SARAH Skidmore and Tim Button were yet again the dominant forces at Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club’s annual tournament.

The pair each won two tournaments in the main events, meaning they shared the coveted Rod Skidmore Cup for a second year.

This cup is awarded to the winner of the most events in the main draw and is presented in memory of a much missed club member and club chairman, Rod Skidmore, a Royal Naval pilot who lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2002.

The recipients each won two events, including the Mixed Doubles, which they won together in an exciting match which pitched Sarah against youngest son Ben, who teamed up with Sophie Ramsbottom.

The youngsters got off to a slow start, losing the first set quickly before they regrouped and came back to win the second set convincingly.

In a closely fought third set, experience won through over youth and Ben will have to wait another year to challenge his mother for the title.

Sarah Skidmore could have gone on to win more titles, and was disappointed not to be able to defend her Ladies’ Singles title due to a lack of opposition.

She did, however, capture the Ladies’ Doubles in partnership with Sue Ramsbottom, which saw them convincingly win in a round-robin format.

Button’s other triumph came in the Men’s Doubles, where he and Kevin Willemse defeated Men’s Singles finalists Justin Smith and Clif Moreton in an extremely close encounter, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.

It looked like it was all over for Button and Willemse after they lost the first set and went 4-1 down in the second, but there was a shift in momentum when they broke the big serve of Moreton and then went on to win the second set, taking the next nine games in a row to lead 4-0 in the deciding set.

Smith and Moreton fought back by breaking both opponents’ serves and at 4-4 in the final set, it was anybody’s match.

Willemse held with his powerful and accurate serve and Smith was finally broken to allow Button and Willemse to stage a remarkable recovery and hold on to the title for the third year running.

Sixteen-year-old Smith successfully defended his singles title by overcoming doubles partner Moreton 6-4, 6-3 in another tight affair.

In the Open Drawn Doubles, which sees entrants randomly drawn into partnerships, Sue Ramsbottom teamed up with Alex Skidmore but they were defeated by Ros Clark and her 15-year-old partner Alex Gracie, 7-5, 6-2.

After the on-court action was complete, club member Al Clark, representing the tennis chairman, thanked tournament sponsors Brewin Dolphin for their generous contribution.

Clark also presented the prizes and paid tribute to Sarah Skidmore and Ros Clark for their flawless organisation and administration of the tournament, as well as thanking all the competitors for their participation.

Anyone interested in joining the club, either to play for fun, have some coaching, enter a tournament or play in a team, should email admin@dtsc.org.uk or alternatively telephone 268103 from 9-11am on weekdays for more information.