Al gives plenty of Hope on the court

Published 26 Aug 2010 09:00 0 Comments

HELENSBURGH Tennis Club’s annual club championships concluded at the weekend with no major upsets for the favourites.

Top honours went to Alistair Hope who walked off with three trophies. Alistair took the over 40s men’s singles title with a classy display against Hadden Smith.

Hadden was playing with an injured ankle but even Hadden admitted he would have struggled against Alistair’s powerful display even if he was fully fit. Alistair teamed up with Kevin Stephen to beat Steven Lewis and David Reid in the men’s open doubles event.

Alistair’s third trophy was a much harder affair when he was up against Ann Morison and Bobby Kerr alongside the club’s number one lady player Katie Fulton.

Ann and Bobby took the first set 6-3 with Ann in top form but the pair were always behind in the second and lost it 4-6.

Bobby and Ann had no answer to Alistair and Katie’s tactics in the third and they took it 6-2.

In the men’s open singles Alan MacBeath had a comfortable win against top junior David Reid. David impressed in the first set but Alan’s power and experience came through and David will have to wait another year for a chance to prove he has the talent to lift the trophy.

It was a similar story for Katie Fulton in the ladies singles as she was up against another member of the Reid family, Emily. Emily knew she was unlikely to beat the multi-winning player but that did not stop her fighting for every point and she put on a brave display but had to succumb to the inevitable and lost in straight sets.

One of the closest matches of the day was the men’s over 55’s event between Ian Evans and Mike Wright. Ian won the opening set 6-3 and Mike took the next by a similar score. The deciding set is made up of a champions tie break i.e. first to 10 points. The long rallies were great for the watching crowd but both players were struggling in the afternoon heat and finally it was Mike who managed to come through 10 point to eight.

Both players teamed up to play Ian Parlane and Allan Naismith in the men’s over 55’s doubles which proved to be just as close as it also went all the way to the champions tie break. Mike and Ian raced to a 5-0 lead but Ian and Allan somehow brought it back and finally took it 11-9.

In the intermediates events there were wins for Katherine McPhie and Niall Hope in the singles. In the doubles there were wins for Gillian Allan and Sophie Steuart - Corry and Niall Hope and Stephen Reid.

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This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 26 Aug 10

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