Marlborough College
Saturday, 13th April 2024
10 players competed across the two age categories, though this year we were unfortunately without Stuart Kirby, Brian Kirk, Martin Wilkinson and Spencer Beal, whose absence necessitated a change of partner for defending Masters champion Tony Hamilton. Peter Ross stepped into the breach, just as he had done last year when Phil Atkinson suffered a broken wrist while playing, and had the satisfaction of becoming champion himself, as he and Tony won a straight final against Neil Arnott and Mark Kiteley in emphatic style.
In the Grand Masters competition Bernard Atkinson and John East were delighted to return to defend their title and did so undefeated in a round robin consisting of 3 pairs. It was good to welcome Dave Hebden once more to this august gathering.
To guarantee a good day’s Fives for all 5 pairs concerned, organiser Brian Kirk invented a competition, appropriately dubbed The Legends Plate, played out as a round robin with pairs randomly selected. From this series of matches John East and Mark Kiteley emerged as winners.
Masters Doubles (over 65s)
Final: T Hamilton & P Ross bt N Arnott & M Kiteley 11-3, 11-1
Grand Masters Doubles (over 75s)
1st B Atkinson & J East 30 pts; 2nd B Boag & D Hebden 19 pts; 3rd T Hillman & J Ogle 7 pts
Legends Plate
1st J East & M Kiteley 44 pts; 2nd B Boag & T Hamilton 41 pts; 3rd B Atkinson & P Ross 35 pts; 4th N Arnott & D Hebden 33 pts; 5th T Hillman & J Ogle 9pts
The Masters Champions
The Grand Masters Champions once more