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The Vulcan Arena hosted the Yorkshire Elite Open Badminton Tournament last weekend, and with the list of participants reading like a who's who of the best British players, it provided a rare opportunity for the people of Hull to witness the game at its highest level and attracted a good sized crowd.
The Yorkshire open is one of only three tournaments that make up the Elite Circuit - the others being Wimbledon and Burgess Hill in Sussex, and is another prestigious sporting event to add to the growing list held at the new venue since it opened last December.
Vulcan Arena Manager, Andy Tate, said. “The feedback we have received from England’s highest ranking players and officials from the Badminton Association of England indicates that the Vulcan Arena will be put forward for future regional and national tournaments.”
In the women’s singles final, Liz Cann’s bid for a second successive Elite triumph was foiled when she was beaten by Korean Lee Young Sook. Cann had won the opening Elite tournament at Wimbledon back in September, but Young Sook beat her to this one, winning the three-set final 11-0, 0-11, 11-8
And Young Sook also came within one win of the mixed doubles final. Partnered with Stephen Foster, they lost to Kristian Roebuck and Liza Parker, who in turn lost the final to England's no.2 pairing, Robert Blair and Natalie Munt.
Robert Blair also took the men's doubles title with Anthony Clark.
The men's singles title went to Aamir Ghaffar, who beat Wimbledon winner Toby Honey in straight games, while the women's doubles went to England's no.2 pair Ella Tripp and Jo Wright.
The weekend’s results in full:
Men's singles semi-finals:
Toby Honey (Surrey) beat Gert Kunka (Warks) 15-6, 15-12
Aamir Ghaffar (Middsx) beat Nicholas Kidd (Avon) 15-7, 15-6
Men's singles Final: Ghaffar beat Honey 15-11, 15-4
Women's singles semi-finals:
Lee Young Sook (Korea) beat Elana Johnson (Guernsey) 11-0, 11-4
Elizabeth Cann (Jersey) beat Kelly Matthews (Herts) 11-9, 11-9
Women's singles Final: Lee beat Cann 11-1, 0-11, 11-8
Men's doubles semi-finals:
Robert Blair (Leics) & Anthony Clark (Notts) beat Carl Goode (Warks) & Steven Higgins (Surrey) 15-3, 15-5
David Lindley (Notts) & Kristian Roebuck (Derbyshire) beat Ian Palethorpe (Lancs) & Paul Trueman (Yorks) 15-6, 11-15, 15-9
Men's doubles Final: Blair & Clark beat Lindley & Roebuck 15-0, 15-2
Women's doubles:
Ella Tripp (Cheshire) & Joanne Wright (Lancs) beat Kelly Matthews & Natalie Munt (both Herts) 15-7, 15-4
Liza Parker & Suzanne Rayappan (both Herts) beat Sarah Bok (Yorks) & Leah Tarry (Derbyshire) 15-4, 15-2
Women's doubles Final: Tripp & Wright beat Parker & Rayappan 15-2, 15-8
Mixed doubles Semi-finals:
Robert Blair (Leics) & Natalie Munt (Herts) beat Steven Higgins (Surrey) & Katie Litherland (Lancs) 15-3, 15-5
Kristian Roebuck (Derbyshire) & Liza Parker (Herts) beat Stephen Foster (Yorks) & Lee Young Sook (Korea) 15-7. 8-15, 15-7
Mixed doubles Final: Blair & Munt beat Roebuck & Parker 15-7, 15-5
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