CHRIST Church BC started the new badminton season by firmly making clear their intentions of regaining the Bolton League championship.

Bury A swept the board last season to become surprise champions, and they looked in good form this week when they opened their campaign with a comprehensive home win over Metro A.

But, it is hard to write off Christ Church when it can call on a wealth of top notch players. Last week they crushed Hawkshaw B with a 17-1 win, and this week, contenders Markland Hill A discovered their strength in depth.

Markland Hill itself had out a strong team of Ruth Flatman, Keith Cuncarr, Albert Mahoney, Tracey Walker, Chris Taylor and Vicky Askew. But Mark Pallett, Nicola Burridge, Bill Hamblett, Julie Bates, Julian Priestley and Denise Vines proved just too tough on the night.

Ruth and Keith had the best results for the visitors, taking both their first games, and the score after the mixed doiubles was 6-4 for Christ Church.

Both sets of ladies' doubles were shared, and some games were close. But Christ Church took all the men's doubles to run out 12-6 eventual winners in this first clash of the Titans.

Markland Hill opened the season with a better result, however, beating Forrest A 15-3 at the latter's new Bolton Arena base.

Not such a good start, though, for Markland Hill D which moved up to B Section this season, when they entertained Bury B - who just missed out on promotion to A Section last season - at the tennis club.

The home side got off to a good start when Byron Crook and Kath Gorner won their opening mixed. But Bury's experienced Ray Murphy with Cathy Mellor got Bury back on track, and Tony Ramotowski and Emma Greenwood continued the good work. After the mixed, Bury were 7-3 ahead, a situation quickly enhanced when their women took all four games. Byron Crook and young Gary Fox won two very hard fought men's games, but it was just not enough to stop the visitors taking the match 13-5.

Mixed fortunes, too, for Smithills A in their first match of the season, playing against an experienced Sharples C team.

After Jacqui Gibson and Mark Radcliff opened the account for Smithills with a 15-5 win, Sharples took the next four games before Smithills managed to take back another.

At the change, Sharples had a commanding 8-2 lead, and only Smithills' Stuart Shaw and Mark Radcliff then made an impact with both top men's. Sharples, however, were in command on the night, and won 14-4.