Tennis
DEVON'S young stars have been in action at Wimbledon and Bournemouth - while over in Ireland county veteran Betty Blair was reaching the European over 40 singles final.
At the Wimbledon U19 event, described as one of the 'toughest' events on the junior circuit by local coach Darren Peterson, there was another good display by Richard Lane's son, Alex.
The England junior beat number four seed Harley Tower 21-17, 13-21, 21-15 and Jamie Pugh 21-17, 8-21, 25-23 on his way to the quarter-finals where he went down to Aaron Cheng 21-9, 7-21, 21-18.
Still only 15 years of age, it was another outstanding performance against more senior opponents with Alex also going on to reach the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with Chloe Birch.
Meanwhile, over in Bournemouth, sisters Hannah and Sophie Laidler who are part of the fledgling Visions Badminton Academy acquitted themselves well.
In the girls' U15 bronze event, Hannah Laidler reached the final and in a match to 30 points, she was beaten by Charlotte Murray (Dorset) 30-27.
Young Sophie Laidler can feel pleased with her efforts in this age group after stepping up a level to win a singles and run two other opponents very close.
The two sisters got off to a great start in the Torbay & District Ladies' league after teaming up with Sarah Nickels and county veteran Julie Frost to beat Kingsteignton Shuttles 17-1.
The Kingsteignton quartet of Della Joint, Jane Comyns, Gemma Hann and Claire Winston battled well to pick up a consolation rubber. They also went close to adding to their score, but in the closest doubles of the match, Nickels and Sophie Laidler (Marine) saved a match point in beating Comyns and Winston 17-21, 22-20, 21-13.
Across the water in Ireland, Blair was in Dundalk where she was beaten by Dorota Grzejdak of Poland 21-13, 21-8.
The 44-year-old who was a finalist the Devon Restricted championships at the Acorn Centre, Torquay, had beaten Marina Karstrom 21-7, 21-8 in the semi-finals.
