It’s over 2 months since we re-opened the courts and we’ve played about 20 league matches so far – with mixed results but some great individual and team performances. Pictured above are (back row) Ben Walker & Tim Brennan after their 3-0 win against (front row) Ethan Smith and Alfie Saunders from Woodlands.8
Wednesday 26 May
Veterans matches are played midweek, mainly on Wednesday evenings and our Men’s O55 team entertained a strong Bucklebury team in Division 1 and lost 1-3. In the first round, Adrian Draffin/David Stone lost to John Palmer/Matthew Moore by a respectable 3-6 4-6 scoreline while Rob Hughes/Chris Stolland lost 0-63-6 to Mark Brunwin/Andrew Rogers. Years ago Andrew Rogers partnered local well-known coach John Woodward in the Berkshire county team so has a solid pedigree. In the second round Hughes/Stolland put in the best performance for the Crows, coming back from losing the first set to win the rubber 5-7 6-3 1-0, but Draffin/Stone were unable to make any impact on the solid Brunwin/Rogers pairing, going down 0 & 1.
Our Ladies’ O40 team travelled to Wargrave where they met a very strong team in Division 2 and lost 0-4. Cath Sillitoe/Alison Nicholson and Maggie Ingham/Jenny Sheppard battled hard but were unable to win a set.
Sunday 23 May
There is some controversy over Royal Ascot’s 2nd team being allowed to continue in Division 4B of the Men’s National League following the withdrawal of their 1st team from Division 2. Consequently, the Ascot club were able to field a strong side against Crowthorne 2 and win 10-2, the same score, incidentally, that they beat Wokingham 1 by 3 weeks earlier.
Matt Paxton, at no.1 came up against a strong Ryan Elaoud, losing 2 & 0, while Russell Finch faced Harry Hunting, losing a close match 6-7 3-6. At no.3 Taki Hasegawa did even better, winning a long close match against Louis Hunting 6-3 5-7 1-0. Joe Forrester was unable to make any impact at no.4, losing 0 & 1 against Adrian Camp. In the doubles, Paxton and Hasegawa teamed up and were unlucky to lose 6-3 4-6 0-1 to Elaoud/H.Hunting while Finch/Forrester lost 3 & 3 to Camp/L.Hunting.
Unsurprisingly, Ascot 2 lead Division 4B with a match to play.
Saturday 22 May
Our Boys 14U 2 team recorded a 6-0 win away against local rivals Wokingham in Division 2 but it was far from straightforward with two deciding tie-breaks going the way of the Crows. William Maynard had a great start against Rhys Underwood, winning the first set 6-0 but his oppenent battled to take the second 6-3 before Maynard won the decider. On the other court, Austin Bowker won a close match 6-4 6-4 against Rory Rhodes before the pair completed the clean sweep winning the doubles 2-6 6-2 1-0.
Ladies’ 1 had another tough match on their second outing, this time away against Maidenhead 3 in Division 3B. It was 4-0 to the home team but club champions Maggie Ingham & Penny Hemingway did well to take Maidenhead’s no.2 pair to a tiebreak in the first round.
Ladies’ 2 faired better, having dropped to Division 6B, gaining a convincing 4-0 victory over Wokingham 5. Lorraine Fowler/Jenny Sheppard won a close second set to beat Ursula Sykes/Nancy Chipper 6-2 7-5 before seeing off Polly Thatcher/Jenny McCurry 0 & 3. Wendy Miles/Maddy Dunckleycame through 6-4 6-3 against Thatcher/McCurry and then completed the clean sheet with an excellent 7-6 6-3 win against Sykes/Chipper.
Sunday 9 May
On Sunday it was the turn of the Men’s National League again with both Crowthorne teams in action.
Crowthorne 1 entertained top of the table Caversham Park 1 in Division 2 having won against their 2nd team in their first match of the season. Despite Jon Blatchford being unavailable for this match, the Crows were still able to field a strong side with Jasper Richardson stepping up to play his first match for CTC. His 3.1 rating put him in the no.1 spot and he shocked the visitor’s no. 1 player Jonathan Tait by winning 6-0 6-1. Andy Sayer at 2 lost a close match 4-6 6-4 0-1 to Benjamin Ratcliffe while Luke Tearall was beating his brother Thomas in another battle 6-3 3-6 1-0. But John Phillips rapidly disposed of their father Steven, 6-2 6-2, to give the Crows a 3-1 lead after the singles. Richardson/Phillips secured the match win beating Tait/B Ratcliffe 6-2 6-1 before Sayer/Tearall faded a bit losing to the other Ratcliffes to make the final result 8-4.
