Niblett Cup 2020

Once again members of the club trekked en masse to the Delta Tennis Centre in Swindon for the annual Niblett Cup, the curtain raiser to the new calendar year.  It enjoys a reputation as a great evening's tennis, where members can catch up with each other after the Christmas and New Year periods, and enjoy a plate of food and a drink while watching and playing.

The tournament has a unique socring system, whereby drawn mixed pairs are given a score handicap depending on who is drawn with who (e.g. -40, +15 etc).  They must start each match and game from this starting point.  Each match is 6 games in length, with teams trying to accumulate as many games as possible.  There are two groups, with the top pairs in each going through to the knockout phase.

Unfortunately the group stages overran a little, leaving just the two group winners to battle it out in a straight final.  Due to time constraints the final had to be limited it to a first to 5 point tie-break.  The two finalist pairs were Simon Casey and Catherine Johnson verses Dave Clarke and Sarah Fleming.  Simon and Dave were both first time entrants and played excellently to reach the final.  

In such a short format the tensions were high, however Dave and Sarah managed to come through as winners 5-1.  They were quickly presented with the winner trophies by Club President Richard Drury.  Big thanks to Sarah also who regularly organises this event and has finally won it for the first time!