British League team mates Adam Nutland and Steve Horton were both in top form to capture a total of 7 titles between them at the Worcestershire County Closed tournament held at Arrow Vale Leisure centre on Sunday 2nd February.
Adam not only retained the under 21 singles but paired up with Laura Horton to take a second consecutive mixed doubles title and men’s doubles again with county captain Steve Horton. Steve also retained the Veterans doubles with county team mate Dave Rogers, men’s doubles with Adam and Veteran singles with a 3-1 victory over his old rival, Lewis Siket.
In the men’s singles event Adam defeated Sasha Grokhotov in a very one - sided semi-final while on the other side of the draw, Steve beat Lewis Siket 3-1 to set up a first County final between the top 2 seeded players. Number 1 seed and current champion, Adam produced some powerful attacking shots from the first ball to frequently break through ‘Stonewall’ Steve’s mix of attack and defence. Despite his resilient defence and vast experience in finals this appeared to be a tall order for the ‘evergreen’ veteran. Adam had not dropped a single set at any point during the defence of his title and was not prepared to let Steve into the match. This was an exhibition of power, speed and agility with Adam proving himself to be the finest player Worcestershire has produced. The result was a comfortable 3-0 victory and a 4th title on the day for Adam.
In the ladies singles, Gloucestershire player Anne Barnes, who plays in the Malvern league defeated current title holder and Junior champion Laura Horton in the first game of a round robin event. This proved to be a key result with Laura and Anne winning all of their remaining games. Anne, as a result of this was Ladies champion in top spot. Anne then paired up with Gemma McKay to defeat defending champions, the Mother and Daughter partnership of Sue and Laura Horton in 4 close sets.
