Khalid wins men’s title for third time

As the players began warming up, rain flooded the courts at Park Tennis Club in Hove Edge and the day’s events were transferred to Queens Sports Club in Halifax.

Irfan Khalid, from Oakfield, gained his third success in the Men’s singles in a match of baseline rallies against fourteen-year-old James Duffy, adding to the titles he also won in 2016 and 2018.

Khalid was very strongly pressed in the first set but eventually overcame his opponent, winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Duffy, who was supported by his Cragg Vale coach Ellis Ward and who looks a sure-fire future winner of this event, was a quarter finalist in the 14 & Under Yorkshire Championships last year.

Ann Rushworth first won the Ladies’ singles title in 1990 and she was successful in the event for the 15th time when she beat Cragg Vale’s Becky Devereux 6-2, 6-2, Rushworth’s relentless style forcing Devereux into making errors.

Rushworth also contested the Ladies’ doubles final and won the title for a ninth time, five of them gained with her Wellholme teammate Linda Kenworthy. They proved just too good for the Todmorden pairing of Suzanne Oulton and Angela Rezki, winning 7-5, 7-5.

The Men’s doubles was won for a fourth time by the Akroydon duo James Hodgson and Alasdair Whiteley, who overcame Todmorden’s Mark Cheetham and Peter Metcalfe in a hard-hitting three-setter, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Having found themselves 5-1 down in the first set, Cheetham and Metcalfe got off to a better start in the second and the match went to a decider. At 3-2 in the third set, Metcalfe, Cheetham and Hodgson all lost their serves, but Whiteley held on to his and the Akroydon pair prevailed.

Hodgson was back on court for the Mixed doubles final, this time partnering Abbie Young from Cragg Vale. Last year’s top pairing in the Calderdale Mixed League justified their number one seeding by getting the better of the 2019 winners, Chris Williams and Felicity Raud from Park, to win their first
title together.

Hodgson and Young won the first set 6-1, but were made to fight harder in the second, which was decided 7-4 in a tiebreak.