2020 Tournament
With 80 matches played in the 2020 tournament a good time to pick out some of the highlights so far. Starting with news of some of our youngest players. Sunday 6th was the turn of the 9&U and 14&U players to show what they have got. And they didn’t disappoint. The 18 players demonstrated good play, good competitiveness and the right attitude. The future of our club looks bright. The final was contested between Dara Guppy and Dhruv Dubey. In a fluctuating battle Dara with a run of 4 points in a row got to match point. With a 3 point streak of his own Dhruv pipped Dara to the match 10-9. Doesn’t get much closer. The semis of the 14U Boys were high quality affairs. Playing at high tempo Christian Vatahov and Jack Bulbulia battled for close to an hour with Jack prevailing 4-1 4-2. The other semi was even closer with Alfie Mills securing his place in the final with a 4-3 4-2 victory over an impressive Theo Houston. Alfie and Jack already have quite a history of club finals played. Alfie has always kept Jack at bay with his brand of consistent play and calmness under pressure. No surprise that the first set was settled on a tie-break with Jack edging it 7-5. No separating the boys in the second set until a break of serve by Jack at 3-2 saw him home. A well deserved victory for Jack and reward for the aggressive shots he was prepared to take on. Credit to Alfie for the mature and dignified way he accepted defeat. Am sure there are plenty more instalments of this rivalry (friendly) in store. In the girls final Caoimhe Guppy defended her title 4-1 4-0 against Ruth Teale. Caoimhe is eyeing up a hat-trick of 14s, 18s and Ladies. Watch this space…..
Now to the club’s older players. All events are progressing with some nearing completion. Delighted to report that every event has gone ahead. Leading the way with 14 entries is the 45plus men’s singles. Busiest players so far have been Sandy Foulkes who has notched up 10 matches already (8 wins) and Rob Ralph who is up to 7 matches (6 wins). Have been some incredibly close battles such as Chris & Ginny Lowe’s 6-1 6-7 11-9 win against Peter Corbishley and Sandy Foulkes. Dave Morris and Mike Langston prevailing 5-7 6-2 10-8 over Rob Ralph and Simon Corbishley is another. Good wins for Cindy Thomas and Sandy Foulkes over Ginny Lowe and Jane Warner 7-6 6-3 and Mark Bisson over Dave Baldelli 6-4 7-5. Am sure there are bound to be plenty more of these in the next 3 weeks. And maybe the odd upset too….
The final of the Open Mixed Doubles brought to a close the 2020 Club Championships. This was match number 181. Well done on a successful defence from Mike Langston and Rachel Prudden. A repeat of the 2019 final as they overcame Jon Guppy and Caoimhe Guppy 6-4 6-3. On the subject of Caoimhe she was eyeing up a triple of 14U, 18U and Ladies singles titles. Having already bagged the 14U she saw off Ruth Teale in the 18U 4-1 4-1 and the same player in the Ladies 4-0 4-1. Not to be outdone Dara Guppy defended his 8U title. Not without alarm as he squeezed home 10-9 against both Eshaan Nilak and Ruben Chelvarajah-Lopez. In the 10U Tim Bisson was 4 wins from 4 as he followed up winning the 9U title in 2019. Runner up here was Ronan Guppy. A great contest in the 18U involving Sam Rayner and Jack Hingley. Battling back from losing the first set 4-2 Jack brought the match level with a 4-3 second set. Positive reaction from Sam to steam through the final set 10-1 and back up winning the event in 2019.
To the other end of the age spectrum. Dave Lambert and Paul Massey put up a strong showing to see off Neil Thompson and Chris Lowe 6-2 6-3 in the 60 plus doubles. In the ladies nothing much separating the top 3 pairs with all matches going to a final set. Jane Warner and Ginny Lowe dug deep against Sandy Foulkes and Kate Barber and again against Cindy Thomas and Sarah Eaton to reclaim their title. A final set came into play in the mixed event with Team Lowe (Chris & Ginny) edging it 11-9 versus Peter Corbishley and Sandy Foulkes to keep hold of their title.
In the popular 45 plus category close finals were the order of the day. The Ladies Doubles saw a successful defence from Sarah Eaton and Sarah McCormick 6-3 7-6 against Claire Ralph and Manon Van Seters. In the men’s a reversal of 2019 with Mark Bisson and Rob Ralph keeping their nerve to beat Jon Guppy and Dave Morris 6-4 3-6 10-6. Jon bounced back with Sarah McCormick to claim the Mixed title with a 6-7 6-2 10-6 victory over Simon Corbishley and Beverly Morris. The men’s singles saw a whopping 23 matches played and a final of Jon Guppy and Mark Bisson. Fittingly the final went to the wire with Jon emerging victorious 4-6 6-3 10-7.
Close matches also defined the Open finals. Nothing to separate Rachel Prudden and Michelle Collings versus Sarah McCormick and Beverly Morris in the Ladies Doubles. A match of contrast with Rachel and Michelle making a high number of winners and very few errors off the rackets of Sarah and Beverly. The scoreline of 4-6 6-4 10-8 in favour of Sarah and Beverly says everything about how little was between the pairs. Similar story in the Men’s Doubles. Team Hingley (Max and Jack) held on to edge out Sam Rayner and Guy Ramus 6-3 4-6 10-7. A repeat of the 2019 singles final with Mike Langston and Matthew Sime. The first set proved decisive in this one. With momentum going one way and then the other and nothing separating the players the set came down to a tie-break. Neither player could open up a lead here either. A set point came and went for Matt. Mike then seized on this and went on a 3 point charge to grab the set. Deflated by this Matt was unable to withstand Mike as he came through 7-6 6-1 to notch up another singles title.
The aim for this year was to establish a broad appeal. 96 different players taking part across the 20 events suggests this has indeed been the case. It has been gratifying to hear players say that they have met other members through the tournament and have had the chance to play against new players outside their normal sphere. This is the essence of the tournament. Hopefully we can build on the momentum created next year.