The Hard Bat tournament held at the Bideford Youth Centre on 15/12/2023 was contested by eighteen entrants split almost equally between first and second division players on four tables.  From a random draw, two groups of nine were formed, matches then being played within each group, one game up to 11, on a round robin basis.  This gave every individual eight games.  The top two players from each group then went forward to the semi-finals. 

In Group 1, both Nathan Jukes and David Sillifant each won seven of their eight matches but Nathan was declared the winner beating David on the head-to-head result.  Nathan only lost to Sue Gale in this section. 

Group 2 saw an undefeated Martyn Beer with Tim Cooke as runner up gaining seven wins.  Semi-finals were played over the best of three legs.  Martyn beat David 11-5, 11-7 whilst Nathan overcame Tim 11-6, 11-9. 

The final in front of an appreciative audience produced a keenly fought contest with great attacking shots, Nathan on his forehand against Martyn’s backhand.  It was fitting that that the match went the full distance, Nathan, saving match points in game four, ultimately winning the deciding game with a little help from nets and edges, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 16-14, 11-7.