British Open Senior Indoor Tennis Championships 2021
• 4 MINUTE READ
We were very happy to be able to play the Indoor Tennis Championships in 2021, albeit at a different time of year and at a new venue, Wrexham Tennis Centre. We were made to feel very welcome by the management and staff of the Tennis Centre, who showed their vast experience as a tournament venue. I had many comments from players, commenting on the friendliness of the venue, which I completely agree with.
Unfortunately, a number of players withdrew because of difficulties experienced in obtaining fuel, but it was lovely to welcome back many familiar faces and also meet and welcome players new to this event - a few went home with a title, completing their successful debut!
The first title to be decided was the Women's 40 Singles, which was played in a round robin format and won by Maia Dunn, although it was very close, with a winning margin of one game. Eillidh Smith was triumphant in the Women's 45 Singles, which was also played in a round robin format.
Two new Champions were crowned in the Men's 35 and 40 Singles events, Gary Thomson defeating Peter Hall for his inaugural 35's title and Patrick Talbot overcoming Andrew Gillett in the 40's Singles.
Hafeez Hameed added to his growing collection of titles when he defeated Nigel Birkett for the Men's 45 Singles title and then partnered Mark Tomlinson in the Men's 45 Doubles Final to beat Andrew Creswell and Andrew Hibell. Joe Cooper and Gavin Mason won their first Indoor Championship title with a win in the Men's 35 Doubles final against David Callanan and Jason Smart.
Charles Durham took to the court against his doubles partner, Ian Udal in the Men's 50 Singles and won the title in a long three set tussle. Alistair Alexander made it three in a row of Indoor titles when he retained his Men's 55 Singles title with a tough three set victory over Andrew Hutchinson. Andrew gained his revenge when he teamed up with Ronnie Terras to defeat 2019 Champions Alistair and Mike Harpin to take the Men's 55 Doubles title.
Jane Hunter won her maiden Indoor Singles title with a defeat of Adele Pearson and in the Men's 65 Singles, Martin Cornish went one step further than his runners-up finish in the 2020 Indoor Championships, with a win over 2018 and 2019 age group Champion, Jasper Cooper.
Martin Gillam retained his Men's 60 Singles title with a win over Gerry Kelly, although Gerry didn't go home empty handed as he teamed up with Mike Aitken for victory in the Men's 60 Doubles Final against Graeme Adams and Rajiv Batra.
Another player to 'do the double' later in the week was Rachel Apsey, who won the Women's 55 Singles title against Emma Bowen and then teamed up with Lorraine Ristic to take the 55 Doubles title with a win over Katie Jonas and Hazel Lindfield. Hazel came back to win the Women's 60 Singles title in the last match of the Championships, with a win over Sara Butler, who was also runner-up in the Women's 60 Doubles with partner Jenny Chin, losing out to Jane Gentle and Sally Holmes.
Long-time rivals, Marjory Love and Shirley Fox played another Singles Final, with Marjory taking the Women's 70 Singles in a long three set tussle, in a reverse of the 2020 result. For an amazing 5th year in a row, Shirley partnered Pauline Fisher to take the Women's 65 Doubles title, defeating Marjory Love and Christine Windmill. The 'double' was not to be for Pauline, as she was beaten in the Women's 65 Singles final by Sue Winters.
Niall Sweeney was the Champion in the Men's 70 Singles category, but his opponent, Neil McPherson didn't go away without a title as he teamed up with Wilf Jessop to defend their 2020 title in the Men's 70 Doubles event, when they defeated Boyd Brackstone and Peter Pharo in the final.
John Andrews also defended his Men's 80 Singles title, with the event played in round robin format this year. A similar outcome for Leonard Phillips, when he also defended his Men's 85 Singles title, again in round robin format.
June Pearce retained her Women's 85 Singles title with a win over Pamela McGrath. Mary Walkerdine received a walkover in the Women's 80 Singles Final, from Joan Hassell. The Women's 80 Doubles title was also decided on a walkover, Dorothy Bamber and Carol Davies were the recipients against Jean Porter and Judith Walker.
In the last Men's match of the tournament, Alex Templer overcame Nigel Barker in a three-hour match to take the Men's 75 Singles title.
Presentations were made throughout the week to the Singles and Doubles Finalists and there is an array of photographs from these presentations available on the Seniors Tennis GB Facebook page.
Full results are available on the ITF website and also on our Seniors’ Competitions page.
Hot on the heels of these Championships will be the return of the British Open Seniors Indoor Tennis Championships, to Wrexham Tennis Centre, from 18 to 27 February 2022. We look forward to returning and hope to see many of you there!
Sarah Wooding
Tournament Director
