Winner: Will Bateman hitting a forehand winner in the men’s final

ONCE again Haverfordwest played host to the historical Pembrokeshire County Tennis Championships. The tournament which also coincides with Wimbledon is steeped in over 80 years of history and this year’s event was as closely fought as ever.

As always the setting at The Parade, Haverfordwest creates an idyllic setting overlooking the town and the Cleddau river. The finals day presented some of the closest and longest matches in recent championship history as the sun shone and the weather was thankfully kinder than it had been at the start of tournament.

Following the official photocall, finals day began with the Men’s and Ladies singles final. Former Champion Will Bateman, who hadn’t picked up a racket competitively for 2 years prior to the start of the tournament, took on last year’s runner up and number one seed Dylan Preece.

From start to finish, this was a really entertaining match with titanic long rallies from the baseline interspersed with exciting attacking play in the forecourt with an array of volleys and drop shots around the net. Will took a tight first set 6-4, the second set was also a tight affair with Will claiming the title once again with a straight sets victory 6-4, 6-4.

The Ladies Final proved to be just as entertaining with lots of incredible rallies. This Year’s final was between last year runner up Sarah Newman and former champion Sharon Irish. Sarah coming through a hard fought first set 6-3. The second set was an even closer tussle with Sarah Newman leading 6-5 and one game away from the title that had evaded her the previous year. In what proved to be the final game of the match Sarah secured a 6-3, 7-5 victory to win her first Ladies singles title.

Next up were the Men’s and Ladies doubles finals and as always provided for some exciting tennis living up to the high standards of some of the finals of the past. In the Men’s final top seeds Dylan Preece and Marc Thompson took on third seeds Adam and Joe Colwill. Adam and Joe, aged sixteen and fifteen respectively battled hard with their more experienced opponents and at 6 all in first set looked to take advantage in the tie break. However, the top seeds held their nerve and took the first set on the tie break. The second set proved just as competitive with Adam and Joe putting behind them their first set disappointment to take the second set 6-4 and level the match at one set all. The deciding champions tie break to 10 points was even more exciting than the previous two sets. Despite the younger partnership leading in the deciding champions tie break Dylan and Marc eventually came through 10-8 to claim the Men’s Doubles title.

The Ladies Doubles final featured defending champions and top seeds Sandra Rowlands and Amy Walters against second seeds Sarah Keogh and Jane Allen. All four players are very familiar with each other’s games and this led to an intriguing battle in a very closely fought contest. The first set was on a knife edge from start to finish with the champions and top seeds coming through 7-5. The second set proved almost as tight as the first, with the second seeds using all their experience to try and force a third set but alas to no avail. The defending champions retained their title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory.

After a short break Dylan Preece and Sandra Rowlands were back on court pairing up for the Mixed Doubles final. Their opponents Sarah Newman and Gordon Hardy, champions from 2 years ago were sure to provide formidable opponents. The first set provided scintillating action for the many spectators with Sarah and Gordon taking a one set advantage 7-5. Dylan, despite playing his third final of the day was still in top form along with his partner Sandra as they levelled up the match with a 6-4 win in the second set. The champions tie break to ten points was won by Dylan and Sandra 10-3 as they claimed their first Mixed Doubles title.

The final match of the championships was the Men’s plate which was contested by two of the tournaments younger stars Andre Thompson and Lewis Phillips. Andre triumphing with a 6-0, 6-3 victory to claim the title for a second time.

After the completion of the matches spectators and competitors were treated to a delicious tea organised by the ladies of the Pembrokeshire County Tournament committee. As well as presentations to all the winners and runners up, as is tradition the Beryl Thomas- Cleaver Trophy for best junior performance during tournament was awarded to Adam Colwill who displayed some deft touches and incredible shots around the net.

Chairman Peter Lilley thanked the tournament sponsors Westhaven Construction and Roger Walker Tennis Holidays for their continued sponsorship of this prestigious event and the organising committee who as always work so hard to put on this great event. There was a presentation to Tournament Director Mrs Sue Jones and Peter thanked Sue for her fantastic organisation of the event without which the event would not be the success that it is.

Entries for next year’s event will be open in the Spring of 2018 and confirmed dates for the event will be released in the coming months. Details can be found on the Haverfordwest Tennis Club website at www.haverfordwesttennis.com