Charles Wins Band 1 at Guildford

NETTS British League Player Neil Charles (ranked no. 33 nationally) has shown a real resurgence of form this Season. At the weekend he not only won the prestigious Band One Singles title at the Guildford Grand Prix with top draw wins over fellow left hander Mark Smith (Yorkshire), Ashley Robinson (Ireland) as well as a superb 3-2 final win over Essex first team player and England no. 25 Emran Hussain but he came close to picking up a much bigger scalp. Facing British no.one and three times National Champion Paul Drinkhall in the Mens Singles Neil came within two points of taking a stunning 2-0 lead in their first round clash. Neil eventually succumbed in the fourth end but he again had his chances. A very relieved Drinkhall sneaked home 9-11, 13-11, 11-4, 12-10. For good measure Drinkhall went on to win the tournament beating Scottish no. one Gavin Rumgay 3-0 in the final.

Report from Steve Kerns