New doubles event proves a hit
A new event for players aged over 60 was introduced as the annual Tennis Shropshire senior mixed doubles tournament took place at The Shrewsbury Club.
Eleven clubs from around the county were represented in the 35 mixed, 50 mixed and 60 mixed categories, with Fiona Jones, the new vice-chair of Tennis Shropshire, presenting the trophies.
The new competition, the 60 county mixed, proved popular with 10 pairs entering to underline the strength in depth in this age group within Shropshire.
Iain MacDonald teamed up with Judy King became the first recipients of the new trophy, winning a competitive final 6-2, 6-4 against Rob Rue and Jane Williams.
Iain and Judy earlier overcame Jim Taylor and Gill Snodgrass in the semi-finals, with the other last four clash seeing Rob and Jane get the better of Mike Shaw and Liz Boyle.
The 35 county mixed event, which featured six quality pairs, was won by Simon Jones, the new chair of Tennis Shropshire, and Cheryl Evans. They showed just why they were top seeds by beating Matt Humphries and Claire Robinson 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
Matt and Claire had impressively reached the final by knocking out second seeds Nick Jukes and Lucy Alder, who has recently returned to play at Newport’s Boughey Gardens Tennis Club, 6-4, 7-6.
Seven pairs competed in the 50 county mixed event, with husband and wife combination Karl and Sue Dunn, the second seeds, following up their triumphs in 2016 and 2017 to make it a hat-trick of titles by beating the new pairing of Robin Morris and Aude Legeais 7-6, 6-4 in an excellent final.
Robin and Aude accounted for defending champions Ian James and Louise Fisher 6-1, 7-5 in the semis, while the Dunns booked their place in the final by beating Adam Davison and Jill Middleton, the 2018 finalists.
Pictured: The over-35 county mixed winners were, left, Simon Jones and Cheryl Evans as they got the better of, right, Claire Robinson and Matt Humphries, with Fiona Jones, centre, the vice-chair of Tennis Shropshire, presenting the trophy.
The over-50 county mixed winners were, right, Sue and Karl Dunn, pictured with, left, runners-up Robin Morris and Aude Legeais and, centre, Fiona Jones.
The over-60 county mixed winners were, right, Judy King and Iain MacDonald, presented with their trophy by Fiona Jones, after beating, left, Rob Rue and Jane Williams in the final.