Crowthorne 2 had a tricky visit to Home Park Windsor in Division 4 where they had to play on far from perfect grass courts. Nevertheless, they put in a good performance in losing 4-8 against some pretty useful players who were used to playing on this surface. Matt Paxton at no.1 lost 0 & 3 to Peter Gawith but Russell Finch won 4 & 0 against Chao Su to level the match. Performance of the day was from Joe Forrester who won the first set 6-4 against Paul Batty before losing the second 5-7 but fought back to win the deciding tiebreak. With Steve Stow losing 0 & 2 to Phil Curry, it was 2-2 after the singles. In the doubles, Paxton/Finch lost 2 & 2 to Gawith/Curry while Forrester/Stow unluckily lost their first set 5-7 before dropping the second to 2.
It was a busy day for the Juniors, too, with 4 matches scheduled, but with Bracknell 1 dropping out of the Boys 18U Division 1, our Boys 18U 1 match was cancelled.
Boys 18U 2 were away to top team Wargrave in Division 2A but they were too strong for Alex Trill and Arlo Filley who lost 0-3.
Boys 14U 1 were unfortunate to come up against Maidenhead 1 who were fielding 3 players with rankings of 7.1 or 7.2. Unsurprisingly, therefore, William Long, Josh Date and David Kruger all suffered convincing defeats but William Maynard nearly captured a set for the Crows, losing 6-7 1-6 to Aryaman Asthana. In the doubles, Long/Date lost 1 & 0 to McGarvey/Muresan but Kruger/Maynard got one for the Crows winning 4-6 6-4 1-0 against Mirone/Asthana to make it a 1-5 loss.
Boys 14U 2 fared better in Division 2A with a gritty 6-0 win against Woodland at home which lasted well into the middle of the afternoon. Ben Walker first scored a relatively straightforward 6-3 6-3 win over Ethan Smith but Tim Brennan’s match was far from straighforward as he battled to win 5-7 6-2 1-0 over Alfie Saunders, showing some of the resilience that his father, James, had shown in becoming club singles champion in previous years. Even though the match was won, Walker and Brennan were not satisfied with 4-2 as they continued to battle in the doubles, eventually winning 4-6 7-5 1-0 to make the score 6-0 to the Crows.
Saturday 8 May
A busy and very windy weekend, which saw 2 Ladies’, 2 Men’s NL and 3 Junior matches, started with Ladies’ 1 home against a strong Caversham Park 1 side, who are surprisingly still in Division 3B of the Berkshire Ladies’ Summer League. The visitors’ first pair, Laura Salinas/Lottie Botterill, were too strong for both Crowthorne’s pairs, Cath Sillitoe/Maggie Ingham losing 3-6 2-6 in the first round and Ravinder Norman/Jenny Sheppard losing 1-6 1-6 in the second. However, both pairs put up a good fight against Esther Rodriguez/Celine Loader, taking them to 3 sets in both rounds. Sillitoe/Ingham eventually lost 6-4 0-6 0-1 while Norman/Sheppard lost 6-0 4-6 0-1 to make the match score 0-4, although it was closer than the score suggests.
Ladies’ 2 were away to Sonning in Division 6B. Alison Nicholson, playing with Penny Hemingway for the first time, lost a very tight match 3-6 6-3 0-1 against Linda Burton/Jennifer Taylor, losing 9-11 in the deciding tie-break, before beating Sarah Armitage/Angela Curtis 6-1 6-3. Maddy Dunckley/Wendy Miles put up a fight losing by a respectable 4-6 2-6 to Armitage/Curtis before going down 1 & 2 to the strong Burton/Taylor. So a tough 1-3 loss, exhausting in a strong wind and playing a first match for 18 months!
