James Chaudry became national men’s singles champion for the first time, defeating Freddie Powell 11-5, 11-6 in a hard-fought final which was played to an exceptionally high level.
James had a tough run to the title, playing reigning champion Louis Laville in the semi-finals before facing Freddie in the final.
Talking about his games against Louis and Freddie, James called his fellow medallists ‘great competitors’.
“I don’t know if it’s good or bad to play Louis in the semis, because it warms you up for that level of competition.
“I played some of my best stuff in that semi-final, I became very accurate at key points, and I think that transitioned nicely into the final. When the points got tough, when the score was close, I found some accuracy rather than pace to find the lines and manoeuvre myself forward on the scoreboard.”
James was in top form as he cruised through his quarter final to set up the meeting with Louis, beating Ben Cawston 11-4, 11-0. This was no easy game, with some tipping Ben as a dark horse ahead of the knockout stages.
The world number one in rackets, Ben showed flashes of his potential in the round robin stage but ultimately was outclassed by James.
Despite failing to retain his title, Louis was extremely magnanimous in defeat. He said: “I came off court obviously disappointed to lose but we had a really good game, he played unbelievably well.
“It’s one of those things, if you lose after playing badly, you’re really disappointed, but if you lose after playing well it’s like, hats off mate.”
Louis did secure the bronze medal, beating Thomas Turley 11-5, 11-3. He raced into an early lead in the first set and Thomas was unable to recover, although he did grow into the game as it went on.
To reach the semi-final, Thomas had to get past Bernie Audibert, eventually winning 11-5, 11-4. Thomas kept close control of the match throughout, keeping Bernie moving with plenty of drop shots and moving the ball from side to side as he eased to the win.
Thomas fought hard against Freddie Powell, who received a bye through to the semi-finals thanks to his performances in the round robin stage. Ultimately though Freddie prevailed, winning 11-2, 11-7 to set up his final matchup with James.
