Saturday 9 September
Mixed 1 rounded off their season with a 4-0 win away to Slough 1, clinching promotion and, probably, the top place in Division 4A. It was by no means a straightforward win, as the scores show! Matt Paxton/Tina Stern beat the home first pair 6-2 0-6 1-0 while Ollie Walker/Michaela Appleby beat their 2nds 7-5 6-1. They also went to a tiebreak in their 5-7 6-4 1-0 win aganst the Slough no.1 pair while Paxton/Stern won 6-3 6-2 against their 2nds.
Saturday 2 September
Another win for Mixed 1, this time at home against Caversham 4. Lorraine Fowler/Luke Tearall wasted no time in thrashing the visitors’ 1st pair 6-6 6-1. Meanwhile, Matt Paxton with Sally Thullier, recently joined and playing in her first match for the club, were losing 2-6 4-6. However, in the second round, both pairs won on deciding tie-breaks to take all 3 points for the 3-1 win.
It was a very close match at Wargrave for Mixed 2 where they won a 2-2 draw by a single game 43-42. The rubbers themselves were close too, with Richard McCully/Cath Sillitoe winning their first 6-4 3-6 1-0 before losing their second 5-7 6-1 0-1. Andy Lewis/Jenny Partridge lost their first rubber 7-5 6-4 but won their second 6-4 7-6.
Saturday 19 August
Next up for Mixed 1 was a trip to Newbury to play David Lloyd 1. The result was a 4-0 win for the Crows with both pairs, Matt Paxton/Tina Stern and Luke Tearall/Lorraine Fowler winning in straight sets.
Mixed 2 won their first point with a battling losing 2-2 draw against Caversham Park 3.
Joe Forrester/Estelle Cash and Rob Hughes/Jenny Sheppard both lost against the visitors’ 1st pair but they both won close matches on deciding tie-breaks against their 2nds to salvage a point.
Saturday 29 July
Mixed 1 started their campaign with a 3-1 home win against Riseley 1 in Division 4A. Michaela Appleby & Ollie Walker, recently crowned CTC Mixed Doubles champions, won 6-2 6-4 against Riseley’s no. 1s while Peter Walker & Lorraine Fowler won 7-5 6-3 against their 2nd pair. Both pairs found it tougher in the second round, Appleby & Walker coming through on a deciding tiebreak while Walker & Fowler lost their deciding tiebreak.
Mixed 2’s next match was away at Peppard against their 2nds. Both pairs, Andrew Morrison/Jenny Partridge and Steve Stow/Jenny Sheppard wer unlucky to lose their first round matches on deciding tiebreaks so they came away pointless from a 1-3 loss after Stow/Sheppard lost 6-4 6-2 while Morrison/Partridge battled to win 7-6 6-3.
Saturday 22 July
Saturday 17 June
Our Girls 16U team ensured they won a somewhat depleted Division 2 with a 3-0 victory over Windsor. Michaela Appleby beat Arabella Mustill 6-2 6-1 in her singles while Ella Rowntree won 6-2 6-0 against Parisima Akbarian. In the doubles Michaela and Ella won 6-2 6-2 to secure an emphatic win. Surprisingly, DL Royal Berkshire were unable to put out a team for any of their matches and withdrew from the division leaving just Crowthorne, Windsor and Ascot who finished in that order in the division.
Saturday 10 June
Crows’ Men’s 1 faced a strong Wargrave 1 team in Division 2 and were unlucky to lose 1-3, losing 3 tie-breaks in the process. Dave Smith & Luke Tearall started with a 2-6 6-7 loss to Kieran Martin-Davis & James Mcilwraith while James Brennan & Peter Collier lost by the same score to Dan Lampton & Duncan Greenwood. A 6-2 6-3 win by Smith & Tearall against Lampton & Greenwood put the Crows back on track but Brennan & Collier lost in a deciding tie-break 2-6 6-4 0-1 to make it a 3-1 win for the visitors.
It was a better day for Men’s 2 away against Ascot 2 where Pete & Ollie Walker won 7-6 6-4 and 6-1 6-2 in their rubbers. But Matt Paxton & Chris Torkington managed to lose two deciding tie-breakers in theirs to make it a winning draw for the Crows. They were disappointed not to get all 3 points but it was a good result away against Ascot’s 2nds..
