MARTIN Robinson rolled back the years on his first appearance at this year’s BSF Tennis Tournament at Bolton School.

Now in his 50s, Robinson, the last player from Bolton to appear in the main Wimbledon tournament, is still a top player and coach locally.

And he and his partner, Martin Bromley, made a superb start to their campaign by beating Ian Nutter and Andrew Nixon 6-1, 6-2.

Defending ladies champion Rachel Branagan also made an impressive start as she overcame a potentially difficult opponent in Lostock’s Louise Taylor 6-0, 6-2.

In the mens singles third round, champion and number one seed John Lister cruised easily past Adam Francis 6-0, 6-0.

A close and high-quality match took place between eighth seed John Chatterly and Dan Keenan, who had defeated the number four seed in the previous round.

Chatterley coped well with the hard-hitting Keenan, taking the first set 6-2 but collapsed 6-1 in the second. This set up a thrilling final set, which Chatterley came out on top in 7-5 to take the honours.

In the handicap veterans mixed, last year’s champions Bromley and Jo Crompton, with a handicap of -50, took on Andy Taylor and Gill Pearl.

And a combination of steady play from Bromley, brilliant volleying from Compton and a good helping of mis-hits and net cords, saw them progress through to the next round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.