SPRING/SUMMER LEAGUE FINAL LEAGUE TABLES
With the postponed mixed match against Bisham now definitely cancelled, 4 teams out of 7 will be promoted! Our Men's NCL team, Mens 2 and Mixed 1 and Mixed 2 will be promoted, and, following the success of our Mens Vets A team in winning division 2 which was reported earlier in the season and with Men's 1 narrowly missing out on promotion, we now await some success from the Ladies teams!
| MEN'S NCL DIV 4
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
| Greenacre A |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| Crowthorne A |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| Wargrave B |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| Caversham D |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
| Yattendon A |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
| BCS C |
5 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
Congratulations to our Men's National Club League team who came second in Division 4 and should get promotion to Division 3. NCL matches consist of 6 rubbers, 4 singles and 2 doubles. Those wishing to play in the Spring 2005 competition should contact Andy Johns.
| MEN'S DIV 5A
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Bracknell 4 |
5 |
4 |
13 |
30 |
12 |
| Berks CS 3 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
25 |
10 |
| Crowthorne 1 |
5 |
3 |
11 |
23 |
9 |
| Windsor 4 |
5 |
1.5 |
9 |
18 |
6.5 |
| Woolton Hill |
5 |
1 |
9 |
22 |
4 |
| Westmorland Park 1 |
5 |
1.5 |
7 |
16 |
3.5 |
After being relegated last season, our 1st Men's Doubles Team nearly bounced back to Division 4 at the first attempt but were narrowly beaten to 2nd place by Berks CS to whom they had lost on sets earlier in the season.
| MEN'S DIV 6B
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Crowthorne 2 |
5 |
5 |
18 |
36 |
14 |
| URTC 3 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
30 |
12 |
| Slough 2 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
22 |
7 |
| Ibis |
5 |
2 |
8 |
18 |
5 |
| Aldermaston 3 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
4 |
| Wellington 2 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
Congratulations to our 2nd Men's Team who won the division without losing a match. However, it seems a long time since the first match which was a tight 2-2 victory by 40 games to 29 against Aldermaston. Men's 2 will be playing at the same level as our 1st team next season, although probably in in 5B instead of 5A.
| LADIES DIV 5B
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Windsor 3 |
5 |
5 |
20 |
40 |
15 |
| Maidenhead 6 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
29 |
12 |
| Aldermaston 2 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
22 |
7 |
| Wellington 2 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
22 |
7 |
| Crowthorne 1 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
12 |
4 |
| URTC 2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| LADIES DIV 7A
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Sonning |
5 |
5 |
17 |
31 |
14 |
| Twyford 2 |
5 |
4 |
15 |
30 |
12 |
| Royal Ascot 2 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
24 |
7 |
| Westmorland Park |
5 |
2 |
9 |
18 |
7 |
| Crowthorne 2 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
4 |
| Berks CS 4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
Our Ladies teams both finished 5th in their divisions but they both won one match and it has been good to see some new faces in the teams this year. With more ladies now attending match practice regularly, the improvements seen in the Men's and Mixed teams should start to show in the Ladies teams.
| MIXED DIV 5B
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Crowthorne 1 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
26 |
12 |
| Bisham Abbey |
4 |
3 |
12 |
26 |
9 |
| Royal Ascot 3 |
5 |
3 |
11 |
23 |
9 |
| Caversham Park 2 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
3 |
| Wargrave 4 |
5 |
0 |
6 |
16 |
1 |
Congratulations are also in order for our Mixed 1 team. With the match against 2nd placed Bisham cancelled, we are now informed that both Crowthorne and Bisham will be promoted.
| MIXED DIV 7B
|
Played |
Won |
Rubbers |
Sets |
Points |
| Crowthorne 2 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
29 |
12 |
| Winkfield |
4 |
3 |
9 |
19 |
8 |
| Shinfield |
4 |
2 |
8 |
17 |
6 |
| Binfield 2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
| Sandhurst 2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Finally, congratulations
to our Mixed 2 teamwho topped their division
winning all of their matches and will therefore
be promoted to division 6, the first time
for a long while that they have got out
of the bottom division.
JUNIOR LEAGUE FINAL LEAGUE TABLES - SUCCESS FOR ALL TEAMS!
