Durham University Fives Courts
Saturday/Sunday, 1-2 March 2025
Stop Press: Unfortunately, train cancellations caused several players from London to drop out, reducing the entry to 14 Singles players and just 5 pairs for the Doubles. In Saturday’s Singles, matches went with seeding, but not before Val Fikhter and Simon Beattie had taken Stuart Scott and Lewis Keates respectively to three games. Both semi-finals and the final itself were comfortable two-game victories, and the strong favorite, Ben Beltrami, duly won the event. The two plates were competitive, with first-round-loser William Milne showing his increasing strength in beating Dan Swinbank and with Val Fikhter winning all three games in the 2nd Plate arranged for losing quarter-finalists.
In the Doubles a ten-match round robin produced a medal match between Aquilina & Beltrami and Fikhter & Keates, won comfortably and predictably by the former pairing. The Plate went to home players Beattie & Scott.
Huge thanks as ever to organiser Julian and to hosts, the City of Durham Club.
Report to follow
Singles
1st round: R Guthrie bt A Noble 11-4, 11-3; V Fikhter bt P Fleming 11-2, 11-0; S Scott bt P Maddison 11-3, 11-0; L Keates bt M Wells 11-0, 11-0; S Beattie bt W Milne 11-2, 11-2; J Smith bt D Swinbank 11-1, 11-8
Quarter-finals: B Beltrami bt Guthrie 11-0, 11-3; Scott bt Fikhter 12-10, 6-11, 11-5; Keates bt Beattie 9-11, 11-3, 11-2; J Aquilina bt Smith 11-8, 11-6
Semi-finals: Beltrami bt Scott 11-1, 11-0; Aquilina bt Keates 11-7, 11-3
Final: Beltrami bt Aquilina 11-5, 11-2
Plate: Milne bt Swinbank 11-9, 11-4
2nd Plate: 1st Fikhter W3; 2nd Beattie W2; 3rd Smith W1
Doubles
Group: 1st Aquilina & Beltrami; 2nd Fikhter & Keates; 3rd Beattie & Scott; 4th Milne & Noble; 5th Fleming & Wells
Final: Aquilina & Beltrami bt Fikhter & Keates 11-5, 11-7
Plate: Beattie & Scott
Ben wins Singles and Doubles with Julian
Singles Plate winner William
Lewis and Val runners-up in the Doubles
Doubles Plate winners Stuart and Simon
Semi-final action — Ben to Stuart
Action from the Singles final
Doubles action — Stuart serving
Top catering as ever
City of Durham Club’s new kit
