Cheshire Ladies & Men’s County Championships 2023 

Hoole LTC were again great hosts to the County Championships (30th August – 3rd September). It was a good sized entry with qualifying events required for both the Men’s singles and doubles.  

The qualifying event for the Men’s singles resulted in Luke Brierley and Daniel Longshaw taking their place in the main draw. There were no major surprises in all of the 1st round matches with straight set victories for the 4 seeded players. However, Daniel Longshaw, playing with increased confidence after winning two qualifying matches, defeated Matty Bhunjun in the main draw and then sprung the surprise of the tournament defeating number 4 seed Seb Jackson in the quarter finals with an outstanding performance 6 - 2, 6 - 0. Jordan Young, the No.1 seed had a tough, and very keenly contested, quarter final match with his doubles partner Tom Schmider but eventually came out on top 6 - 2, 6 - 7 (1), 10 - 3. The other two quarter final matches were won by Ilias Hirani Worthington (No.3 seed) defeating Rafael Kiss in two close sets 7 - 5, 6 -3, and Louis Harvey Mitchell who upset the No.2 seed Jamie Oakes by the same score. The semi finals were dominated by Ilias and Louis with them both winning in straight sets. In the final it was Ilias’s greater consistency, power and his ability to hit accurately that made the difference and he deservedly won 6 - 2, 6 -1.  Men's Singles Champion - Ilias Hirani Worthington

As in last year’s Championships the Ladies singles entries contained mainly junior players. However, it was one of the more experienced players, Anna Karavayeva who, in the quarter finals, eventually defeated the No.1 seed Susanna Thompson in a final set tie break. The No.4 seed Lara Wedd was defeated by junior Abigail Yates in the quarter finals, and it was Abigail who benefitted from Anna’s withdrawal through injury, to reach the final. In the other half of the draw there were some well contested matches with Jessica Mclean (No.3 seed) defeating Karina Kiss 6 - 2, 7 - 5, and Harriet Birkett overcoming some excellent resistance from Mahalakshmi Ginjupalli 5 - 7, 6 - 2, 10 - 4. Harriet then went on to defeat Elena Asgill - Whalley the No. 2 seed in another close match 6 - 4, 5 - 7, 10 - 7. The semi-final proved to be a different proposition, with Jessica dominating the match. In the final between Jessica and Abigail, it was Jessica’s greater consistency and powerful ground strokes that were the deciding factors winning 6 - 3, 6 - 1.  Ladies' Singles Champion - Jessica Maclean

The Men’s doubles event proved to be both entertaining and very competitive. The 2 pairs to win through the qualifying event were Seb Jackson & Tom Herbert and Joe Brown & Jack Cave. Both pairs did not progress any further losing in straight sets to Nick Fance & Louis Harvey - Mitchell and Matthew Cooper & Ilias Hirani Worthington respectively. The top seeds of Conor Keohane & Jamie Oakes found Nick & Louis to be a tough proposition in the semi - final eventually winning 6 - 7, 6 - 2, 10 - 4. In the other half of the draw, Matthew & Ilias faced Brad Keenan & Rafael Kiss who had defeated No. 2 seeds Tom Schmider & Jordan Young in a very close quarter final 6 - 7 (6), 7 - 6(2), 10 - 8. It was Matthew & Ilias who took control of the match from the start, and they retained it winning 6 - 2, 6 - 2. The final was youth versus experience and on this occasion, it was youth that prevailed despite the best efforts of Conor and Jamie to recover from losing the first set 6 - 3. They fought hard eventually succumbing to Matthew & Ilias in a second set tie breaker 7 - 2. So special congratulations go to Ilias  For a junior age player to win both the singles and doubles titles is a special achievement. Men's Doubles Champions - Matthew Cooper & Ilias Hirani Worthington

Some of the Ladies’ doubles matches proved to be disappointingly one sided.  The pick of the other matches involved Ruby Roberts & Susanna Thompson, the No. 2 seeds, who defeated Jessica McLean & Abi Yates in two close sets 6 - 4, 7 - 5 and they then faced the more experienced pairing of Elena Asgill - Whalley & Anna Karavayeva in the semi - final. The match contained numerous long rallies and the result was always in the balance, however, Ruby and Susanna won the key points and edged the win 7 - 5, 7 - 6 (4). In the final they faced the No. 1 seeds Katie Merrick & Lara Wedd who had not dropped a game in their semi - final! The self-belief that can come with winning two close matches was there to see, and the greater consistency of Ruby & Susanna proved to be decisive with them winning most of the close games. The final score of 6 - 2, 6 - 2, probably did not do justice to how close the match was but there is no question the best pair deservedly took the title. Ladies' Doubles Champions - Ruby Roberts & Susanna Thompson

Last year Abi Redman became the youngest player to win a Cheshire Ladies County title at 15 years of age. However, Susanna Thompson is just 14 so it’s special congratulations to Susanna, and also to Ruby who is 16, as they have become the youngest doubles pair to win a county title. 

John Hilton (Tournament Organiser)  

Congratulations to all of our winners who can be seen here:-