Blenn Bean, more known for his leadership as captain of PHC, last night took the lead role in another sport when he played the match of his life in winning the Men?s B Singles title of the Argus Open by defeating Ben Lau 6-4, 7-6 (5) in nearly two and a half hours at the WER Joell Stadium.

In winning the title, his first in the sport, Blenn fought from 3-0 down to level the first set at 3-3 before Lau was able to hold his serve in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead. Bean held his serve to level at 4-4, then broke Lau with a scoring forehand down the line just and Lau rushed to the net in anticipation of a drop shot only to see the ball zipping past when all he could do was watch.

Things were different in the second set as both players tried to ensure that they held serve, thus there were no less than nine points where there were at least 30 strokes. Making it one of the longest three games ever played at the Stadium.

?The idea was to make him commit the errors,? said Bean and that is exactly what happened even though the 26-year-old was an equal participant in that area, committing 26 unforced errors, especially when he was attacking the net with a running forehand. Most of them ended in the bottom of the net, but on his side of the court.

Lau, took advantage of some erratic play by Bean to make the second set closer than it should have been especially when Bean broke Lau in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and was serving for the title. But that is when Lau tightened his play and forced Bean into several unforced errors on his way to levelling the score at 5-5.

It was Bean who took the early advantage when he eventually broke Lau for a 6-5 lead and was against serving for the title. Again Lau played his best tennis when his back was to the wall, breaking back to sent the match into a tie-break where Bean eventually won 7-5.

Meanwhile 13-year-old Catherine Cooke won the Ladies B championship with a surprising 6-2, 7-5 victory over the favoured Sarah Cook. The elated new champion when asked when did she think that she had a chance to win, she replied ?never.

?Before we started I didn?t think that I had a chance and after winning five games in a row to take the first set 6-2 after she had taken a 2-1 lead, I thought just maybe I could do this?.

But as play went along and Sarah got more into the match, young Cooke had her doubts, but she refused to give in and when she was able to hold to take a 6-5 lead her confidence returned. Her service had been her strong point all evening and she served out to win the match.

She followed up her championship run in the Pomander Gate with this one, both coming this year.

In the other championship final the top seeded pair of Ashley Brooks and Lavern Stowe took less than an hour to capture the Ladies Doubles Final with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over young Cooke and Shonette Wilson.

Meanwhile in spite of the fact that Samitha Ranaweera is improving with each match he plays, he still has not reached the level of the Island?s top seeded player, Andy Bray as the champion moved into another final with a straight sets victory 6-2, 6-1 and will now face Jacob Trott in tomorrow?s final.

While Bray was defeating Ranaweera on Court Two, Trott was surprising young Romar Douglas 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Court 3. It was one of Trott?s biggest victories in the Argus Open and now he will have a day to rest, and to think about meeting Bray in tomorrow?s final.