THE annual Basingstoke and District League finals day was once again a great success at Beechdown.

The men’s and ladies singles opened the proceedings with 2014 champion Malcolm McPhail taking on first time finalist Nicolae Chirila in the men’s event .

Meanwhile, defending champion Clare Munns playing Zoe Taylor in the ladies.

The men’s singles went the full distance with seven straight breaks of service in the first set which eventually went to Malcolm McPhail 6-3.

Nicolae Chirila responded in the second set with both players involved in close points and long rallies.

Nicolae Chirila taking the set 6-1. The third set was also a close fought affair with Malcolm McPhail eventually coming out on top 6-1 in a great match from both players.

The ladies singles was also a good match and the final result did not reflect the closeness of some of the games in the contest.

Clare Munns successfully defended her trophy winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-0, although she had to work very hard in some of the games to stay in them.

Zoe Taylor was just unable to get that extra point to take the game which could have made the final result a lot closer.

The ladies doubles was between Clare Munns and Andrea Butcher and Lucy Battersby and Zoe Taylor.

The first set went with serve to 4-4 when the Beechdown pair of Clare Munns and Andrea Butcher managed to break service to win the set 6-4.

They got off to a flying start in the second set going 3-0 up very quickly.

The Overton pair of Lucy Battersby and Zoe Taylor fought back well to get to 5-4, but were unable to get the vital next game.

All the players were very evenly matched producing some excellent rallies with several of the games going to deuce.

Beechdown took the title for the fourth consecutive year.

The final match of the afternoon was the much anticipated mixed doubles between Ben Jubin and Steph Catlin and Chris Harrold and Munns.

The Totally Tennis pair of Ben Jubin and Steph Catlin got off to a great start winning the first three games.

This was despite the best efforts of Beechdown team of Chris Harrold and Clare Munns, they were unable to catch the Totally Tennis pair who took the first set 6-2.

A much closer second set followed with some excellent shots from all players, but with the score at 4-4 the Beechdown pair lost their serve and with it the set 6-4, as Ben Jubin and were first time winners of the trophy.

The men’s doubles event was unable to be held on the day as the other finals and will now be played at a later date.

The Basingstoke and District Tennis League would like to thank Beechdown for the use of their courts and facilities on the day which helped make it a very successful afternoon for all the players.