Four stars inducted into Yorkshire Tennis’ Hall of Fame

They are eight-times Yorkshire men’s singles champion Simon Ickringill, brothers Andrew and Richard Hutchinson, who have also represented Yorkshire’s men’s team, and Yorkshire women’s player Katie Charnock.

Ickringill, 66, who was originally a secondary school PE teacher in Bradford, has recently retired as head coach at ILTSC, having also been national coach for Great Britain under-18s, as well as coaching at regional and county level.

He also captained and played for England in Home Internationals and represented Great Britain at over-35, 40s and 45s.

Ickringill, originally from Steeton, represented the Yorkshire men’s team for 17 years.

Andrew Hutchinson, 59, and his brother Richard, 55, originally from Long Lee in Keighley, represented Yorkshire at every age group as juniors before going on to represent the White Rose at over-35s, 45s and 55s.

The elder Hutchinson, who now lives in Bradley, who has also played for Great Britain at over-45 and over-55 level, won the ITF Great Britain Open Indoor Tournament for over-55s at Wrexham last year.

He has represented Great Britain in World Championships at Lisbon (2018) and Miami (2022).

Richard now lives in Harden.

Charnock, from Guiseley, became head coach at Bradford’s premier club Heaton when she was only 21 and helped Yorkshire win Group One of County Week at Eastbourne in 1991.

Five years later she won the triple crown of Yorkshire titles – the women’s singles, women’s doubles (with Karen Mitchell) and mixed doubles (with Gary Henderson).

Katie’s mum, Joyce Howden, was among the three other inductees into the Yorkshire Tennis Hall of Fame.

Joyce, whose maiden name was Fulton, competed at Wimbledon ten times between 1957 and 1966 – five times in the women’s singles, five times in the women’s doubles (twice with her sister Evelyn) and once in the mixed doubles, with Roger Taylor, where they reached the last 16 and played the fourth seeds on No 1 Court.

A member at Chapel Allerton Tennis Club in Leeds for over 75 years, Joyce has played for England, represented Yorkshire for over 25 years, helping them win Group One in 1963, and for her club’s first team for almost 40 years.

She was also Yorkshire women’s singles champion three times, women’s doubles champion six times and mixed doubles champion four times.

Partnering Katie, Joyce also won the National Mother and Daughter Championships, which earned them the right to represent Great Britain, and they subsequently won the European Championships.

Also inducted were three-times Wimbledon semi-finalist Taylor (1967, 1970 and 1973), who also reached the quarter-finals of the French Open in 1973 and the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 1970.

That year, Taylor beat defending champion Rod Laver at Wimbledon on his way to the last four.

Taylor, now 82, also won six ATP singles titles and ten doubles, winning the men’s doubles at the US Open in 1971 and 1972.

Fellow Sheffielder Sue Mappin was also inducted into the Yorkshire Tennis Hall of Fame.

Now 75, she reached the third round of both the US Open in 1974 and the French Open in 1977.

However, it was at women’s doubles that she excelled with Lesley Charles, reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1976 and 1977, the semi-finals of the French Open in 1977 and the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (1975) and US Open (1977).

Mappin was also the LTA’s national women’s team manager in 1978.

The Hutchinsons and Ickringill received their Yorkshire Hall of Fame certificates at an awards ceremony at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club last month.