The 2012 N/national Doubles Championship was a remarkable event, and one which will send the game's statisticians scurrying to their record books. In a final between the third and fourth seeds, the championship ended up in the hands of Dan Grant and Dan Tristao, the youngest winners for many years.
In a small field of entrants, the emphasis was on quality, not quantity, and no less than 13 of the top 15 in the n/national doubles rankings took the courts to compete for the title; and, right from the off, the games were tight. In the one preliminary game, Tom Maconie and Chris Burrows just edged past Ady Lee and Ed Kay.
Come the quarter-finals, the theme continued and, although none of the matches went to three games, all were tight. In the end, though, the top three seeds won through and were joined by the fifth seeds, Tom Dean and Charlie Brooks, who had beaten John Minta and Andy Pringle.
That meant that every pair in the semi-finals was a current title-holder, and so it was that the defending n/national champions (Hamish Buchanan & Robin Perry) played the North West champions (Tom & Charlie), while the West of England champions (Dan Grant & Dan Tristao) played the South West champions (Will Ellison & Marcus Bate).
In the top half of the draw, the players witnessed the end of an era, as Tom & Charlie beat Hamish & Robin. This put an end to the eight-year run of championships for the older pair, and meant that 2012 would be the first final since 2000 not to feature them.
Amazingly, this would also be the first year since 2008 not to feature Will Ellison and Marcus Bate in the final. The runners-up for the last three years were beaten in three games by the two Dans, who overcame Will's determined efforts to make up for his partner, who was clearly suffering from a lack of sleep since the birth of his first child a month ago.
The match the players in the final produced belied their lack of experience, though. In the first game, Tom and Charlie's powerful hitting proved too much for the Dans, but following a change of tactics, the Dans became more aggressive in the second game. Venturing further up the court, they took many of their opponents' hardest shots on the volley, hurrying them into more frequent errors. At the same time, they improved their retrieving and, with their fast hands and sheer speed around the court, started to grind down their older opponents.
The second game went to the Dans, and as Tom and Charlie were pressured into their shots, they couldn't find the nicks that had won them so many points in the first game; and, with the Dans now playing with real flair, speed and understanding, it was they who deservedly took the third game and, with it, the title.
RESULTS
Preliminary round: Burrows & Maconie bt Lee & Kay 16-15, 15-10
Quarter-finals: Buchanan & Perry bt Burrows & Maconie 15-7, 15-10; Brooks & Dean bt Minta & Pringle 15-5, 15-11; Grant & Tristao bt Hatton & Thomson 15-10, 15-13; Bate & Ellison bt Cavanagh & Price 15-3, 15-13
Semi-finals: Brooks & Dean bt Buchanan & Perry 15-10, 15-4; Grant & Tristao bt Bate & Ellison 12-15, 15-9, 15-8
Final: Grant & Tristao bt Brooks & Dean 10-15, 15-5, 15-5
Plate: Minta & Pringle
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