Morning Star Staff
Vernon’s Jeremy Bell and West Martin-Patterson of Sicamous are undefeated as doubles partners in the 2013 outdoor tennis season.
Bell and Martin-Patterson sizzled in Sunday’s final of the Salmon Arm Open Tennis Tournament, dispatching Craig Tilander (Vernon) and Winston Pain (Salmon Arm) 6-4, 6-1. It was the sixth men’s A doubles title of the season for the champs.
Bell and Martin-Patterson began their undefeated streak at the Lakeview Heights Tournament in May of this year, beating Prince George brothers, Jim Condon and Kristian Kiland.
Additional victories followed at the Hankey Cup in Vernon, the Alpha-Zulu in Kelowna, the Sunshine Open in Kamloops, and again in Vernon at the Labour Day Open.
In all their matches, they have dropped only two sets: one in the very tight Sunshine Open Final against Alex Kotai (Abbotsford) and Al Lincoln (Kamloops), and another in the Labour Day Semi-final against Kenneth Cheung and Uri Yarkoni of Kelowna.
Bell, 43, and Martin-Patterson, 35, often play against each other in the Men’s A Singles division where Bell currently holds a 4-3 edge in tournament meetings.
The on-court singles rivalry is quickly set aside when they have to team up on the same side of the net. Their approach is to utilize their strong serves, and to always take control of the net as quickly as possible.
The lean, 6-foot-4 Bell works at Venture Training. He grew up playing soccer, ball hockey and lacrosse, but only began playing tennis at age 22. He moved here in 2005 from New Westminster where he was the men’s singles champion at the New Westminster Tennis Club for an unprecedented 10 consecutive years.
Bell met his wife, Wendy, on the tennis court. They are frequently seen hitting the ball at Marshall Fields, with their dog, Koki, courtside.
Martin-Patterson is the Recreation and Wellness Coordinator for the District of Sicamous.
He began tennis as a junior, and was the club pro at the Nelson Tennis Club before relocating from Castlegar to Sicamous. West and Jeremy met several years ago when West assisted in running the junior program in New Westminster.
