Welsh players triumph in veterans’ championship

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Players from Wales came home with two doubles titles from the British Open veterans indoor championships in Dudley,

Chris Hill from Abertillery won the over-55s doubles, and Alistair Alexander of Cardiff won the over-45 doubles, while Peter Boshier-Jones from Penarth reached the semi-final of the over-75s competition.

Hill and doubles partner Tony King (Birmingham) beat Mike Dawe and Paul Reardon (St Georges London) 6-2 6-4 in the final, while in the singles Hill reached the semi-final after beating top seed Jeremy Trafford (Leicester) 6-4 6-4 on the way.

Alexander won the over-45s doubles with Mark Rowe (Worcester), beating Ged Doherty and Peter Godber (Derbyshire) 5-7 6-3 7-5.  He also reached the men's over-50 singles final, losing to Vince Gray (France) 6-4 2-6 2-6.

Boshier-Jones put in an excellent performance in the men's over-75s singles, beating the number 4 seed en-route to the semi-final, where he faced world-class veteran Jimmy Wood (Scotland) and came extremely close, going down 4-6 6-4 1-6.

Hill, who coaches at Crickhowell, Brecon and Blaenau Gwent, was short-listed for the Tennis Wales coach of the year award in 2011.

“In recent years, we’ve become used to hearing about the success of young Welsh players in national and international competitions, so it’s nice to be reminded that we have winners at all age levels,” said Peter Drew, chief executive of Tennis Wales.

“I congratulate Chris and Alistair on their victories, and Peter for his excellent performance. It shows that tennis is one of the few sports that offers the potential of real competition for players of any age.” 

For information about any aspect of tennis in Wales, please contact Tennis Wales at 029 20 463335 or www.tenniswales.org.uk

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Caption: Welsh aces at the veterans’ championship – Alistair Alexander of Cardiff, Peter Boshier-Jones from Penarth, and Chris Hill of Abertillery.