Ladies pair up to net tennis honours at Bognor

They were placed into four round-robin mixed ability groups and played seven games against other pairs in their section.

By lunchtime the pair with the highest score – 18 games – were Carol David and Joy Withers from Angmering, closely followed by previous winners of the tournament Erica Ellicott and Buntha Hanley (Middleton Sports Club) with 17.

In the green group, two pairs finished on 17 – Julie Matthews and Alison Taylor and Ann Woodhead and Doreen Shire – but only one pair could go through to the top group, so Woodhead and Shire (Angmering) got the nod, having beaten Matthews and Taylor by the narrowest of margins.

The final pair to secure a position in the top group was Theresa Parsons and Jo Rees (Storrington).

Remaining pairs were regrouped into three further sections and combining players of a similar standard for the afternoon’s competition produced challenging matches for all contestants, with the added incentive of prizes being awarded to the highest-scoring pairs from each of the four sections.

Overall winners were Ellicott and Hanley, whose attacking play and impressive range of shots enabled them to emerge undefeated with a score of 17 out of a possible 21 games. Runners-up were Woodhead and Shire, who won two of their three games but were convincingly defeated 6-1 by Ellicott and Hanley.

Other top-scoring prize winners were Julie Matthews and Alison Taylor, Rose Hooks and Angelique McGuigan (Harbour Way) and Jackie Herbert and Jo Owen (Bognor LTC).

HENRY McNAMARA