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The World Champion and his partner had reached the final with a not entirely bloodless victory in the semi finals against Alastair Orchard and Willie Boone. at one game all and 0/8 ahead in the third the luckless Orchard was hit just above the ear by the ball which came off the frame of the Hue Williams racket and had to be taken to hospital to be checked over. He was ok and will contest the Open Doubles in March. Mark Hue Williams David Vaughan President of the Jesters Harry Foster Cockroft and Danby had a rather tougher time reaching the final beating Guy Barker and Rupert Owen-Browne 13/16,15/1,15/7,15/6,10/15,15/12. For both these pairs this competition was the first time they had played together, although Cockroft had won in 2003 playing with Owen-Browne. Cockroft and Danby worked better as a pair as both Barker and Owen-Browne prefer to play on the left hand side of the court and this led to a certain amount of confusion. Guy, who played forehand did not look nearly as comfortable as he does when he plays on the left hand side, unsurprising after 20 years of doubles playing on the backhand. The final produced some wonderful rallies and tremendous ball striking but overall was rather scrappy with no one producing consistently good play. The second seeds were behind for much of the first game but having put both Foster and Hue Williams out for no score at 10/13 behind levelled the scores at 13 all and then again came from 0/2 down in the set to 5, to take 5 points in a row to win the game 18/15. The next two games were dominated by the No 1 seeds who kept Cockroft and Danby on the defensive throughout. In the second game they took an 11/7 lead in 3 hands and won the four points they needed to level the match in their next turn in the box. The third game followed a similar pattern, Foster and Hue Williams this time winning the game in five service runs, 11 of these points coming with service aces. The fourth and fifth games produced the best rackets of the match all four contestants striking the ball with authority and purpose, but with Foster the only player who seemed to be thinking beyond the immediate. For four hands each in the fourth game the scores remained close and then Harry and Mark went from 7/4 to game ball in one hand. At this stage they had won nine of their 14 points with service aces and indeed a feature of the match was the superiority of their serving, 45 aces to Tim and Charlie's 27. Charlie now produced his best run of the match taking the next six points to advance to 10/14 but having been put out Tim was, in turn put out for no score and Harry finished off the game with an ace. In the fifth game the top seeds once more seemed to be in control at 7/4 in their fifth hand but at this juncture Danby and Cockroft played their best rackets of the match, attacking at every opportunity, and winning a 15 stroke rally, which had all four players at full stretch, to get back in hand and then win six points to take a 10/7 lead. Another great fierce hitting rally got Mark and Harry back in the box and they reached 11/10 before a double fault from Hue Williams allowed Danby back in to serve. Making the most of the chance he took four points to get to game ball and although he was put out Tim made sure of the game on the next rally. He won the first 4 points of the next game, the sixth, which turned out to be the final game. Having won serve Harry and Mark went to 9/4 in one hand , then put Charlie and Tim out for one point which turned out to be their last one. There followed a blank hand for both sides before Foster was back in hand and won the next six points for the match clinching, his first Amateur Doubles title with another ace. Foster and Hue Williams will be defending their Open Doubles from the 11th to the 19th of March and it must be hoped that Ali Robinson will be back to fitness by then and that he and Guy Barker, the reigning World Doubles Champions, will be able to contest the Open Doubles. 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.