Finals Day (2) – 19 July

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Ladies’ Doubles – Penny Hemingway & Maggie Ingham v Ravinder Norman & Jenny Sheppard

Maggie and Penny retained their title from 2020 beating Ravinder and Jenny in a match that lasted just under three hours.

The final result was 7-5 4-6 7-5 and the match tested both pairs.   Maggie and Penny led the first set by 5-2 but then Ravinder and Jenny won the next three games to level at 5-5. There was some light rain which led to a court check before play continued.  After some games involving up to 8 deuces Maggie and Penny took the next two games to win the set.

The second set had Ravinder and Jenny leading 4 -1 after changing tactics, and then they lost next 3 games to level at 4-4.  They then took two quick games to win the set 6-4 and force a 3rd set decider.

In the 3rd set Ravinder and Jenny won 5 games in a row to lead 5-2 but couldn’t find the shots to take one more game. Instead Maggie and Penny made a great come back also winning 5 games in a row and retained the title.

Men’s Doubles – Andy Sayer & John Phillips v Russell Finch & James Brennan

The mens doubles final between John Phillips / Andy Sayer and James Brennan / Russell Finch was a fast paced and entertaining game, with both pairs evenly matched throughout.

The first set began with a break of the Sayer serve with the help of a couple of double faults and then James holding his serve to go 2-0 in front. A hold for John and a break of Russell’s serve levelled it at 2-2, and then the pattern repeated itself with Andy and Russell unable to hold serve leaving the match poised at 4-4. With Russell struggling for form James was playing superbly to keep their team in the set.

Another break of the Sayer serve meant James served for the first set but was broken to 15.  A hold for John put the pressure on Russell to force the tie break but he held with the help of a couple of errors from John and Andy. An excellent tie break saw neither pair manage to go 2 points ahead at any stage until John and Andy sneaked it 10-8.

The second set saw James get broken in the first game but he and a much-improved Russell broke Andy back after many deuces in what felt like it might be a key game. A comfortable hold for Russell was followed by another by John. The next 2 games were decisive as James was broken in a long game and then Andy found his first serve and held after losing his previous 4 service games to go 4-2 up with Andy and John getting on top of James’ lobbing. The next 3 games went with serve leaving it to Andy to serve out the match in a game of several deuces.

Handicap Singles – Rob Hughes v Phil Tim

The handicap final between Rob Hughes and Phil Timm began with both players expressing surprise that Russell’s handicapping system hadn’t given Phil more than 1 start up to 10 in the tie-break format, and when Rob won the first two games 10-5 it looked like they were right. However once Phil sneaked the third game 10-9 his confidence visibly increased and he began hitting his forehand much harder, winning the next 2 games as well to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-9 match.

Rob knew he was in a battle by this stage and fought back to level things up by taking the 6th game 10-9 and took a 4-3 lead with a comfortable win in the 7th 10-5. Phil then made a good start in the 8th game and won it 10-7 meaning that it all boiled down to the 9th and last game. Rob took control early on and closed it out 10-7 for a 5-4 win and become the second member of the Hughes family to win the handicap singles following his son Chris’ win in the inaugural handicap singles tournament in 2016.

Many thanks to Caroline and Russell for the above reports.

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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