In the opening match after winning the first 2 sets against Paul I found myself 10-6 down in the 3rd on my serve. I won the next two points and then Paul served off with his first serve.  Sensing his hesitancy I levelled at 10-10 and then a net cord brought me to match point and the subsequent victory.

They say luck has a way of balancing out and nothing could be further from the truth in my next match which actually was game 4 because Chris was doubling up in another match. Leading 2-1 and 8-8 in the 4th he got two successive edges to win 11-8. Had both missed, and we are talking about the finest of margins, it could have been another 5 setter.

I beat Richard in 5 to record my second singles victory, while both Jai and Ian again came away empty handed.

On the plus side, this was the first time we had improved on our first half performance and the first time we had won a doubles' match since victory at Sparta on 17 Oct.