RICHARD Lane made a solid start with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over David Lloyd’s Paul McCarren in the men’s singles as the Bolton Sports Federation tennis tournament got underway on Friday night.

Dan Keenan also progressed with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Lostock’s Rob Taylor.

The first set was close at 3-3, but Keenan’s powerful hitting saw him home.

Chorley’s John Halton is a regular consistent performer at the tournament and he had a comfortable 6-0, 6-0 victory over James Wilson.

As is often the case early in the tournament the close contests were in the handicapped events.

In the match between Lostock’s Gill Pearl and Andy Taylor against the David Lloyd pairing of Liz Perry and John Davy, the Lostock pair, with a point advantage, took the first set by a comfortable 6-1 score.

The David Lloyd pair took an early lead in the second set, but almost let it slip, winning 6-5.

The match looked set for any early finish as Perry and Davy cruised to a 5-1 lead.

However, the Lostock pair recovered to leave the match finely balanced at 5-5.

The Lostock pair were the first to have a match point, but missed there opportunity and John Davy won match with a backhand volley.

Lostock pair Vicky Cashmore and Graham Stuarthmore just beat Karen Edge and Bernard Millington 6-5, 6-5.