Crowthorne is one of the few clubs to have teams in all 4 competitions of the BLTA Junior Summer Leagues and, this summer, all 4 teams had considerable success. While it was disappointing that so many clubs were unable to play all of their matches due to them struggling to put out teams, Crowthorne were alone in putting teams out for 20 out of 23 matches and we must congratulate Caroline and her squad of players for their continued enthusiasm. With our U-18 Boys finishing 2nd in division 2, all 4 teams will be in Division 1 of their competitions next Summer. Our Girls had the greatest success with the U-13 team coming 2nd and the U-18 team winning their league. The U-13 Boys would also have come 2nd except for the vagaries of the points system!
| BOYS U-18 Div 2
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
| Royal Ascot |
6 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
| Crowthorne |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
| Coopers Hill |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Thatcham |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Salt Hill Slough |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| RSF |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Kintbury |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Congratulations to our U-18 Boys who are promoted to Division 1.
| GIRLS U-18 DIV 1
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
| Crowthorne |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
| Caversham Park |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Salt Hill Slough |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Bracknell |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Coopers Hill |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Goring |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| RSF |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Congratulations to our U-18 Girls who win Division 1.
| BOYS U-13 DIV 1
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
| Maidenhead |
6 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
| Binfield |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
| Crowthorne |
6 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
| Bracknell |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Latika |
5 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
| Goring |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| RSF |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 | Congratulations to our U-13 Boys who finished 3rd, beating local rivals Bracknell and Latika and somehow losing out to 2nd placed Binfield despite playing and winning an extra match!
| GIRLS U-13 DIV 1
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
| Latika |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| Crowthorne |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Maidenhead |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Bracknell |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| RSF |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| Bradfield |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
And last
but not least, well done to our U-13
girls who came 2nd to Latika, the
local junior club.
|
MEN'S LEAGUE - CROWTHORNE 1 v WINDSOR 4
Crowthorne's
1st Men's Team met Windsor 4
at home on Saturday 14th August
for a match which Crowthorne
really had to win. Having had
a single win and two losses
so far this season, it was vital
that our team picked up a few
points to avoid the ignomy of
relegation for the 2nd year
running. With several key players
unavailable because of injury
or holidays, Crowthorne fielded
two scratch pairs, Mike Smith
teaming up with left-hander
Rupert Sanderson and Andy Johns
partnering Vince Brooks.
Smith
and Sanderson had a good start
against Windsor's 1st pair of
Irfan Ali and Ajey Kaushal,
Smith serving well to secure
the first game. Kaushal then
had an equally impressive game
to even the score but Sanderson
cracked down a further set of
fine serves to give the advantage
back to Crowthorne. Ali was
unable to maintain the sequence
of good service games as the
home pair broke to get to 3-1.
The sequence was then repeated
and Ali was broken for the second
time to give the set 6-2 to
Crowthorne. The second set was
tight up to 2-2 at which point
Smith's serve was broken and
Kaushal held to give the visitors
a 4-2 lead. With Sanderson and
Ali both holding serve again,
Smith then had to serve to save
the set at 5-3. This he did,
and with the home pair breaking
Kaushal for the first time,
the score was levelled at 5-5.
Sanderson then held serve to
give Crowthorne a 6-5 lead and
the home pair then broke Ali's
serve again to complete a run
of 4 games and to take the second
set 7-5.
Johns and Brooks started even better against the father and son pairing of Chris and Adam Gunasekara, winning the first set 6-0. However, their opponents obviously worked out what went wrong in the first set, as they came back impressively to take the next two sets 6-2 6-2.
With the score at a rubber each but with Crowthorne having the advantage of the extra set, Smith and Sanderson were well aware that they still had a hard task ahead. With Johns and Brooks not quite clicking as a pair, the home first pair really had to win their second rubber in straight sets to be sure of winning the match. Their opening game against the Gunasekaras set the tone for the first set with Smith struggling to hold his serve and Adam hitting booming returns from the back of the court while father Chris tried to dominate at the net. All four players held serve up to 6-5 to Crowthorne with varying degrees of difficulty until Adam had to serve save the set. The home pair's pressure eventually paid off and the winning shot came at the end of a remarkable rally and a piece of individual brilliance from Sanderson. The visiting pair were now broken and the second set was much quicker with Smith and Sanderson winning it 6-1.
Although Johns and Brooks lost 6-4 6-3 to Ali and Kaushal, they had secured the vital odd set in their first rubber. So Crowthorne won the match 5-4 on sets to end a losing sequence.
MIXED
LEAGUE - WARGRAVE 4 v
CROWTHORNE 1
As
you can see from the scores
it took a little time
for both pairs to get
to grips with the Astroturf
courts. Being the lower
match of two home fixtures
we were also banished
to the lesser-used courts,
which resembled Brighton
Beach.
Jen & Vince
Brooks. 1 v 1.
Crowthorne's first pair
struggled to combat the
low sliding bounce, particularly
Jen who favours a high-bouncing
shot that enables her
to generate bags of topspin.
There were plenty of rallies
with the opposition always
just coming out on top
and the rubber was conceeded
1-6 2-6.
Ravinder Norman & Jim Hawes. 2 v 2.
