Rackets | News

KBC Peel Hunt Amateur Doubles

......................................................................................................................................

Tim Cockroft, Guy Barker, Guy Smith-Bingham, John Prenn. [photos Dowling]

Tim Cockroft and Guy Smith-Bingham won their first Amateur Doubles as a pair when they defeated first seeds and pre tournament favourites, Alister Robinson and Guy Barker 18/14,17/14,7/15,15/9,7/15,7/15,15/9.

The match, which lasted just under two and a half hours, covered the full spectrum from the sublime to the ridiculous, truly amazing play to basic school boy howlers, which kept the gallery rapt for the whole of the match. Perhaps there is something about the name Guy which ensures that if you play on the back hand you are capable of exceptional reaction shots. Guy Barker has long been recognised as the rackets equivalent of an Horatius on the left hand side of the court, but on this day he was outshone by Guy Smith-Bingham, who for the majority of the game, up in front of the service box, produced a succession of remarkable shots. The match scores were so close that Barker and Robinson actually won more points. Perhaps equally unusual was the fact they also served more aces,52 to 37. Guy Barker served 28,Guy Smith-Bingham served 27, Alister Robinson 24 and Tim Cockroft 10.

In the first game Tim and Guy took a 10/2 lead in their first hand, Ali and Guy then came back to 8/11. The rallies even at this early stage were tremendous particularly the exchanges down the left hand side of the court. Robinson and Barker came back again from 13/9 to 13 all set 5 but having reached 1/0 in the set they lost serve and Cockroft had a service run of 5 to take the game 18/14.

Ali and Guy took an early 6/2 lead in the second game and then led 11/6 thanks to 4 service aces from Guy Barker. The rallies were now being fiercely contested and all four players were involved. Having got back in Tim and Guy Smith-Bingham went from 6 to 14 in one run before the other two managed to level the scores at 14 all, but they were put for no score in the set and once again Tim served out for the game in one hand, 17/14. This was the 5th out of the last 6 games they had played that Tim and Guy had won in a set having won the first 3 games of their semi final against Willie Boone and Alex Titchener-Barrett in a set.

Robinson and Barker controlled the third game from the outset serving better and playing intelligent rackets in the rallies, taking a 12/5 lead in two service runs. Robinson who throughout the match seemed to play too far back moved up and Barker controlled the left hand side and took the game 15/7.The fourth game saw Cockroft and Smith-Bingham reassert control going into a 11/1 lead in 2 hands and although the other two got back to 9/11 Tim served out to game on his next turn 15/9.

The next game saw the Marlburian pair at their best. Coming in at 1/7 behind, Ali stayed in the box until he had served out the game at 15/7, serving six aces in the process. They also won the next game by the same score but this game was rather different. All four players made a lot of unforced errors and although Ali and Guy reached 14/2 in two service runs and eventually won the game, it was not a convincing performance.

In the last game Tim and Guy put out Ali for no score and took a 6/0 , 9/4 and then a 12/5 lead. at this point one of the very best rallies of the match took place between the two Guys. Having got back in hand Ali and Guy came back to 9/12 but could get no further and Cockroft and Smith-Bingham took the game 15/9 t their next turn. The closeness of the match suggests that when these two pairs next meet, in Chicago,on March 12th for the first leg of the World Doubles Championship, a fine match should be assured.

see draw

Other Links

.......................................................................................................................................

Read About The History Of Rackets

From its roots of a game played outside taverns, through to the modern game.

About The Past Champions

The past and present leading players of the game.

Find Out The Latest Results In The World Of Rackets

All the results, fixtures and draws for the UK game.