Askam’s Emily Bolton won her first senior national title, taking women’s doubles gold alongside Denise Payet at the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

The second seeds sunk top seeds Tin-Tin Ho and Evie Collier 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-1, 13-11) in the final, making up for last year when they were beaten 3-2 by Ho and Maria Tsaptsinos having led 2-0.

Bolton, 21, said: “I’m really happy because it’s my first national title in the seniors and to do it with Denise after losing last year’s final was a nice way to come back. In our first match we felt a bit on edge but once we found our rhythm we played well and we had confidence going into the final.”

There was disappointment in the singles, however, as Bolton was beaten in the semi-finals by surprise package Mari Baldwin, who won 4-2 (14-12, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13, 11-6) – Bolton saving three match points in the fifth set.

Bolton said: “It’s the first time I’ve reached the semi-finals, so it’s better than last year, but I’m still very disappointed.

I got a bad start, so it was always going to be difficult – but credit to Mari, she came out and was fearless.

“I’ll watch the videos back and watch the sets I won and the sets I lost and hopefully learn and come back better next year.”

In the mixed doubles, Bolton & Alim Hirji, who won silver last year, were beaten 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-5) in the semi-finals by top seeds and eventual gold medallists Sam Walker and Ho.