Dorning edges past top seed to lift Warwickshire singles crown

Lillington Free Church's Lee Dorning lifted the men's singles title at the Senior Warwickshire Championships which were staged at St Nicholas Park Leisure Centre on Sunday, writes Phil John.
Lee Dorning saw off number one seed Ian Ferguson to win the Warwickshire men's singles crown.Lee Dorning saw off number one seed Ian Ferguson to win the Warwickshire men's singles crown.
Lee Dorning saw off number one seed Ian Ferguson to win the Warwickshire men's singles crown.

The men’s singles were played in ten initial groups with Dorning joined in the knockout stages by clubmates and fellow group winners Dave Ramsey and Sam Weaving.

Colebridge duo Anthony Ellis and Ian Ferguson, the number one seed, also progressed as did Rugby pair Ryan Lines and Danny Ricks, Chris Hughes of Birmingham side Beechwood, Mark Jackson of St George’s and Jules Simon of Copsewood, Birmingham.

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Ferguson survived a major scare in the quarter-finals where Ramsey took him to 11-9 in the fifth. However, he recovered to fend off Jackson in straight games to book his place in the final.

Dorning accounted for Weaving 11-8 in the fifth in a gripping semi-final and the excitement continued as he snatched a close final 7, -6, -8 , 9, 10 to claim the crown.

In the ladies’ singles, Kate Hughes and Lisa Rinnhofer, both of Colebridge, won their groups as did Free Church’s Livvy Fletcher.

Rinnhofer beat Fletcher 3-0 in their semi and faced Hughes who received a bye to the final.

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In a closer than expected showpiece, Hughes retained her crown -8, 12, -9, 7, 6.

The men’s doubles was fiercely contested, with the Colebridge duo of Ellis and Ferguson coming out on top 11-4 in the decider against Rugby’s Ryan Lines and Anshul Satsangi.

The ladies’ doubles was played as a round-robin, with Hughes and Rinnhofer winning all four of their matches to take the crown ahead of Fletcher and her 12-year-old sister Eleanor.

In the final of the mixed doubles, number one seeds Ferguson and Hughes overcame Simon Griew of County Council and Dawn Sagoo of Curdworth.

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The men’s restricted event attracted a good entry, with Griew defeating Ramsey in his semi-final before recovering from losing the first game to beat Sam Wiggins of Free Church in four.

The ladies’ restricted event went to Livvy Fletcher who sneaked past Helen Adams of Smithswood 12-10 in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire finished second in Division 1B of the County Under-15 League in Rugby on Saturday.

Ricardo Bolanos, Josh Yarrow and Milly Green of Lillington Free Church were joined by Nathaniel Saunders and Sophie Rinnhofer of Colebridge.

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They enjoyed a 9-1 victory over Lincolnshire, the three boys each winning their two singles matches, Milly Green beating Steffi Poppa and England number 51 Katie Christoforou and Sophie Rinhoffer also defeating Christoforou.

They also accounted for Yorkshire 6-4 with Bolanos winning his two against Cameron Leighton and Ehsan Jawadi and both girls defeating Isabella Crooks and Hallie Fitton, ranked 57.

Finally, they found Lancashire too strong and went down 7-3 despite a great win for Bolanos over Ben McDonald and the girls each taking the scalp of England number 45 Aakanksha Triparti.