February League Results

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Saturday 26 February

It was a good afternoon for Ladies’ 1, who faced Bucklebury in Division 3 in their final match of the winter season, and won the match by a game to, hopefully, narrowly avoid relegation.  Cath Sillitoe/Jenny Sheppard almost won the first set against Lisa Saunders/Joanne Jones but lost it 5-7.  They had nothing left for the second set and lost it 0-6.  On the other courts Maggie Ingham/Alison Nicholson had an emphatic 6-1 6-3 win against Della Elford/Patricia Strang to make it all square at the halfway stage.   Sillitoe/Sheppard won 6-1 7-5 against Elford/Strang to ensure at least a point and, although Ingham/Nicholson lost 2-6 5-7 to Saunders/Jones, they had won just enough games to win the tie by 37 games to 36. 

Ladies’ 2, however, weren’t so fortunate in their Division 7 match against Windsor 4.  They lost 2-2 by a margin of 3 games and are probably relegated.  Sarah Mayhew/Jenny Partridge had a good start, beating Sandra Parkinson/Elke Luttich 6-3 6-2.  Maddy Dunckley/Ravinder Norman lost 2-6 4-6 to Natash Clark/Ruth Ferguson who, on this evidence should have been playing as first pair, to square the match at the break.  Mayhew/Partridge found Clark/Ferguson too strong in the first set, losing it 0-6 , but they did better in the second, losing 3-6.  Finally, Dunkley/Norman’s 6-4 6-3 win against Parkinson/Luttich was not quite good enough to win 2 points and the team had to settle for 1 from a losing draw.

Sunday 20 February

The final match of the winter season for Men’s 1 was a home tie against DL Royal Berks 1.  Their emphatic 4-0 win ensures the team remain in Division 2.  James Brennan/Russell Finch had a slow start, dropping their first set 4-6 against Stuart Felton/Antony Foster, before winning the second 6-3 and taking the tiebreak.  Luke Tearall/John Phillips had no problems winning 6-0 6-2 against Cezar Nechita/James Fletcher and Brennan/Finch were almost as ruthless in their second round match against the pair, winninjg 6-2 6-1.  A 6-4 6-3 win over Felton/Foster for Tearall/Phillips completed a good morning’s work for the team who will finish 4th or 5th in the Division.

Men’s 2 had a short trip to Wellington College to play their last match of the season and they also finished with a 4-0 win.  Julian Blackshaw/Dave Smith found themselves in a bit of a fight against Richard Bodkin/Terry Lynch but won 6-4 7-5 but Matt Paxton/Chris Torkington had an easier time winning 6-3 6-1 against our own Paul Gozzard playing for his other club with Lucas Ferguson.  The second round was almost identical to the first with Paxton/Torkington winning 7-6 6-4 against Bodkin/Lynch and Blackshaw/Smith winning 6-1 6-3 against Gozzard/Ferguson.  As with the first team, the win lifts them out of the relegation zone and they’ll stay in Division 4 for next season.

It was heartbreak, however, for Men’s 3 who went into their home match against Caversham 4 in Division 6W needing a winning draw finish in second place and gain promotion to Division 5.  They finished up losing 1-3, and they lost three deciding tiebreaks in the process, meaning Caversham 4 leapfrog them into the promotion spot.   It started well, with Ollie Walker/Peter Walker winning 6-2 6-2 against Ross Tulloch/Reiss Bush, and Steve Stow/Andy Valner also started well, taking the first set 6-1 against Yiu Kwong Lam/Yuen Ming Lau, but they lost the second 2-6 and fell short in the deciding tie-break. It was a similar tale in the second round as Stow/Valner won the first set 6-2 only to lose the second 4-6 and the tiebreak to Tulloch/Bush.  In the final set the Walkers lost their first set 2-6 to Lam/Lau but won the second 6-3 to give them a chance of the winning draw.  But for the third time in the tie, the tiebreak went to the visitors and it was tears for the Crows.

