50th anniversary celebration : 2023

Saturday September 2nd was a very special Finals day ; we were celebrating 50 years at our present site on Ewshot Lane. We had invited former members to join us and it was great that so many came. We have never had such a crowd for our Finals and the buzz around the club was amazing. The tennis almost took a bit of a back seat as there were so many people chatting and catching up with old friends

An added bonus was that three of the Junior trophies – the Seymour trophy, the Ryder trophy and the Archer trophy – were presented by guests Simon Seymour, Jill Ryder and Bill Archer.

Even the weather in this most fickle of summers was kind to us, indeed it was almost too warm. The catering team of Debra Norton, Linda Robson and Ann Hanson were kept very busy. Ann had a special reason for coming (though she always does come to help out) ; she was one of the club members who moved from our earlier site off Albany Road to our present one.

We hope these photos give some impression of the lovely day we had.

Thanks to Lina Robson for these photos. Please click on any one to start a slideshow of full size photos.


Results from Finals weekend 2023

Here are the results for all the matches from Finals weekend in 2023

The accolade of competing in the longest match went to the two lady pairings. We all thought 2h 30m was long when they played the Ladies Doubles on Saturday; their Ladies Vets match was even longer at 2h 45m! The stand-out achievement in the Junior section was Oliver Casselton who won the U14 and the U16 boys singles finals. If he had entered for the U18, he may well have won that too!

EVENTWINNERRUNNER-UP
U12 BoysFilip MachLuke Glennon
U12 GirlsMelissa CoxIzzy Hayward
U14 BoysOliver CasseltonAlek Mach
U16 BoysOliver CasseltonJacob Diskin
U16 Girls Amy PalmerIsla Roddick
U18Michael PalmerJacob Diskin
EVENTWINNERRUNNER-UP
Mens SinglesDavid JonesBen Martin
Mens Vets SinglesPeter GrantStuart Lamb
Mens DoublesAlistair Jones and David JonesDavid Pharo and Paul Kemsley
Mens Vets DoublesDavid Pharo and Peter GrantCliff Church and Paul Hampshire
EVENTWINNERRUNNER-UP
Ladies SinglesSam RushGeorgie Charles
Ladies DoublesDebbie Ryder and Jane VincentElaine Leitch and Sam Williamson
Ladies Vets DoublesDebbie Ryder and Jane VincentElaine Leitch and Sam Williamson
EVENTWINNERRUNNER-UP
Mixed DoublesPeter Grant and Jane VincentMark Elliott and Gill Stoney
Mixed Vets Doubles (O50s)Peter Grant and Jane VincentAlistair Jones and Fran Jones
Mixed Super Vets Doubles (O60)Peter Smith and Ailsa FraserChris Iles and Sally Charlton
Mixed Platinum Trophy (O70s)Roger Barnacle and Val TalbotEdward Woods and Jane Woods


American Tournaments

The American Tournaments this summer have been very well supported, finishing with the Albany event on the Bank Holiday in August, the only one of the four with no rain at all. Well done to Gill Stoney and Mark Hill for winning. Fran Jones came third in the ladies category but lost out on family bragging rights to sister Cath Pearson in second place. Paul Tippins, playing in his first American event came second in the Mens and Oliver Mills, one of our excellent Juniors in the club, came third. Oliver had a choice of a huge bar of chocolate or a scented candle as his prize. With his mum looking on and a bit of teasing from the rest of us, he chose the candle, bless him.

A key draw for entering the tournaments is the tea break – possibly the best part! Our thanks to Debra Norton for co-ordinating the catering and especially to Ann Hanson who comes along each time to do the serving and clearing away, allowing the rest of us to enjoy playing.


Handicap Finals 2023

Congratulations to all the finalists in the Handicap Finals who gave us a great afternoon of tennis. Several of the events went to 3 sets with the Mixed Doubles being particularly close. It was so entertaining that the Red Arrows flew over just to have a look.

Wendy Day and Alison Jameson had an unusual event – against one another in the Ladies Singles and partners in the Ladies Doubles. Both the events went to 3 sets, so they had a busy afternoon!

 
Winner
Runner-up

Mens Singles
Graham FrielAndy Cholerton

Ladies Singles
Wendy DayAlison Jameson

Mens Doubles
Mark Hill and Richard VallisChris Feeney and Mike Thornley

Ladies Doubles
Wendy Day and Alison JamesonCath Pearson and Jax Sinclair – Brown

Mixed Doubles
Tom Van Klaveren and Pauline SnellJon Clackett and Fran Jones


Family Tournament : July 2023

The Family Tournament is what is sounds like : a doubles event for one U18 player and one adult from the same family.

It was held on Saturday 1 July with eight families participating. Winners were Mark and Reuben; runners up David and Harry . Congratulations to everyone for taking part. Thank you to Matt Tarling for running the event.


American Tournaments April / May

Springtime is always a busy time for the American Tournaments as we hold them on each Bank Holiday Monday, giving three in quick succession. This year of course there was an extra Monday holiday because of the Coronation but we drew the line at holding a tournament on that day too. We did have a mixed bag of weather. The forecast for Easter Monday was for a lot of rain and understandably several people withdrew – and then regretted it as the afternoon was quite pleasant. The two Mondays in May were better and we had a full house of 36 players for the late May event.

Congratulations to all the winners , especially to Mark Hill who had a “podium finish” each time.

