THE annual Basingstoke League men's doubles veterans tournament took place on at Preston Candover Tennis Club, writes RICHARD MOLE.

There was an entry of 12 pairs split into two groups of six.

In group one, the champions of two years ago Rob King and Paul Morgan (Kintbury) impressed during the round robin matches by winning all their sets to go straight through to the semis.

Their closest rivals were Rex Groves and Tom Rice (Totally Tennis) who finished equal on games won with Tony Vanderslott and Jeff Watson (Waverley) both of whom gave King and Morgan their closest matches.

Groves and Rice advanced to the semi finals courtesy of them beating Vanderslott and Watson in their round robin match.

Newcomers Adam Fitzgerald and Ollie Beckwith (Hampshire Court) gave a good account of themselves winning three of their five sets.

Local pairing of Tim Blockley and Steve Grove (Preston Candover) finished in fifth place with Richard Hancock and Geoff Mulhern (Goodworth Clatford) making up the group.

Group two saw John Howell and Mike Prince (Kintbury) come through some tough sets to remain unbeaten and win the group. Runners up, just losing to the group winners, were Martyn Isherwood and Gordon Linscot (Andover) with David Burrell and Phil Hood (BDH and Oakley) in third place.

The rest of the group was made up of Eric Dowek and Chris Timmis (Preston Candover), Richard Mole and Andy Wallace (Preston Candover and BDH) and Steve Brown and Tsvet Bratinov (Waverley) who all put in good performances.

The semi finals saw King and Morgan taking on Linscot and Isherwood with King and Morgan winning 6-2.

The other semi went right down to the final point of the match with John Howell and Mike Prince coming through against Groves and Rice 6-5.

In a close final ,King and Morgan managed to get their hands back on the trophy they won two years ago with a 6-4 win.