither player wanted as it was a battle between doubles partners.
Coming out on top was Churchtown’s Tom Schofield ahead of Harvey Skinner in three-sets 21-16, 16-21, 21-14.
Later on that evening, Schofield and Skinner teamed up this time in an effort to win the ‘C’ men’s doubles titles.
They managed to do that in impressive fashion, by overcoming the test of Woodvale’s Andy Hurst and Felix Watson 21-11, 21-8.
There was more joy in the Johnson household, as Tasha’s older sister Alex secured the women’s doubles titles in the ‘C’, along with ‘A’ singles runnerup Lisa Dewhurst.
They put in a dominant performance to defeat Faye Lowery and Vicky Dyson 21-16, 21-15 in what was an all-Woodvale final.
With the ‘C’ being a handicapped tournament, it saw Lowery and Dyson be given a helpful start.
But Johnson and Dewhurst came out of the starting blocks with a purpose, and never let their opponents make the most of their handicap advantage.
Opening the evening’s order of play was the mixed doubles ‘A’ final. It saw a win for the club of Mawdesley, in the form of the husband-and-wife partnership, Steven and Fay Andrews. They defeated the Churchtown and West End Park pair of Joe Steele and Hayley Harrison in three entertaining sets 19-21, 21-13, 21-17.
In the ‘C’ mixed doubles final, being steady was the key to the win from Formby’s Phil Olsen and Crosby’s Clare Ormerod.
Their 21-15, 21-12 win over Woodvale’s Sam Chambers and Kayla Shandley saw experience beat youth on the day.
Elsewhere, it was another ‘A’ women’s doubles title for Victoria Hall’s Caroline Walker.
Their legacy in this tournament that will never be immortalised continues to be grow, after a comfortable straight sets victory over the Mawdesley and West End Park pairing of Faye Andrews and Cathy Atfield.
The next tournaments to take place will be in January, as the veterans take part in the ‘V tournament’.
Whereas the under-21 stars compete in the Jack Blockley mixed doubles tournament.
Next week sees the second round of the Watkinson Trophy, where there are 32 teams be whittled down to 16.
If you want to keep up to date with the latest news, results and league tables, then be sure to check out the league’s official website, www.southportbadminton.com.
Also, make sure you like the league’s official Facebook page. Bentzen and Caroline