Sunday 13 February

Our 14U Boys 1 team were well beaten 0-3 away at DL Royal Berkshire on Sunday.  Joash Date and Austin Bowker both lost their singles in straight sets to Gabriel Rimington and Matty Barber respectively and, when Toby Lapham teamed up with Bowker for the doubles against Rimington/Barber, they failed to win a game.

Saturday 5 February

Ladies’ 1 just failed to get a point for a losing draw as they lost 1-3 away against Maidenhead 3 in Division 3 on Saturday.  The home first pair, Catherine Botwright/Gillian Peplow, were clearly a class act as they lost just 3 games in total against Tina Stern/Alison Nicholson and Maggie Ingham/Jenny Sheppard.  However, their second pair, Natasha Baylis/Anita Moiser, were involved in close rubbers against both of the Crowthorne pairs with Stern/Nicholson winning 3-6 7-5 1-0 while Ingham/Sheppard lost 6-4 3-6 0-1.

Ladies 2 were away against Wellington 4 in Division 7 and needing points to take them away from the relegation zone.   They lost 1-3 but, if a couple of tiebreak sets had gone the other way, it could have been very different. Ravinder Norman/Delyth Lynch lost 6-7 2-6 against Dympna McCarthy/Ingrid White while Natalie Duncan-Brown/Wendy Miles lost 1-6 6-7 to Janet Gozzard/Linden Wilkinson.  Duncan-Bown/Miles then staged an extraordinary comeback to win 0-6 6-3 1-0 against White/McCarthy but Norman/Lynch lost 3-6 0-6 to make the final score 3-1 to the hosts.

Places must be booked in advance via the Members’ Area and selections will then be confirmed on the morning or evening before the event.  Please do not turn up if you have not been selected as you will be turned away. Players are selected on a first come first serve basis usually in multiples of 4 players.  Note that none of these sessions is suitable for beginners.

  • Note that the Committee tries to accommodate the wishes of members, within the constraints of time and 4 courts, but a session for each ability level is the guiding principle.
    • The Friday session is for recreational and higher players and runs from 6pm to 8pm
    • The Thursday 5:30 session is for intermediate players and runs from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
    • The Thursday 7:30 session is for intermediate and advanced players including potential team players and runs from 7:30 to 9:30pm.
    • The Tuesday session is for advanced players and runs from 7pm to 9pm. 
    • In all cases you must commit to the full two hours.
  • Before the session you will have been told by the organiser your starting court, your partner and your opponents.
    • These will take into account each player’s normal playing standard with the best players starting on court 1 and, with 16 players, the least able players on court 4.  However, the organiser may occasionally decide to organise it differently such as a “lucky dip” for starting court & partner.
    • In addition, for the Thursday 7:30 session, the organiser will take into account any pairings for matches at the coming weekend.
  • Play is split into 3 rounds lasting 40 minutes each.  Play 1 set with normal deuce scoring.  If you finish early either carry on or mix in your 4.
    • If you haven’t finished the set after 40 minutes and the scores are level, play a sudden death point
  • At the end of the 40 minutes the winners of the first set played move up a court, the losers move down a court (court 1 is the top court). Winners on the top court stay, as do the losers on the bottom court. If you didn’t finish your set then the pair winning at the time moves up.
  • Pairs then split partners with the pair joining them and you play a second round.
    • Partners are selected by spinning rackets or using common sense to try to get a balanced 4.
  • Exactly the same happens for the third round.

Drop-In club nights are, as the name implies, more informal sessions than the bookable ones and you can arrive and leave when you like.  Those attending organise themselves, changing who plays with whom after most present have completed a set, although there’s often a more senior member present who  will take charge if needed.

We are currently running 2 Drop-In  sessions for all levels from Starter upwards…

  • The Tuesday session has recently been rebranded for All Levels and runs from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.  If you want to sit out and watch, maybe with a drink, you can do that too.  If you’ve arrived early for the 7 o’clock session, you’re also welcome to join in.
  • The Wednesday session is for all levels of player including beginner and usually runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.
    • You can expect members attending adult coaching to join in.
  • The Sunday session is for All levels and runs from 3:00 – 5:00pm.

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