28/01/15
Players from the East Midlands won three out of eight events and shared in a fourth gold medal as Leeds Beckett University hosted the first Learning Disability Regional Series tournament of 2015.
Among those topping the podium was Aiden Leighton, one of three players in Leeds who have been selected for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles later in the year. Leighton beat Deal’s silver medallist Tom Brownsword 6-4 en route to remaining undefeated in his three matches in the men’s Division 2 singles.
There was another East Midlands gold medal in the men’s Division 3 singles as Steven Uttley beat fellow Nottinghamshire player Alex Hopkinson into silver medal position after winning their match 6-3. Uttley won all four of his matches.
The men’s Division 1 singles gold medal went back to the West Midlands as Birmingham’s Zach Brookes won three closely fought contests to edge out East Midlands duo Matthew Chilvers and Michael Clarke into silver and bronze medal positions respectively. All three of Clarke’s matches ended in tie-breaks as he beat fourth placed Adam Brownsword 7-6(6), but slipped to a 7-6(2) loss to Brookes and a 7-6(3) loss to Chilvers.
Dorset’s Dawn Taylor won all three of her matches without dropping a game to win gold in the women’s Division 1 singles as Yorkshire’s Laura Campbell claimed the silver medal. The match that decided the silver medal was much closer, with Campbell earning a narrow 7-5 win over London’s Lily Mills.
Yorkshire players won the gold, silver and bronze medals in the women’s Division 2 singles, with Laura Wells prevailing in all three of her matches to finish ahead of Emma Lindsay and Nicola Wells. Laura’s toughest match ended in a 7-5 win over Nicola, while she won her other two matches 6-0.
After their silver and bronze medals in the men’s Division 2 singles, Chilvers and Clarke paired up to win the men’s Division 1 doubles gold medal with three wins from their three matches. Brookes and Gloucestershire’s Robert Fisher earned the silver medal.
Meanwhile, Mills and Taylor joined forces to win the women’s doubles gold medal after beating Campbell and Scotland’s Lucy Porteous 6-4, 6-0.
There was a second gold medal for Uttley in the mixed doubles as he partnered Lindsay to two 6-1 victories in their two matches. The Yorkshire partnership of Matthew Wreglesworth and Laura Wells won the mixed doubles silver medal.