Bishop Auckland TTC para trio; Andrew Green, Nikki Rutter, and Ben Robinson, made the most of the February Para Open at Sheffield EIS on the 4th February.
Nikki, Class 8 standing player, had a fight on her hands from the start. Grouped with performance squad player Ryan Henry, and newcomer Daniel Ferguson, Nikki just couldn’t keep up and ended bottom of the group, not going anywhere.
Partnered with newcomer John Potts in the Doubles, Nikki played teammate Ben, who was partnered with Saddique. In a round robin of 5, this battle went Nikki’s went with her and John taking 4th spot, and Ben and Saddique taking 5th respectively.
Class 11 standing player, Ben, had a later start, with no Class 11 running in the morning he joined in with the Doubles, but it was his Banded B event where he shone. A round robin with some confident players saw him walking away with the Silver medal.
Class 3 Wheelchair player, Andrew, started the morning well by winning his first match in 3, and coming second in his group overall, but the Quarter-final against a very strong Lucie Bouron was just too much.
The Band B and C were merged for the Wheelchair Singles event in the afternoon, with Andrew performing well and comfortably coming top of his group, he then went on to win his Semi-final in 3, setting himself for an intense 5-set battle against his earlier Doubles partner, before being crowned the winner, and taking home the Gold.