Sunday 2 May
A week after their win in the Men’s National League against Caversham Park 2, Crowthorne 1 came down to earth when facing a strong team away at Wargrave with a somewhat below strength team. Only Jon Blatchford remained from their previous match and he did the business at no. 2, beating John Winston 7-6 6-1, with Matt Paxton, at no.1 due to his higher ranking, losing 1 & 0 to Max Branet and James Brennan and Joe Forrester also losing in straight sets. Blatchford/Brennan started well in their doubles against Winston/Morgan, taking the first set 6-1 before losing the second to love and the deciding tiebreak. Paxton/Forrester lost their doubles in straight sets to make it a 10-2 win for Wargrave.
Saturday 1 May
Our Boys 18U 2 team had a potentially tricky visit to Riseley in Division 2A and, after a close match they came away with a well earned 4-2 win. George Loverdos lost a tight match 4-6 3-6 against James Rix but Peter Swann levelled the score winning 2-6 6-2 1-0 against Oliver Rix. The Crowthorne pair then sealed the win in the doubles with a 6-3 6-4 victory.
Our Boys 12U team did even better with a convincing 6-0 win over Caversham B at home in Group B. Jake Walbancke won 6-1 6-0 against Raef Van San while Misha Ordovas beat Faris Bushnaq 6-3 6-0. The Crows pair wrapped up the victory with a 6-2 6-0 doubles win.
Monday 26 April
The first Veterans fixture of the season was a Ladies’ O40 match away at Cholsey in Division 2. It was a long way to travel for a 4-0 defeat but the opposition was strong and there were 3 close matches out of 4. Maggie Ingham/Jenny Sheppard must have wished they had stayed at home after their 0 & 0 defeat by Deborah Langley/Heather Harrison, but things improved after that with Jenny Partridge/Tina Stern unlucky to lose 2-6 6-3 0-1 to Susan Butcher/Louise Purton. Partridge/Stern had a good start in their 2nd rubber before losing 6-2 0-6 0-1 while Ingham/Sheppard lost 4-6 4-6 in theirs.
Sunday 25 April
In the Men’s National League, Crowthorne 1 faced Caversham Park 2 in Division 2 and they won the match 10-2, although not without some close results. Jon Blatchford and Andy Sayer won their singles in straight sets, against Christian Rowbotham and James Springett respectively, but Russell Finch and John Phillips were both taken to a deciding tiebreak before winning by identical scores, 4-6 6-4 1-0 against Logan Turner and Trung Tran. Blatchford/Phillips then confirmed the win with a 3 and 2 win over Rowbotham/Turner with Finch/Sayer narrowly missing out 2-6 6-1 0-1 against Springett/Tran.
In Division 4, Crowthorne 2 were away against Wargrave 2 and they came away having lost by a respectable 4-8. It could have been 6-6 had Joe Forrester, at no.2, managed to complete a comeback against Jon McCarthy instead of losing 2-6 7-5 0-1. Matt Paxton at no.1 lost 2-6 2-6 to Christopher Brims, while Steve Stow, at 3, lost 1 & 2 to Matthew Thomas, but Peter Walker salvaged some pride for the Crows by winning 0 & 1 against Richard Etheridge. Paxton and Walker teamed up for the doubles but lost 5-7 0-6 to Brims/McCarthy while Stow/Forrester made the score respectable winning 6-2 3-6 1-0 against Thomas/Etheridge.
Saturday 17 April
Men’s 1 and Men’s 2 are at the same level this season in the Berkshire Men’s Summer League with the 1sts in Division 3B and the 2nds in Division 3A. Unfortunately the organisers decided to put Wokingham 1 & 2 in the opposite divisions so Crows 1 faced Wokingham 2 at home while Crows 2 travelled to Wokingham to play their 1sts.
John Phillips/Jon Blatchford lived up to their promise in their first set for Crowthorne 1 against Wokingham 2, winning 6-0 against Robin Davies/Gary Oates, but relaxed in the 2nd set which they won 7-5. Dave Smith/Taki Hasegawa were made to fight by Paul Hancock/Dan Nadel, dropping the second set 1-6 after taking the first on a tiebreak. But they squeezed home 6-4 in the third to take the rubber.
In the second round Phillips/Blatchford were able to secure the match win with a 0 and 1 win against Hancock/Nadel but Smith/Hasegawa got involved in another 3 set epic, eventually losing 6-4 2-6 6-7 making the final result a 3-1 win for the Crows.
Crowthorne 2, however, faced a very strong Wokingham 1 side and it was no surprise when our team of Steve Stow/Matt Paxton and Andrew Morrison/Simon Usher went down 0-4.