Title double for Cooper

The finals of the Slazenger Calderdale League's over 40s tournament were held at Wellholme Park last Sunday.
Calderdale Tennis League over 40s finalsCalderdale Tennis League over 40s finals
Calderdale Tennis League over 40s finals

The men’s singles was a repeat of 2017, with Jonathan Cooper being too accomplished again for his Soyland teammate Mark Sutcliffe, winning 6-4, 6-2 to gain his third title.

Cooper and Sutcliffe then teamed up to win the men’s doubles for a fourth time. They beat the Huddersfield/Rastrick pairing of Rob Hardiman and Dominic Chin 6-1, 6-2.

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In the ladies’ final, Suzanne Oulton, who plays at Todmorden, had lost to Wellholme’s Ann Rushworth at this stage in each of the past four years, but she turned that form around with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Oulton, who started playing tennis by hitting a ball against a garage wall, then partnered Margaret Smith, also of Todmorden, but they were outplayed by Jo Hinchliffe from Queens and Sarah Whipp of Elland, who won 6-4, 6-2.

Hinchliffe plays a consistent game from the back of the court while Whipp produces skilful net play. This makes them difficult to beat and this was their fourth over 40s title in six years.

Oulton was back on court for a third final of the day in the mixed doubles with Tod teammate Andrew Mitchell. They won the first set 6-3 against the Park/Queens pairing of Chris Williams and Liz McHugh. However, their opponents won the next two sets 6-1, 6-3.

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The Calderdale men’s doubles league matches were completed last week and Todmorden A finished unbeaten to take the Division One title.

The team, consisting mainly of Irfan Khalid, Gavin Mason, Peter Metcalfe, Greg Dyson and Mark Cheetham, were top for the second successive year.

There was little between the top four clubs in Division Two but Oakfield A repeated their 2016 success.

Huddersfield beat Sowerby B 8-0 in a top-of-the-table clash to snatch the Division Three title by half a point.

Akroydon B took Division Four after briefly being knocked off the top spot by Cleckheaton A, but they regained the lead and held on in their final match.