50 & Over Mixed Doubles County Championships 2026

The first event in this year's County Championships, the 50 & Over Mixed Doubles, took place on Saturday 24th January at Bidston Sports & Activity Centre.

This year saw our highest entry numbers yet, with a full draw of 16 pairs. Many new players and pairs entered for their chance to take home this year's title of County Champion! As in previous years, the event began with four groups of four pairs playing a round-robin format. The top two pairs from each group moved into the main draw once the qualifying stages had concluded. A consolation draw was also staged for those finishing outside the top two, ensuring that all entrants had a further three matches to play throughout the afternoon.

The group stages produced some incredibly tight matches; two of them lasted nearly an hour for a single FAST4 set, with both being decided by a single point in the tiebreaker.

The main draw semifinals featured Adam Holloway & Gillian Harbour vs. Nick Turner & Rachel Young and Gary Brown & Katy Sadler vs. Steven Pownall & Sarah Marshall. Both Nick & Rachel and Steven & Sarah were victorious in their respective semifinals, with both pairs moving into the final without having lost a match!

With all other matches finished, the final provided spectators with an extremely enjoyable match as both pairs battled hard to maintain their 100% win records. The match finished 6–3 to this year's champions, Steven & Sarah.

Thanks, as ever, to Bidston Sports & Activity Centre for hosting this annual event, and a special thanks to all entrants for making it the highest-attended 50+ event to date.

For full results...