Mens results

Date1st2nd3rd

Easter Monday
Cliff ChurchMark HillOliver Mills

May 1st
Pete SmithCliff ChurchMark Hill
May 29thJoao Branco
Guillaume Kaczmar

Mark Hill

Ladies results

Date1st2nd3rd
Easter MondayWendy DayTrish Harriss
Mandy Broadbent
May 1stLynn McKenzieWendy Day
Katherine Rusbridge
May 29thSam RushVicky Judge
5 way tie!

Smiths Cups

We have two Smith Cup events – one for Ladies played on Saturday April 1st with the Mens following it on Sunday April 2nd. The normal idea is for everyone to get back into a bit of competitive play before the start of the summer league season. This year for the first time, the winter league scheduled to finish at the end of February had still to complete after so many re-arrangement for snow, rain etc!

Well done and thank you to all the pairs who played. I watched the Ladies play, it was a real mix of pairs from each of our teams : A, B, C and D, with the D team pair in particular enjoying the opportunity and challenge of coming up against strong opponents. They can be justifiably proud that they won games in all their sets. The winners of the event were Elaine Leitch and Sam Williamson.

I’m sure the Mens event was played in the same spirit. Winners here were Nick Ward and George Nicolaidis. Well done especially to Nick who also won last year with Andy Cholerton.


Finals results : September 2022

 

Here are the results from the 2022 Finals

Event Winner Runner up
Ladies Singles Gill Stoney Sue White
Mens Singles David Jones Ben Martin
Ladies Doubles Debbie Ryder and Jane Vincent Elaine Leitch and Sam Williamson
Mens Doubles David Jones and Alistair Jones Harry Bywaters and Ben Martin
Mixed Doubles David Jones and Fran Jones Mark Elliott and Gill Stoney
Mens Vets Singles Alistair Jones Mark Hill
Mens Vets Doubles Peter Archer and Mike Thornley Stephen Dunne and Chris Iles
Ladies Vets Doubles Elaine Leitch and Sam Williamson Debbie Ryder and Jane Vincent
Mixed Super Vets Doubles Ailsa Fraser and Peter Smith Sally Charlton and Chris Iles
Platinum Vets Doubles Anita Pocock-Gulliver and Roger Barnacle Penny Roberts and Peter Fennell
Mixed Vets Doubles Sue White and Cliff Church Sam Williamson and Chris Iles
Under 10s George Dunhill Ben Baker
Under 12s Calder McFee Melissa Cox
Under 14s boys Reuben Copson Reuben Vincent
Under 14s girls Isla Roddick Amy Palmer
Under 16s boys Jacob Diskin Michael Palmer

Finals weekend : September 2022

What a weekend! Our first full Finals since 2019 and it was great to have Seniors and Juniors Finals once again on at the same time. The stand-out match on Saturday was the U16 Boys final; three hours of high quality tennis which would not have looked out of place as the Mens final. It went to three sets and was only resolved by a tie-break. Well done to both players : Jacob Diskin, the eventual winner, and Michael Palmer. In the Seniors Finals, David Jones achieved a unique hat-trick, winning the Mens Singles, the Mens Doubles with Dad Alistair and the Mixed Doubles with Mum Fran.

Thanks as always to Zana for organsing everything and to the catering team : Debra Norton, Karen Burke and Ann Hanson for working so hard over two long days.



Albany Tournament 2022

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The Albany Tournament is our last American of the season. We had a full house of 28 players and it was great to have two juniors joining in. Both had a good afternoon with Oliver just missing out on the top place. The best comment on the day was when Nina went down to a really low ball and played a lovely winning volley. My neighbour said “Oh to be young and have knees like that”

Sam Williamson was the runaway Ladies winner with Paul Treacy and Pete Smith in a tie for the top Men’s place. This was the third consecutive Albany Tournament where Pete was a winner.

Thanks as always to Debra Norton and Ann Hanson who provided our usual lovely tea.


Handicap tournament results 2022

Our first handicap tournament finals day fully back to normal since 2019. We did have one last year but still with some limitations due to Covid. This time – spectators, refreshments, trophy presentations and, as always, a good afternoon of competitive tennis. Well done to all the finalists.

  Winner Runner-up
Mens Singles Santtu Asp Mike Thornley
Ladies Singles Sue White Helen Palser
Mens Doubles Graham Friel and Paul Hampshire Santtu Asp and Oliver Mills
Ladies Doubles Lynn McKenzie and Sarah Gibbons Sam Rush and Liz Long
Mixed Doubles Katherine Rusbridge and Cliff Church Lynn McKenzie and Jonty Maston

Jubilee Tournament

Our Jubilee event with 40 players and a magnificent tea was a great event. As Chair, Paul T said “What an amazing day today! Great organisation and fabulous food.” We even had a special visitor who seemed to be enjoying her day!

Well done to the finalists with winners : Sam Williamson and Roger Barnacle in the Mixed , Alison Jameson and Sue White in the Ladies.

Many thanks to everyone who came and help make it such a memorable day, especially to Linda Robson and Debra Norton who laid on such a wonderful tea for all 40 of us! They even had food left over as we were all so full. Who could believe that we would all fit into the space in front of the club house.

Lots of red, white and blue with some ingenious ways to achieve this. Best example was Sam who cut off a flag from her plastic bunting and ironed that onto her Tshirt. Took a few goes to get it right!

And the tennis arrangements weren’t bad either.