Rios and Khalid claim title double at Calderdale finals
Athena Rios and Irfan Khalid both became double champions at the Dunlop Calderdale Lawn Tennis League Open Knockout tournament, held at Liversedge.
Although Rios lost only three games in four sets on the day, Khalid found it much tougher, needing six sets to do so. Rios has made a major impact since first playing in the Calderdale League and topped the ladies’ player rankings this year.
She had dropped only one game in her two matches on reaching the ladies’ final and looked all set to dominate the final against Abbie Young after winning the first set 6-0.
Young took a 2-1 lead in the second set before Rios hit back to win 6-3.
Rios then teamed up with her fellow Huddersfield player, Rebecca Stead, and they gained an emphatic 6-0, 6-0 win over six-time champions Linda Kenworthy and Ann Rushworth.
In the men’s singles, final Khalid beat Todmorden’s Peter Metcalfe in three sets.
Metcalfe took the first set 6-4, but the after-effects of a virus began to take their toll and Khalid then swept through the next two sets 6-0, 6-1.
The men’s doubles final saw Khalid and his brother, Burhan, both of whom play for Oakfield, take on four-time champions James Hodgson and Alasdair Whiteley, from Akroydon.
The Khalids took the first set 6-3 and narrowly lost the second 7-6.
In a gripping third set, Hodgson and Whiteley had a match point at 5-4 before the Khalids then had five of their own at 6-5 and finally prevailed at the sixth attempt to take the set 9-7. It was the Khalids’ second title in a row and their third in all.
Final results – men’s singles: Irfan Khalid beat Peter Metcalfe 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Ladies’ singles: Athena Rios beat Abbie Young 6-0, 6-3.
Men’s doubles: Irfan
Khalid and Burhan Khalid beat James Hodgson and Alasdair Whiteley 6-3, 6-7, 9-7.
Ladies’ doubles: Athena Rios and Rebecca Stead beat Linda Kenworthy and Ann Rushworth 6-0, 6-0.
Mixed doubles: James Hodgson and Anna Whiteley w/o against Mark Butterfield and Athena Rios.
Pictured above are the finalists Ann Rushworth, Linda Kenworthy, Abbie Young, Peter Metcalfe, James Hodgson, Alasdair Whiteley, Irfan Khalid, Burhan Khalid, Rebecca Stead and Athena Rios.