Beechwood stun undefeated Four Oaks to take tennis title

Sep 29 2009 by Brian Dick, Birmingham Mail

MANY of the region’s tennis competitions have reached a climax in recent weeks and Beechwood have come out on top.

The Coventry-based club’s men’s team won the Inter District Warwickshire play-off between the Birmingham League and the Coventry & District League.

The event, played at Billesley Tennis Centre, saw the quartet of Maniel Bains, Richard Allen, Ian Hughes and Jon Ison defeat previously unbeaten Four Oaks.

That brought the title back to Coventry for the first time since 2000 and was Beechwood’s first victory since the play-off was introduced ten years ago.

In the women’s event Edgbaston Priory triumphed over Warwick Boat Club thanks to an undefeated effort from Manisha Foster.

The youngster was joined in the victorious team by Hannah Porter, Celia Fraser, Katie Cheswick and captained by Katie Shaw.

■ PAUL Martin took the men’s singles title in the Warwickshire Club Players Championship.

The Hampton-in-Arden player prevailed 6-2, 6-2 over Warwick Boat Club’s Tony Eccleston.

The ladies’ singles crown was taken by Lisa Key, of Olton and West Warwicks, who beat David Lloyd Birmingham’s Lucy Dean 6-1, 6-3.

Beechwood’s Richard Allen teamed up with Miguel Espada, of Hampton, to defeat Streetly pair John Cross and Noel Dunn 6-2, 6-1.

And the women’s doubles went to Knowle & Dorridge partnership Alison Isaacs and Judy Turner, who edged a topsy-turvy encounter with Streetly’s Mandy Rowe and Jo Jennings.

The champions looked to be coasting when they took the first set without losing a game, only for Rowe and Jennings to bag the second 6-1.

Isaacs and Turner responded in the decider to win 6-0, 1-6, 6-1.

■ ANOTHER rising star at Four Oaks, 13-year-old Tom Crothers, has enjoyed a successful summer with five LTA Ratings Under-14 tournament wins.

His latest came at the Derbyshire Tennis Centre where he beat Shropshire’s top player Ben Kirk in straight sets in the last four.

Then in the final Crothers beat Suffolk’s No.1 Max Darrington, despite losing a tight first set in a tie-break.

He battled back to win the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in a three-hour epic.