This was more of a case of 'does anyone want to win this' to start with with both pairs winning each other's services! Judging from the knock-up and taking in the obvious age difference we looked to be coasting. However, add the courts, sidespin serves from [almost] out of court, and a rain of lobs found us screwing up a tiebreak despite breaking their serve several times during the set. A chance remark from Ravinder early in the second set prompted me to discard my first serve in favour of a sidespin one, which resulted in plenty of aces. Not pretty but effective. We also adopted the technique of Ravinder either rallying crosscourt until I could make myself a nuisance at the net or else she'd win the point outright by a down-the-line lob. We were at 5-0 up in the second with the opposition arguing with each other whether it was worth contesting any further points, whereupon we took a little nap for a couple of games before winning 6-2. The last set was played as a tiebreak at the insistence of their pair, which we won easily 7-4 only to find out that the rules have changed again and it should be three tie-break sets. The opposition were still arguing with each other back in the clubhouse and we were happy to call it a result, 6-7, 6-2, (7-4) much to the annoyance of the 1st pair's lady.
Jen & Vince 1 v 2
After a swift defeat in the first rubber, Crowthorne's first pair swapped sides putting Vince on the forehand, which seemed to help a lot. Subsequent points seemed far more in control with Jen putting away net balls regularly. Swapping sides was a good tactic too as Bill ((Wargrave) served from the corner of the base line and doubles sideline to send whoever was on the forehand into the fence... Nice! Vince being a bit quicker and used to receiving this sort of treatment on a Thursday meant he was able to return most of them with interest. Result - a win 6-3 6-4.
Ravinder & Jim 1 v 2
This was a far faster game, which suited us better. Ravinder kept it going [or won the point outright] while I made myself as unpopular at the net as possible. We managed to get the opposition arguing with each other again, [and with me?] which is always a good sign. The last point was won by Ravinder putting away a crosscourt volley... Sorry that's worth repeating again. In fact Ravinda won the last two points of the match with a VOLLEY! Result - another win 6-3 6-3.
A nice day's tennis, a 3-1 win and enjoyed by all! Well enjoyed by most people as the first-pair lady was now looking like a bulldog chewing a wasp. Presumably because they expected little opposition in their second rubber against us and didn't like how their second pair capitulated the first rubber with a tiebreak!
MIXED
LEAGUE - CROWTHORNE
2 v BINFIELD 2
The
club's 2nd Mixed
team had a good
start in division
7B with a convincing
win over Binfield
2 at home on Saturday
5th June. Conditions
were perfect for
tennis on a dry,
warm day with no
wind,clouds filtering
the sun and the
appeals of the cricketers
occasionally interrupting
the calm. Crowthorne
were fielding two
new pairings, Mike
Smith & Pauline
Snell and Richard
McCully & Julie
Harris so it could
have taken a while
for them to get
into their stride.
However, Mike &
Pauline rapidly
asserted their authority
against the visiting
1st pair Sally Colby
& Richard Nicholls,
winning the rubber
6-2 6-2. Richard
& Julie encountered
more resistance
against Sue Wagstaff
& Rob Jones
and took a bit longer
to win their first
rubber 6-4 6-2.
Mike & Pauline
had a slow start
against Jones &
Wagstaff taking
ages to survive
a few crises and
reach 2-all. But
then, having overcome
any remaining nerves
they stepped up
a gear and won the
remaining 10 games,
taking the rubber
6-2 6-0. Richard
& Julie finished
their rubber against
Nichols & Colby
a few minutes later
having won 6-4 6-4
to complete a convincing
victory.
|
MEN'S
LEAGUE - SATURDAY
22 MAY
Crowthorne's
1st Men's
Doubles Team
started the
2004 Summer
season with
a hard fought
win at Woolton
Hill on Saturday
22 May. The
team of Mike
Smith, Jim
Hawes, Andy
Johns and
James Brennan
had to travel
to the far
western reaches
of Berkshire
and over the
county border
into Hampshire
for their
first match
of the season.
Andy and James
did exceptionally
well in their
first rubber
against the
opposition's
1st pair coming
back from
a set down
to win 4-6
6-3 6-4. Meanwhile
Mike and Jim
had a relatively
straightforward
6-1 6-1 win
against the
2nd pair to
finish the
1st round
in a good
position to
win the match.
Andy and James
had soon secured
the victory
by winning
their 2nd
rubber 6-3
6-2, leaving
Mike and Jim
to try to
make it a
clean sweep.
At this point
the final
rubber was
still in its
first set
and it went
all the way
to a tie-break
which was
won by the
home pair.
At 4-2 in
the 2nd set,
Mike and Jim
had a good
chance of
squaring the
rubber but
failed to
capitalise
on their lead,
losing the
set 6-4.
Earlier in the day the 2nd Team had a trip to Aldermaston to play the opposition's 3rd team. The final result was a very satisfactory win on games. With 1st pair Richard McCully and Andy Stone winning both of their rubbers, 2nd pair Ron Ellison and Tony Sweet frustrated the opposition for long periods of time, accumulating enough games to win the match overall by a substantial games margin.
Following three straight wins in the National Club League, a win by the Vets A Team over Caversham and a narrow loss on games by the B Team, this has been an excellent start to the season by Crowthorne's men. |
|
|
|
|
|