Men’s 3 didn’t have to lift a finger to gain 3 points as Wargrave were unable to field a 4th team.
Wednesday 31 May
Our Men’s O55 Veterans increased their points tally for the season when they managed to defeat the mighty Windsor at home at St.Sebastians.
Russell Finch and Mark Lardner, playing first pair, won their opener 6-0 before taking their foot off the pedal and losing the 2nd set 3-6 and then losing a hard-fought tie-breaker. Steve Stow and Dave Stone meanwhile were in the middle of an epic match. Winning the first set 7-5, the second set was 6-6, decided in favour of Windsor in the tie break. Crowthorne managed to come out on top in the deciding champions tie breaker 10-2 to square the match.
Finch and Lardner’s 2nd rubber was cut short just a few games in as Windsor’s 2nd pair retired, handing the rubber to the Crows, as clearly Stow and Stone had worn them to a frazzle! Meanwhile, Stow and Stone went down 3 and 1 to the first pair although the score did not reflect how close the tennis was. Overall, a well earned winning draw for the Crows and good use was made of the new Crowthorne beer fridge afterwards!
Saturday 13 May
Men’s 1 had a tough away fixture on Saturday in Division 2 against Riseley, who put out a team including two coaches and a nationally ranked junior. Details will appear here when available.
Men’s 2 were at home against Caversham 4 in Division 4A and did well to win 3-1 and take all 3 points. Pete & Ollie Walker were very comfortable against both visiting pairs, winning 6-2 6-2 against Leith Ashurst & Joseph Rogers and 6-1 6-2 against Ross Tulloch & Gerrit Myburgh. Matt Paxton & Dave Stone made it hard for themselves by losing their first set 2-6 against Tulloch & Myburgh but they recovered well to win the next by the same score and then take the deciding tiebreak. They had another poor start against Ashurst & Rogers, losing the first set 1-6, but they nearly levelled in the second, losing 6-7.
Men’s 3 had the best result of the day, winning 4-0 for the loss of just 15 games away at Shinfield in Division 7B. Joe Forrester & Jamie Rowe started with an impressive 6-3 6-0 win against Al Plummer & Ian Margeson and followed up with a 6-0 6-2 demolishing of Deepak Babbar & Nick Boxall. Johnny Rynhoud & Andy Johns were nearly as impressive, beating Babbar & Boxall 6-3 6-3 and stepping up a gear to win 6-2 6-2 against Plummer & Margeson.
Wednesday 10 May
Our Men’s O55 Vets were away at Ascot in their second match of the season and they came away with a 3-1 win, only narrowly failing to make it a 4-0 clean sweep.
After losing the first set 3-6 against Mark Creasey & Geoff Ashling, Russell Finch & David Stone came back strongly to win the next 6-1 and take the deciding tie-break 12-10. As captain Steve Stow said after the match “Finch’s natural attacking game, combined with his top spin and tricky to control backhands, together with Stone’s raw forehand power and backhand finesse made the difference on the critical points.”
Meanwhile, on the other court, as Stow told our reporter, “Jim Hawes’ tricky spins and slices had the opposition in trouble while Stow was as steady as usual (!) and kept the rallies going.” So much so that the outcome, was never in doubt, with the pair beating Gerald Gatty & Kevin Osborough 6-3 6-4.
They almost got the better of the Ascot 1st pair, too, missing out in the deciding tiebreak after sharing the sets 3-6 7-6. However, by this time, the match result was decided as Finch & Stone mopped up with a 6-0 6-2 win to make it 3-1 overall.
So the Crows now head the table with 4 points above Ascot on 3 – although the points are actually shown wrongly on the LTA website.
Sunday 7 May
Both Men’s National League teams were in action the day after the Coronation and it was a bit of a struggle to get 8 players out on a day when many of us were attending special events.
Men’s 1 were away to Bradfield/Douai and, facing a strong team, lost 2-10. Matt Paxton did well to lose just 3-6 4-6 against Gianluca de Arcangelis while Peter Walker rallied well after a poor start against Jonathan Snyman, also a Crowthorne member, losing 1-6 5-7. Andy Valner had no answers against Douglas Mogg, losing 0-6 2-6 but Ollie Walker restored some pride for the Crows, winning 3-6 6-3 1-0 against Kevin Hill. In the doubles Matt & Andy fought well but lost 7-5 2-6 0-1 while Ollie & Peter lost 2-6 3-6.
