This was the twelfth successive year that the Hatfield Club has hosted the Billy Ross-Skinner British Mixed Doubles, sponsored by Neptune Investment Management . Unfortunately, the Company's founder, Robin Geffen, had to withdraw from play at the last minute through injury.

This year's Championship was restricted to the best twelve ladies and as usual their male partners were selected from a spread of Clubs to provide balanced pairings, each with an even chance on paper of winning the title. Amongst the lady players was Karen Hird defending her title and with the French Open title now ranked second in the world, and Freddy Adam ranked 4th in the world after competing in the US Open final. And among the men, at least 3 former winners all keen to re-establish their prowess.

The event was won by Jill Newby (Holyport) and Anthony Clake (Oxford) who combined well to beat Louise Mercier and Nick Lloyd (both from Hatfield) by 6/2, 6/5. Newby and Clake had a good first set with Clake playing a mix of flamboyant shots to various parts of the court and found the Winning Gallery on a number of occasions, while Newby volleyed superbly and served harmless-looking demi-piques that often jumped sharply off the back wall. Mercier and Lloyd were under pressure throughout and opened up opportunities for their opponents to exploit. In the second set, Lloyd kept his opponents on their toes with a variety of effective serves and with Mercier now retrieving well, he was able to exercise more controlled aggression. This brought its rewards and for a while it looked as though a third set would ensue, but with the scores level at 5/5, Clake and Newby kept their nerve to take the set and win the title.

Earlier, In the first Group to play on Friday, Jo Sinclar (Queens) and Jonathan Fisher (Hatfield) looked strong, with Sinclair volleying well, and moved quickly to be the first pair into the Quarters. The second Group was less clear cut and Aldona Greenwood (Manchester) and Geoffrey Russell (RTC) were forced into four successive 6/5 sets to beat Elli Harris (Oxford) and Robert Frost (RTC) and then lose to Freddie Adam (Oxford) and Johnny Beale (Bristol & Bath). This took them into the repêchage system, where they played a further two 6/5 sets before reaching the Quarters. In the third Group on Saturday morning, Karen Hird (RTC and the Title holder) started well, but Colin Dean (Hatfield) did not find the centre of his racket until they were trailing 3/5 in the second set. But then the pair recovered to "squeak" home against Sarah Metherell (Queens) and Mark Smith (Hatfield) by 4/6, 6/5, 6/5 and then beat Alex Garside and Paul Danby (both Seacourt) in straight sets. In the last Group, Louise Mercier and Nick Lloyd (both Hatfield) had an easy passage into the Semis, although they did drop a set against Newby and Clake in their second match.

The other three Quarters all went to three sets, with Newby and Clake only getting home against Sinclair and Fisher by 6/5 in a close final set. The second match was even tighter with Nicola Cavill (RTC) and Nick Jones (Seacourt), survivors of the repêchage system, scraping home 6/5, 6/5 after looking "out of it" in the first set. However, they were denied a place in the Final by Newby and Clake who by then were playing well together and proved far too strong. In the third Semi, Aldona Greenwood (Manchester) and Geoffrey Russell (RTC), who seemed to thrive on close matches, played exceptionally well against Hird and Dean in what looked to be another "nail-biter", but after being 40/love down when leading 5/4, in the final set, they survived each of the next five points to progress to the Semis. There they encountered Mercier and Lloyd and in a see-sawing match faced another 5/5 finish. This time, however their luck did not hold and they were forced out of the tournament after a very creditable performance.

So to the Final, which has already been described above, and in which the winners triumphed, through the repêchage system, against the pair that had beaten them in their first match of the tournament.

Colin Dean (Hatfield)