There seems no stopping the growth of the Kobra badminton tournament at Oakbank Sports College.
The tournament, in its fifth year, attracted 260 entries - a rise of a phenomenal 50 per cent from 2006 - from 12 counties - West, North, South and East Yorkshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Buckinghamshire.
And there were 14 events up for grabs in the Yonex and Direct Sports sponsored tournament, ranging from under-12 beginner singles to under-19 doubles, and over 500 games were played in 23 hours over a marathon weekend.
There was a great mix of ability, with some already having represented their counties while others were making their tournament debuts.
A handicapping system was therefore needed, and Ashley Reed did a superb job in calculating them, often from scarce information.
Testimony to that was the under-16 doubles final and third and fourth place play-off, both of which went to 21-20 on the new rally-point scoring system.
Baildon's Nick Cook was runner-up in the under-12 singles, while the new pairing of Connor Walls (Keighley) and Callum McKeown (Pudsey) won the under-12 beginners' doubles from Kyle Whitton (Oakworth) and Billy Horsfield (Keighley), giving Kobras members a first and a second place.
Walls and McKeown ensured victory by defeating Whitton and Horsfield 21-20 in a head to head.
Josh Wetherill (Leeds) was third in the hardest-fought event - the under-14 singles, which attracted 28 entries and took over an hour longer to finish than anticipated.
The under-14 beginners' doubles was a resounding triumph for the Kobras, with all the first three pairs being members, much to the delight of coach Alistair Young.
Sutton-in-Craven's Jack Pearce and James McDonald took the honours, with Oakworth duos Thomas Haughey and David Parker second and Jamie Robinson and Josh Ives third.
Leeds got another look-in in the under-16 doubles, Harriet Shillito partnering Steffi Clarke (Hull) to third place, but only after a 21-20 play-off victory.
Another final that went to 21-20 was the under-19 singles, Richard Collier (Sheffield) edging out Chris Allen (Ilkley).
However, the finalists later paired up in the under-19 doubles and came second behind last year's under-16 winner Andrew Kidger (Sheffield) and partner. Baildon's Jonathan Cowling came third with Alex Fowler (York).
The under-19s didn't finish until 8.30pm on the second day but, talking of being tired, a special mention must be made of 11-year-old Peter Clegg from Baildon.
He entered every singles event over the two days (under-12s, under-14s, under-16s and under-19s singles), as wellas the under-12s and under-14s doubles.
Ironically, he did better in the higher age groups, narrowly missing out twice on getting into the semi-finals. Almost as exhausted must have been Kieran King, a junior from Oakworth, who spent all of the first day ensuring that players were at the right court at the right time.
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