Men’s 2 were at home against Wargrave 2 and lost 0-12. The most notable fact from the match was that veteran Mike Smith, who was called in late the previous evening, found himself with the top singles ranking of the 4 despite not having played a competitive singles match for at least 20 years! Still, it gave new member Johnny Rynhoud and Jamie Rowe, who joined last September, a chance to play and the weather finished up fine despite rain before the start. Performance of the day was Steve Stow’s 2-6 4-6 defeat against Duncan Greenwood, but Johnny came close with his 2-6 3-6 loss to Alex Bishop.
Later in the day, our 14U Boys scored a crushing victory against Berkshire County Sports, winning 3-0 and losing just one game. Jake Walbancke won 6-1 6-0 against Hamza Abdelrahman but Aleander Rynhoud, son of Johnny who had played earlier, beat his opponent, Lucas Gallego-Gutierrez, 6-0 6-0 before the pair combined in the doubles and won 6-0 6-0.
Sunday 30 April
Our 16U Girls had a close 2-1 win away at Ascot on Sunday. Although Millie Rodhouse lost her singles 1-6 4-6 against Olivia Murphey, Michaela Appleby won hers 6-1 6-2 against Amelia DeBarros and the pair won a close doubles 6-4 1-6 1-0 to clinch the victory.
Sunday 23 April
The first National League match of the season for Men’s 1 was a very close affair against Caversham Park 2 with all but one rubber decided by a tie-break. The result was 6-all based on 2 points for a rubber but a win after a shootout decider for Caversham Park. Such is the arcane method for deciding the result in these matches that a shootout was necessary despite Crowthorne winning on sets 9-8!
James Brennan had a good start against Sean Carson, winning the first set 6-2 but he narrowly lost the second 6-7 and missed out in the deciding tie-break. Russell Finch shared the sets 6-4 4-6 with Rcihard Morgan and went on to win the tie-break. Matt Paxton had a poor start losing the first set 0-6 but rallied to take the second 6-3 against Panos Kontogiannis only to lose the breaker. It was a smoother ride for Peter Collier who won 6-4 6-2 against George Moxley.
In the doubles, Brennan/Finch won 5-7 6-2 1-0 while Paxton/Collier lost 6-0 0-6 0-1 in a roller coaster of a rubber. This meant it was 3 rubbers all but, being National League, the sets and games scores didn’t count and a shootout had to be played, which the Crows lost.
It was a better result for Men’s 2 who won 8-4 against Bracknell 3 with no need for a deciding shootout. Peter Walker beat Mark O’Donnell 6-3 6-4 and Steve Stow lost 1-6 2-6 to Mark Hetem, while Andy Valner had a real battle losing to Adrian Draffin – who is also a CTC member – 4-6 7-5 0-1. Ollie Walker completed the singles with a 6-2 6-0 win against Ben Fryatt. The Walkers beat O’Donnnell/Hetem 7-5 6-3 in the doubles and Stow/Valner clinched the match win with a 2-6 6-2 1-0 victory against Draffin/Fryatt.
Saturday 22 April
On Saturday, Ladies’ 1 were up against a strong Maidenhead 4 team in Division 4B and did well to finish with a losing draw. Jenny Partridge & Michaela Appleby had a real battle against the visitors’ top pair Lorna Bowry & Jane Wride, winning 4-6 7-6 1-0 and they did even better against 2nd pair, Helen Trill & Claudine Talbot, winning 7-5 6-1. Both pairs were too strong for Jenny Sheppard & Ravinder Norman but the Crows pair came close to winning two sets which they lost 4-6.
Wednesday 19 April
On Wednesday our Men’s O55 Vets faced a very strong team from David Lloyd Newbury and managed a losing draw. Russell Finch & Adrian Draffin won two tight rubbers on deciding tie-breaks, 6-4 1-6 1-0 against Bruce Letham & Edward Shiu and 7-5 6-7 1-0 against Tony Montana & Duncan Chisholm. However, Steve Stow & Jim Hawes were unable to make any impact against two very strong pairs.
Monday 17 April
Our Ladies O40 Vets lost 1-3 when they visited Shinfield with new pairing Bev Arnell & Estelle Cash winning their second rubber 6-3 6-2.