Kowacz pulls off the shock of the night

Kowacz beat second seed and former winner Ola Andersson in the men’s singles in five games before going on to beat Richard Maddrell to earn a semi-final place against Andy Castle on finals night on Friday, March 28.

In the top half of the draw, Mark Owen, going for his 24th singles title, had two byes before beating Steve Knight and will now play Toby Eckley in the semi-final

In the ladies’ singles, Margaret Shock won through to the semi-final but then lost to Anthea Knight while, in the lower half, Pauline Hart beat Gill Davies.

In the Grade B competition for division 2 players Elliot Volpe beat Anthea Knight and Jake Price saw off Robert Gilligan to earn final places.

In the men’s doubles competition, the only seeds to lose were Colin Dolding and Richard Maddrell who were beaten by Simon Morgan and Trevor Davies. Morgan and Davies then lost in the semi-final to title holders, Toby Eckley and Ola Andersson while Mark Owen and Ady Marshall took five tough games to beat father and son partnership of Andy and Jack Castle.

With only two pairs, the ladies doubles will be played on finals night while, in the mixed doubles, Andy Castle and his daughter, Zoe, will face Brian Kitchener and Margaret Shock in the final.

The Restricted Singles, for players who have not won either of the two main titles in the last five years, Kowacz will face top seed, Colin Dolding, in the final.

Kowacz reached his third final when he won through in the the Nimmie Hodges Trophy to face Jack Castle.

Ady Marshall beat Jake Price in the final of the Audrey Lawrence Handicap while Richard Maddrell and Dylan Day who beat Ady Marshall and Matthew Jones in the final of the Handicap Doubles.

Finals Night, which will also include the Veteran and Junior events, will be at Queen Elizabeth College in Bromyard on Friday, March 28. Practice will be from 7pm and play will start at 7.30. Admission is free.