July League Update

Wednesday 28 July

Ladies’ O40 Veterans secured their first points of a difficult season with a 2-2 winning draw against Royal Ascot in Division 2.1.   Tina Stern/Jenny Partridge lost a close first rubber 5-7 6-4 0-1 to Helen Sommerville/Emma Burton but Jenny Sheppard/Ravinder Norman hammered Ruth Graham/Amy Hammond 6-1 6-1 to level the match. With Stern/Partridge beating Graham/Hammond 6-3 6-3 and Sheppard/Norman losing 1-6 3-6 to Sommerville/Burton, it was a 5-4 win on sets to the Crows.

 

Saturday 17 July

Men’s 1 won Division 3B on Saturday in their final match against Bracknell 3 with another 4-0 win.  They finish clear of Wargrave 1 and Twyford 1 in a very successful season in which several new members contributed to their success.  Jasper Richardson/John Phillips had their usual outstanding start, winning their first set 6-0 against Andrew Speight/Nana Akumanyi, but eased of a bit in the second, winning 6-4.  James Brennan with new club member David Holt beat William Heath-Turrall/Simon Punter 6-2 6-3 to give the Crows a 2-0 at the halfway point.  Brennan/Holt had a tougher match in the second round, winning 7-5 7-5 against Speight/Akumanyi but, with Richardson/Phillips beating Heath-Turrall/Punter 6-1 6-1, it was a convincing 4-0 win to take the top spot in the division and promotion to Division 2 for, probably, the first time in living memory!

While congratulating the four who won the final match on Saturday, we shouldn’t forget the others who played their part in the team’s success, including Jon Blatchford and Taki Hasegawa – both since moved away – David Smith, Matt Paxton, Andy Sayer, Russell Finch and Simon Usher,

There was lesss joy for Men’s 2 who faced Caversham 2 in Division 3A and lost 1-3.  It could have been closer, with Chris Torkington/David Stone losing both of their rubbers in deciding tiebreaks but the highlight was the 6-3 6-1 win by Luke Tearall, playing with 13 year old Jonathan Snyman who had stepped up to fill a gap in the 2nd team.

Men’s 3 had a great start away to David Lloyd 2 in Division 5B with Joe Forrester/Andrew Morrison winning 6-3 6-4 against Carl Howard/Steve Dabinett.  However, Martin Smith, playing his first match for the club, and Steve Stow were unable to make any impact in either of their rubbers and, with Forrester/Morrison losing in a fighting 6-7 4-6 rubber against Gary Jones/Cagri Kececi, it was a 1-3 defeat for the Crows.

Sunday 11 July

Men’s 1 had a great 4-0 against high flyers Twyford 1 in this rearranged match on Sunday to keep their hopes of promotion to Division 2 alive.   Jasper Richardson/John Phillips kept up their winning record with a 6-1 6-1 win over Paul Farris/Thomas Wills but James Brennan/Russell Finch had to work much harder to clinch their first rubber 7-5 3-6 1-0 against Tim Ward/Poraj/Ramasubbu.  Richardson/Phillips were nearly as ruthless in the second round, beating Ward/Ramasubbu 6-1 6-2 and, again, Brennan/Finch went to a tiebreak to beat Farris/Wills 6-4 5-7 1-0.

Saturday 10 July

Ladies’ 1 lost their final match of the season 0-4  away at Portcullis in Division 3B and finish bottom of the division.  Jenny Sheppard/Maggie Ingham and Alison Nicholson/Tina Stern all lost in straight sets and will be more comfortable next season in Division 4.

Ladies’ 2 also lost their final match 0-4 at home to Bracknell 3 in Division 6B and finish in 5th place above Wokingham 5 who they beat 4-0 earlier in the season.  Jenny Partridge/Maddy Dunckley and Wendy Miles/Penny Hemingway also lost in straight sets, although Miles/Hemingway had a fight in their second rubber, losing the first set in a tie-break.  They are likely to be in Division 7 next season.

Sunday 4 July

On Sunday our 14U Boys 1 team travelled to Bracknell to play Latika in Division 1 and came away with a very convincing 5-1 victory.  Jonathan Snyman set the tone with a stunning 6-0 6-0 win against James Newman at no.1 but William Long at no.2 lost 6-7 0-6 to Oliver Wickens.  With Joshua Date defeating Aleksandar Blanusa 6-1 6-0 and David Kruger winning 6-2 6-1 against Adam Ternent, it was 3-1 after the singles.  The victory was wrapped up with Snyman/Long winning 6-4 6-2 against Newman/Wickens and Date/Kruger winning 6-0 6-2 against Blanusa/Ternent.

Saturday 3 July

Crows’ 18U Boys 1 team had a losing draw on Saturday at home to Riseley 1 in Division 1.   It was 3-3 on rubbers, 7-8 on sets and 54-61 on games and a good result with Crowthorne fielding a young team – 2 14s, a 13 and a 16 year old.

Seb Edwards lost 4-6 4-6 to Tom Harris before Josh Furneax levelled the match with a 6-4 3-6 1-0 win over Charlie Moor.  With Ollie Walker losing 4-6 2-6 to Oskar Wroblewski and Will Maynard losing 2-6 6-3 0-1 to Thomas O’Hara, it was 1-3 to Riseley after the singles.  However, the Crows came back well to win both doubles, Edwards/Furneaux winning 6-1 6-4 against Harris/Moor and Walker/Maynard winning 7-6 2-6 1-0 against Wroblewski/O’Hara to make it 3-3.

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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