You know how you trot along to the club for a few minutes and stay for the afternoon and everybody at home wonders what you were doing there? Well today was one of those days and let us hope for more before the week is out. Yep, it is time for the Snow’s Winter Tournament again now held in July/August because it was too cold in December. Photo: The Boy's 14 & Under Winner & Runner-up - sideways!
Monday: dawned bright and more or less stayed bright all day. There were a few bright points promised but more than we expected. Sam Ardley was our sole entry in the Boy’s 12 & Under and duly played his way through to the Semi-final to be played tomorrow. Nicolas Van Zyl Smit had a disappointing day in his first Tournament losing both his matches: tough to start out but it is all part of the learning process (but still hard to take). We were all impressed by his acceptance of being beaten – and he showed lots of flashes of what is to come. Nakshatra Sridhar had a great day and won her matches leaving one to finish on Tuesday in a play-off. Erin Perry won one of her matches against a same-rated girl but best of all she took a game off in each set from an 8.2 player in her last match: she was so delighted she looked as if she had won the trophy at Wimbledon. Jamie Bevan caused a shock when he won his first round match against a much higher rated player but he was soundly beaten in the semi-final by a very strong young player. Todd lost his first match but then won the consolation with a dominant display. I left with Leo up a set in his semi-final which he then won and proceeded to the final which started with a 6-4 firsts et, then he dropped the second 4-6 and finally succumbed in the tie-break 3-10. Mind you I was at home writing this rubbish by then and tucking in to some crisps washed down by a glass of red - I was tired so no idea how he felt!
So loads to look forward to on Tuesday with a full programme to come on the next three days. Sharon’s Chocolate Cake went so fast that I have taken orders for more cakes into 2021. Svetlana’s pies also went well and I only came home with one out of the six she gave me to sell (I did cheat as I was so hungry I ate one myself. Chris Whiting as ever regaled us with his stories of his youth and, with his lovely wife Jenny, managed the programme with great aplomb.
Tuesday:
Another bright morning with a small programme but enough to keep the few players occupied. Jamie Bevan had to play off for 3rd and 4th place in the Boy’s 16 & Under but had to settle for fourth after a very positive and unrelenting assault from his opponent. The Final had been played the afternoon before: well I say afternoon but they finished at 1930! Down the other end of the Pavilion courts Nakshatra was trying to win her way to the Girl’s 12 & Under title and put up a great fight clawing her way back from 3-1 down to force a tie break – which she lost. After that it didn’t take long before she succumbed to her opponent so a runner up spot was her reward. Sam Ardley made hard work of his win in his Semi-final but not nearly as hard work as his opponent. When it came to the final I was quite happy as I went home for lunch that Sam had it all under control. 90 minutes later when I returned the two were walking off the courts – Sam without his normal winner strut. But he had won in an epic struggle – 10-3 in the match tie-break. There were three girls to play the 16 & Under round robin. Jocelyn Kwan suffered badly at the hands of both Nakshatra and the third girl but that left Nakshatra facing the same girl in the Girl’s 16 & Under final round of the round-robin – with the same result: always the bridesmaid and never the blushing bride we used to say. Both girls play in the same County training squad so there is familiarity when they play each other.
Fun came next with a round robin Mixed Doubles using the materials available on site so to speak. Somehow the thornden players, Sam Ardley, Nakshatra Sridhar and Jocelyn Kwan ended up with partners from other clubs – no idea how it all came out as it was all very un-LTA –official: but great fun was had by all I believe and someone will tell me the results tomorrow. There was also a final of the touch tennis between someone and someone-else: I guess I will learn about that tomorrow too.
Wednesday:
What a day: started out not too bad but just seemed to progress downhill from there. The Mixed 8 & Under assembled in the Sports Hall so enjoyed their competition under the watchful eye of Paul Scullard and Leon Chatterton. We had Thomas Randall-Coles and Holly Hill in that draw. Tom didn’t have a great day but learned a great deal while Holly also didn’t have a great time either. Tom did have one success – he managed to beat Holly! Holly’s big brother Will was playing in the was in the Boy’s 10 & Under the matches for which were played on the Theatre courts as the Pavilion courts were too wet. Will lost his first round match so zoomed to the final of the Consolation. The Orange ball was postponed and the Girl’s 10 & Under were postponed until the afternoon tomorrow.
Thursday
The day dawned with prospects of much better weather. Sam Ardley progressed to the semi-finals of the Boy’s 14 & Under but Adil Chowdhury lost in the first round. In the Boy’s 18 & Under James Ardley progressed to the final where he met Harry Dunnett while Milan Bharadia lost in the semi-final but then won the third/fourth play-off against Leo Gamon. Leon Chatterton managed to take two games off Harry Dunnett but that was probably because Harry was wishing Leon Happy Birthday. In the Orange tournament Aleksander Kudla won everything until the Final match where he was beaten in three sets. We had no interest in the final of the Boy’s 10 & Under main draw and consolation final was not played. The Girl’s 10 & Under tournament featured Ami Talpallikar who won everything until her last match.
So I didn’t tell you what happened in the Boy’s 18 & Under final. Well Harry started like an express train on steroids while James fought a rear-guard action that slowed Harry down a bit. Harry won that set 6-1. The second set started with neither player giving anything away in increasingly blustery conditions but once James had his nose in front he was not going to give in – 6-3 to James. The tie break was as tight as the rest of the match as- points came and went until James gained the break and won the Match Tie Break 10-8. An enthralling and exciting match played with great sportsmanship on both sides.
Friday morning there were the remaining matches of the Boy’s 14 & Under with Sam Ardley trying to make it pretty much a clean sweep for Ardleys. So Sam takes the first set of his semi-final 6-2 but then chose to dream of the final and by the time he woke up it was match tie-break time having lost the second 4-6. As usual he polished that off 10-6 – so much “fun” for the parents watching as their progeny seems to go AWOL. After this Sam was asking for food: Sharon popped up to Waitrose but by the time she came back Sam was up in the first set: both players looked dead on their feet, with the one who held his serve winning the set. One set to Sam 6-4 then into the second with a repeat of the same except neither of them could hold a serve. I suppose the tournament deserved a big climax as the two parents, a few spiders, a couple of pigeons and the Referee & his wife (and possibly a couple of rabbits for all we know) witnessed the closing Tie-break: drama – but Sam decided it was time so he polished off the set with a 7-2 win in the tie break.
So what is there left to say. Apparently we said Goodbye to Chris and Jenny who will be retiring from officiating at Tournaments in the near future. It will be a great miss as Chris somehow manages to handle all the ups & downs and ins & outs of a running a tournament with such practiced ease. Chris is always so philosophic about everything and handles parental complaints with an authority that only years of experience can achieve. I hope I am speaking for all of you when I say a HUGE THANK YOU to Chris and Jenny for all the hard work they have put in over the years: I guess we have known each other for at least 9 years even if it has felt like a lifetime to Chris! Chris thank you so much for a everything from all the members, parents and children you have served over the years.