We were delighted to welcome many new faces to this year’s competition at Seacourt Tennis Club, which included Bernie Bidouze from Bordeaux (and didn’t she do well!)
This year’s tournament started Friday evening with one group of 4 pairs, and although not knowing at the time, the eventual finalists were 1st and 2nd in the group. All the games here went to 6/4 or 6/5 with Marta and Daniel Morgan beating Bernie Bidouze and Mark Gillespie finishing 40 all, 6/5 to the Morgans. It was a very exciting evening.
Group 2 commenced at 9 am on Saturday, where we again had a very tight 6/5 win for the Mayer pairing of mother, Katherine and son, Archie, over past winners Candida Nicholls and Peter Mawson, who were 1st and 2nd in the group respectively. Group 3 proved to be more even in games, resulting in 2 pairs winning one match and 2 pairs winning two matches, with just one game between them all. It was the pairing of Georgie Ingham and George Fowler who won the group, with Fiona and Tony Harrison coming through in second place.
The last group again was very tight and was running nearly 2 hours late! The last match of the group saw Alex Garside and Simon de Halpert conceding their match with Steve Brewerton & Trudi Machin due to Simon suddenly being unable to play on Sunday. Fortunately, it was obvious that their opponents were already the winners of the group, and Rhona Russell & John Watkins were in second place.
The first quarter-final match on Sunday started with the Morgans playing the Mayers and, once again, this was closely fought and went to 5/5, 40-all, which the Morgans finally won 6/5. The second match proved much quicker as Georgie and George proved too strong for Rhona and John, winning 6/0. The third match between the Harrisons and Steve Brewerton and Trudi Machin was much closer, getting to 4/4 before Fiona and Tony pulled ahead, winning 6/4. The final match of the quarter-finals was between Candida Nicholls and Peter Mawson against Bernie Bidouze and Mark Gillespie and, once again, resulted in a 5/5, 40-all match with Bernie and Mark scraping through 6/5.
The first semi-final featured Marta and Daniel against Georgie and George, the handicap being rec 15, owe 30. The latter pair put up a strong fight, but it was the Morgans who eventually won 6/4. The second semi-final was not quite so close despite Bernie and Mark giving away points to Fiona and Tony, with Bernie and Mark winning 6/1.
So the final featured Marta and Daniel who were once again playing Bernie and Mark, the difference being that this time it was an 8-game set. Bernie and Mark were immediately under pressure as they were giving away a large handicap (16 points). From 2-2, they were soon 5-2 up thanks to Mark’s consistently good shots with good support from Bernie. However, Marta was gaining in confidence and her game improved, and she and Daniel fought back and secured the victory 8/5.
Daniel is certainly the youngest player to win this tournament, and we are sure he will continue to support it for some time, whether with his mum or someone else.
The weekend was supported very well by all the players and many club members – the dedans was packed as well as the side galleries. Our thanks must go to Drew who marked all of the matches despite recently having a knee operation and to Chris Halliwell of Belcher Addison, our sponsor, who was watching most of the time and hosted a fabulous Pimms and canapés drinks party for the competitors and their hosts prior to the dinner. Thanks also to our chef, Fiona, and her staff for the dinner and service on Saturday evening. Thank you also to all the members who hosted a handful of players, always greatly appreciated and certainly encourages competitors to enter. Finally, thank you to Alex, ably assisted by Viv, for the organisation of the competition and for ensuring all ran smoothly.
It was a fabulous weekend enjoyed by all with many saying they will return next year and will ‘spread the word’ to encourage others to participate in the future.
Viv Dawes |
