Ian Lines (Bowden) retained his title of Open Singles Champion at the end of a sunny weekend expertly managed as a flexible swiss by his wife Debbie (currently unattached). Records show that Debbie has been playing since 1986, longer than all but one of the other competitors – just – but this was the first tournament she had managed, regulars Ian Vincent and James Death being unavailable.
Fresh from reaching the semis in the Northern Championship, Miranda Chapman (Nottingham) continued her excellent form, winning most of her games with "TP" after the score and so earning the peeling prize. The women's world champion would have gone into a play-off against Nick Parish (Parsons Green) had Lines not beaten Parish to finish ahead on 6 wins from 7 games, and so had to settle for the consolation box of Maltesers for the runner-up.
Good lawns, excellent food, plenty of sunshine. What more can you ask?
Scores:
Ian Lines 6/7, Miranda Chapman 6/8, Phill Scarr 5/7, Debbie Lines 4/6, Nick Parish 5/8, Omied Hallam 4/7, Rachel Rowe 4/7, Mark Ormerod 4/8, Peter Thompson 2/6, Richard White 2/6, David Brydon 2/7, Dennis Scarr 1/6, Arthur Rowe 0/7.