Louis Laville was ‘super excited’ as he and Pei Chuan Kao won a thrilling mixed doubles final against Thaddea Lock and James Chaudry to close out a fantastic weekend in Bolton at the English Nationals 2023.
The first game was won 11-0 by Louis and Pei, but it was closer than the scoreline would suggest as Thaddea and James played some great shots but just found themselves unable to convert off their serve.
The match really began to heat up in the second game, as Thaddea and James opened up an early 5-1 lead thanks to some clever lobs. The game eventually ended 11-5 to set up a final game to decide the title.
The final game was a reverse of the second, with Louis and Pei’s quick start opening out to a 10-4 advantage. Thaddea and James fought hard, saving seven championship points as they clawed it back to 10-7, but Louis and Pei eventually got over the line; with Pei leaping onto Louis’ back after the ball clipped off the net and dropped between their opponents to confirm their title.
Speaking after the final, Louis was over the moon: “I’m just super excited and honoured to win the title.
“Pei and I, you saw it by our celebrations, it was such a big achievement. We came second last year, but everyone’s level stepped up so it’s amazing to be able to get the win this year.”
This was even sweeter after finishing second in the event at last year’s Nationals, and more than made up for any disappointment after missing out on retaining his singles title on Friday.
Louis and Pei were unsurprisingly dominant in Group B, their five games resulting in a +54 point differential, with just six points dropped across their five wins.
They received a bye through to the semi finals, where they comfortably beat Freddie Powell and Emilia Smythe, 11-2, 11-3, in a game which saw yesterday’s men’s doubles winners on opposite sides of the net.
Freddie and Emilia eased through their quarter-final matchup against Wes Jackson and Zoe Jeffrey, winning the tie 11-1, 11-3, to set up their semi-final against Louis and Pei.
Tiredness may have been a factor here, as Group C was by far the most competitive, with three pairs finishing level on a 3-1 record. Freddie and Emilia topped the group, with a point differential of +19. They were followed into the knockouts by Peter and Mollie, who had a +13, with Hermione Baxter Chinery and Thomas Turney the unlucky pair to miss out on progression, their +7 not quite enough to see them through despite losing only one game.
Freddie and Emilia did emerge with the bronze medal, avenging their pool stage defeat at the hands of Peter and Mollie as they beat the pair 11-3, 13-11.
Wes and Zoe, losing quarter-finalists, got through Group A with a 2-2 record, but the game against Freddie and Emilia proved a bridge too far. They just edged out Pep and Antonella Giuliano by a single point in point differential to sneak through; with Daniel Wren and Megha Kapoor also managing two wins, but finishing six points down in point-differential.
In their semi-final, silver medallists Thaddea and James eased past Peter Hitchman and Mollie Kubrick-Finney, who had defeated Faye Plummer and Alex Woolf 11-3, 11-5 in the quarter-finals.
It was a tough game, but in the end Thaddea and James simply had too much for their opponents, securing an 11-6, 11-5 win to advance to the final.
They had received a bye to the semi-finals after a strong group stage performance in which they dropped just 14 points, winning all four matches.
