Alice finally beats rival

IT TOOK three matches but Alice Loveridge eventually got one over her nemesis Hannah Hicks at the Salisbury Open.

Loveridge lost out to Hicks, 18, number eight in the senior UK rankings, in both the final of the band one event and in the semi-finals of the main women's singles competition at the Wiltshire event.

But the 14-year-old Sarnian starlet finally got her revenge over Hicks in the final of the women's under-21 singles.

'She's got a weird style of playing,' said Loveridge of Hicks.

'She's a defensive player while I'm an attacker. It's really hard for me to play her.

'After three times, I was really pleased to beat her.'

The Salisbury Open is part of the senior Butterfly Grand Prix circuit and in her first event, the women's band one singles, Loveridge was given the top seeding.