Manchester Gold Racquet 2011
Oct 28, 2011 - Oct 30, 2011 Manchester T B Hegarty
There was a record entry of no less than 32 contestants for the Manchester Gold Racquet 2011 resulting in virtually continuous play packed into the three exciting days of the tournament.
The 2011 Manchester Gold Racquet will certainly go down as a memorable weekend with over 60 matches played, the action continued into the small hours on both Friday and Saturday nights. The withdrawal of singles top number seed, Alex Titchener-Barrett, due to a niggling knee injury, allowed Nick James to take advantage of the void in the top half of the draw. He reached the final by overcoming 18 year old Richard Owen in a thrilling five game match. In the other semi-final Will Hopton overcame Christian Portz in another thrilling encounter between these two young talents. The final started at a high level of intensity and was very closely fought throughout the 45 minute long first game. However, with the first game in his pocket, Will never let Nick back into the match and won 15/10 15/3 15/6.
The doubles draw contained plenty of good Rackets. The Bailey brothers (Mike and James) mounted a good run and reached the final, where they met Will Hopton and Tom Billings. Will and Tom had beaten Ryan Tulley and Nick James in a very tight semi-final. The final proved to be rather one sided as Hopton and Billings won 3-0 but there were still a number of great rallies for the full gallery to enjoy.
Brendan Hegarty and Will Hopton deserve great credit for their organisation of the event. Brendan, in particular, was ever present throughout the tournament! Derek Barrett marked with his usual skill and never once complained about the large volume of matches. Manchester Rackets is really back on the map.
Congratulations to the winners; Will Hopton in his first official singles tournament appearance as a professional for winning the Manchester Gold Racket and for taking the doubles title with partner Tom Billings.
The full results can be downloaded below.
Thursday 27th October
W.Hopton bt. C.Stout 15/2, 15/5
N.James bt. C.Atkins 14/17, 15/3, 15/5
S.Cox bt. M.Tancer 15/9, 15/8
Shenkman & Stout bt. Tancer & Harding 15/1, 15/3
D.Shiner bt. S.Collins 15/1, 15/3
C.Portz bt. H.Corcoran 15/3, 15/2
Portz & Owen bt. Dundas & Atkins 15/5, 15/6
Friday 28th October
T.Billings bt. H.Britton 15/0 15/0
N.James bt. T.Billings 18/15, 15/6
S.Shenkman bt. C.Stefanowicz 15/4, 15/0
S.Cox bt. D.Dundas 6/15, 18/15, 15/10
Hopton & Billings bt. Collins & Sandbach 15/5, 15/0
R.Tulley bt. G.Sandbach 15/2, 15/2
A.Rozier-Pamplin bt. L.Winstanley 15/8, 15/8
H.Faber bt. B.Stevens 15/5, 16/17, 15/11
N.Harding bt. A.Kurkjian 15/10, 15/3
PM Shiner & Stevens bt. Corcoran & Winstanley 15/7, 15/3
Tulley & James bt. Clarke & Kurkjian 15/2, 15/7
W.Hopton bt. H.Faber 15/4, 15/7
S.Shenkman bt. N.Harding 15/4, 15/6
D.Shiner bt. R.Tulley 15/9, 15/5
J.Bailey bt. F.Clarke 15/11, 15/11
T.Stevens bt. J.Rowland Clark 15/4, 13/15, 15/6
M.Bailey bt. R.Offord 15/3, 17/16
Rowland Clark & Offord bt. B.Stevens & Britton 15/10, 15/3
J. & M.Bailey bt. Cox & Rozier-Pamplin 15/4, 15/
Doubles QF 3 Hopton/Billings bt. Shiner/Stevens 17/15, 15/6
R.Owen bt. A.Rozier-Pamplin 15/3, 15/4
Doubles QF 4 Tulley/James bt. Shenkman/Stout 15/9, 15/9
Doubles QF 2 Bailey/Bailey bt. Portz/Owen 18/14, 4/15, 15/9
Saturday 29th October
Plate Singles C.Atkins bt. G.Sandbach 21/13
Plate Singles D.Dundas bt. M.Tancer 21/4
Plate Singles C.Stout bt. L.Winstanley 21/12
Singles T. Stevens bt. M. Bailey 15/11, 15/8
Singles C. Portz bt. J. Bailey 15/12, 15/7
Doubles Rowland Clark/Offord bt. Faber/Stefanowicz 15/7, 15/2
Plate Singles B.Stevens bt. A.Kurkjian 21/5
Plate Singles H.Britton bt. H.Corcoran 21/8
Singles QF 2 N.James bt. D.Shiner 15/9, 15/12
Singles QF 4 W.Hopton bt. S.Shenkman 15/10, 15/7
Singles QF 3 C.Portz bt. T.Stevens 15/2, 15/9
Singles QF 1 R.Owen bt. S.Cox 15/7, 15/7
Plate Singles F.Clarke bt. A.Rozier-Pamplin 21/19
Doubles SF 2 Hopton/Billings bt. Tulley/James 15/9, 13/16, 15/7
Plate Singles R.Offord bt. C.Stefanowicz 21/14
Plate Doubles Stevens/Britton bt. Clarke/Kurkjian 25/16
Plate Singles QF 1 R.Offord bt. F.Clarke 21/19
Singles SF 2 W.Hopton bt. C.Portz 15/13, 15/9, 15/4
Singles SF 1 N.James bt. R.Owen 11/15, 15/5, 7/15, 15/5, 15/11
Plate Doubles Cox/Rozier-Pamplin bt. Collins/Sandbach 25/6
Plate Singles J.Rowland Clark bt. S.Collins 21/2
Doubles SF 1 Bailey/Bailey bt. Offord/Rowland Clark 15/5, 15/5
Plate Singles QF 4 D.Dundas bt. B.Stevens 21/19
Plate Singles QF 3 Rowland Clark bt. Atkins 21/14
Plate Singles QF 2 C.Stout bt. H.Britton 21/4
Plate Doubles Dundas/Atkins bt. Tancer/Harding 25/12
Sunday 29th October
Plate Doubles Faber/Stefanowicz bt. Corcoran/Winstanley 25/19
Plate Singles SF 1 C.Stout bt. R.Offord 21/19
Plate Singles SF 2 J.Rowland Clark bt. D.Dundas 21/11
Plate Doubles SF 1 Stevens/Britton bt. Cox/Rozier-Pamplin 25/11
Plate Doubles SF 2 Dundas/Atkins bt. Faber/Stefanowicz 25/7
Plate Doubles Final Stevens/Britton bt. Dundas/Atkins 15/5, 8/11 (Retired)
Manchester Gold Racquet Singles Final W.Hopton bt. N.James 15/10, 15/3, 15/6
Plate Singles Final C.Stout bt. J.Rowland Clark 15/10, 15/11
Manchester Gold Racquet Doubles Final Hopton/Billings bt. Bailey/Bailey 15/4, 15/4, 15/6