Hat-trick for Ed Kay; first title for Goodwin & Keates at the Yorkshire Open

Derby Moor Academy, Littleover
Saturday/Sunday, 6-7 September 2025

A small entry for the Singles, no three-gamers but a very intense series of matches played with the new Spanish ball. It was good to welcome Ed Kay to Derby in his quest for a third Singles title in a row and also to see the unorthodox skills and high tempo of play from Oxford University’s Ander Iraizoz, which Anthony Goodwin found difficult to counter in their match. Oscar McIntyre and Simon Beattie renewed their long-standing rivalry, to Oscar’s advantage; Richard Christie demonstrated, as ever, his extraordinary persistence; and Ed Kay and Lewis Keates staged a display of ferocious low hitting in the final, with Lewis serving consistently into the nick and Ed wrong-footing Lewis with body serves and explosive drives direct into the back wall. The physical effort involved was palpable. Thus Ed added this Singles title to his previous two this season at the South West Open and the South East.

In the 7-man Plate there were three winners of Challenger tournaments, so it was no surprise to see Emrys Thursfield, Simon Beattie and Anthony Goodwin contending for the honour, with the final, decisive match of the day bringing Anthony victory, his greater experience and steadier defence prompting too many unforced errors from Simon. The comfortable-looking score of 11-2 did not do justice to the quality of the match.

With the defending champions from last season unable to contest the title and no other previous winning pair entering there was the prospect of fresh names on the Doubles trophy this weekend, with Goodwin & Keates seeded to meet either Beattie & McIntyre or Butler & Guthrie in the final. The latter two pairs did indeed meet in the semi-final and it proved the closest contest of the day, except for the all-Derby Moor clash in the Plate final. By the time Dave & Richard beat Simon & Oscar they were clearly not in a fit enough state, though, to cope with the hard-hitting that Anthony & Lewis subjected them to, in a fairly brief final. It was not Lewis’s first regional title but it was the first time he and Anthony had won Gold together. Similarly it was the first time that Zach Winson Yates & Dylan Wright had paired up to win a Plate.

Our thanks go to John Hawke for hosting and catering for the players, to Lewis for running the tournament and updating the draws on tournify, and to the Derby Moor Academy for the use of their courts to perpetuate the championships in the absence of viable courts in Yorkshire. And to our new ball supplier in Spain whose stitched balls prompted a favourable response among the players.

Singles

1st round: R Christie bt D Swinbank 11-3, 11-8; A Iraizoz bt Z Winson Yates 11-1, 11-0; E Thursfield bt M Ord 11-3, 11-0
Quarter-finals: E Kay bt Christie 11-1, 11-0; O McIntyre bt S Beattie 11-8, 11-7; Iraizoz bt An Goodwin 11-2, 11-7; L Keates bt Thursfield 11-2, 11-9
Semi-finals: Kay bt McIntyre 11-2, 11-1; Keates bt Iraizoz 11-3, 11-2
Final: Kay bt Keates 11-2, 11-5
Plate: 1st Goodwin 18 pts; 2nd Beattie 15 pts; 3rd Thursfield 9 pts; 4th Christie 9 pts; 5th Swinbank 6 points; 6th Ord 6 pts; 7th Winson Yates

Doubles

Quarter-finals: R Christie & D Swinbank bt Z Winson Yates & D Wright 15-3, 15-4; D Butler & R Guthrie bt S Kirby & B Kirk 15-3, 15-11; S Beattie & O McIntyre bt D Bazylijski & C Willbourne 15-1, 15-0
Semi-finals: An Goodwin & L Keates bt Christie & Swinbank 15-3, 15-7; Butler & Guthrie bt Beattie & McIntyre 15-12, 15-13
Final: Goodwin & Keates bt Butler & Guthrie 15-0, 15-3
Third Place: Beattie & McIntyre bt Christie & Swinbank 11-3, 11-7
Plate: Winson Yates & Wright bt Kirby & Kirk 11-12, 11-4, 11-8