England’s Joe Hunter warmed up for the Commonwealth Championships by winning both the Men’s Open Singles and Under-21 titles at the Grantham Four Star.
Sophie Earley won the Women’s Singles, and there were double triumphs in the Banded events for Joe Kaye and Penny Muil.
The event saw Banded events on the Saturday and the Men’s Open and Women’s Singles, plus veteran, restricted and under-21 events on Sunday. More than 130 players competed across all the categories.
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The Men’s Open Singles final was a fairly routine win for Hunter (pictured above, photo by Michael Loveder) as he overcame Nahom Asgedom 3-0 (2, 4, 8).
Second seed Hunter overcame fourth seed Lorestas Trumpauskas 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 12-10) in the semi-finals, while Asgedom had to fight back from 2-1 down to defeat Umair Mauthoor 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4).
There was a shock in the round of 32, where Chris Doran was knocked out by Israel Awolaja.
Sophie Earley won the Women’s Singles, recovering from losing the first to come back and beat Patricia Ianau 3-1 (11-13, 11-5, 11-5, 11-2).
Ianau beat Eva Eccles 3-0 (8, 6, 5) in the semi-finals, where Earley needed four against Tsz Yan Nancy Yeh – the scoreline 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6.
In the Veteran Singles, the champion was Oleh Biletskyi, who defeated Trumpauskas 3-1 (11-1, 12-14, 11-6, 11-6) in the final.
The beaten semi-finalists were Mircea Neagu, who lost out 3-2 (16-18, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8) to Trumpauskas, and Daniel Hogan, who lost in three to Biletskyi.
Eva Eccles beat Rebecca Savage 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4) to win the Under-21 Women’s Singles, in which the semi-finalists were Zoe Gonpot – beaten in three by Eccles – and Evelyn Pace, who missed out to Savage in four.
In the corresponding Men’s Open Under-21s, Hunter completed his double thanks to a 3-0 (9, 8, 3) win over Harri Docherty in the final.
Hunter had beaten Krish Chotai 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) in the semi-finals, while Docherty battled past Leo Nguyen 3-0 (4-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3, 14-12).
The Restricted Singles was won by Israel Awolaja. His toughest match was the semi-final against Umair Mauthoor, which Awolaja won 3-2 (11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9). He went on to beat Romaine Stewart 3-0 (5, 4, 1) in the final. Stewart had got through his semi-final against Garry Dodd 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 12-10).
Banded events
Lorestas Trumpauskas won Men’s Open Band 1 with victory over Umair Mauthoor in the final. The champion defeated Munib Ahmad in the semi-finals, while Mauthoor got past Olivier Chu.
Patricia Ianau beat Sara Williams 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5) to take the Women’s Band 1 spoils, denying Band 2 champion Williams a double.
Williams beat Diana Rusinova in four games in the semi-finals, while Ianau recorded a victory in three against Anna Piercey.
Tom Colvin was the winner of Men’s Open Band 2 as he beat Munib Ahmad in the final. Ahmad had beaten Conor Nugent in the last four, while Colvin defeated Leo Nguyen.
In Women’s Band 2, Sara Williams defeated Diana Rusinova in the final. She had earlier got past Rebecca Savage in the semi-finals, while Rusinova defeated Natalia Ivanova.
There was a close final in Men’s Open Band 3, where Elliot Ding took the title with a 3-2 (7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5) victory over Harrison Hill.
Both semi-finals went the distance too, Ding defeating Ryan Holland 3-2 (11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9) and Hill seeing off Adam Gigli 3-2 (5-11, 14-12, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8).
Jian Guan won the Men’s Open Band 4 title, overcoming Zihan Lin in the final. The semi-finalists were Max Gonpot, who lost out to Guan, and David Tiplady, who was beaten by Lin.
Penny Muil won a double on Saturday, first defeating Chloe Ireland in the Band 4 final. Muil got past Zoe Gonpot in the semi-finals, while Ireland overcame Gaia Wong.
In Band 3, Muil on this occasion beat Clare Styles 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10) in a close match. There was a repeat of the Band 4 final in the semis, as Muil advanced past Chloe Ireland, while Styles overcame Zoe Gonpot.
Joe Kaye was also at the double as he won both Men’s Open Band 5 and Band 6. In the former, his final opponent was Manveer Dhanjal, and it was a 3-1 (11-8, 12-14, 11-8, 15-13) win for Kaye. In the last four, Kaye beat Abdullah Jassat, while Dhanjal triumphed over Minesh Pitamber.
Band 6 also went to Kaye, who beat Jassat in the final, having earlier defeated Chris Malcolm in the semis. Alex Harley was the other semi-finalist, beaten by Jassat.
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