* Over 60 Amateur Doubles 2026

In a draw of exceptionally high standard (all but 2 pairs were low 20’s handicap, and the other 2 low 30’s), Eddie Popplewell was able to add to his recent narrow loss in the final of the World O60 Singles in Australia, when he and David Barker won a very competitive final. They beat Simon Shenkman and Jeremy Taylor 10/6 over a tough hour, in which the mettle of the leading players was fully tested and those of the second string (mostly gallery volleyers) tested even more. Popplewell’s easy strokeplay faced Shenkman’s mobility and consistency in an even contest, but Barker's ability to add some pace to his returns narrowly out-balanced Taylor’s solid volleying. They gained an early lead of a couple of games, but never quite got away, saving points which might have reduced their lead to one game at 5/6, until the final couple of games.

They had both qualified from preliminary groups , beating both Mick Dean and Alan Oliver, and Charles Horrell and Phil Nash, though both in very respectable sets (3/6 4/6) before the latter beat the former pair in the race to avoid the wooden cutlery.

The other group saw a really tough 3-way struggle between Richard MacAlister/Nigel Pendrigh, Paul Norris/Martin Richards and Charles Human/Patrick Lawrence – the latter named just failing to qualify, though he might reasonably claim that a ball in the face from his partner did not further their cause.

Popplewell/Barker beat Norris/ Richards 8/2 in one semi-final, while Shenkman/Taylor had a rather tougher test in Norris/Richards, who played a very fine match, losing only 5/8 in a lengthy battle. Richards mighty hitting proved just insufficient despite Norris’ very solid performance.

A thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all, I believe, though many of us will have spent much of Monday in horizontal recovery. It was especially gratifying and impressive to receive entrants from both Manchester AND Newcastle.