Ricky beats Mark Banks to Men’s Singles title

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Ricky Hardcastle sensationally won four events at the recent Maidenhead Closed Championships, including beating hot favourite Mark Banks in the final of the coveted Men’s Singles.

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Banks, who has been beaten only once in more than seven years in the league competition, and that by Ricky in the autumn of 2014, won the last of his seven Men’s Singles titles in 2015, was beaten in five games by Ricky, who also won the same title in 2014.

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For good measure, Ricky also triumphed in the Tweenies’ Singles and the Division One Singles, beating Maciej Dlugozima in both finals, and teamed up with Wendy Porter to win the Mixed Doubles. In the latter final the beaten finalists were Banks and Cippenham’s Elena Tant. Elena was also runner-up in the Ladies’ Singles.

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Another Cippenham winner was Ike Greenberg who won the Division Three Singles title at his first attempt.

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Wendy Porter, who plays for Cippenham in the British leagues but not the Maidenhead League, also won the Ladies’ Singles, Veteran Ladies’ Singles and Division Two Singles to match Ricky’s haul of four titles.

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Ricky was also runner-up in two events: the Men’s Doubles with Maciej and the Drawn Doubles with Keith Hall.