Round 2 of the Amherst Dream Team tournament is now in the books, and what a sunny Sunday of tennis it was! Another fully subscribed tournament saw 8 new Dream Teams take to the courts to see who would come out on top.
Our first group of 4 teams battled out some very tense and competitive games. After 3 evenly contested matches, "Dream Topping" were dead even on the scoreboard with "Frankie and the 3 Seasons". The Tournament Commitee had to exercise executive discretion to break the tie, by checking the head to head scores between the two teams. After several counts, it was determined that Dream Topping managed to edge out their rivals by a razor thin margin of just 1 point! A bit of a nightmare for Frankie and the 3 seasons' Millie Mitchell-Pointer, Jon Ellwood, and Steve Kirby; but at least Millie consoled herself with the shot-of-the-day honour, courtesy of a dreamy forehand winner that just clipped the outside of the tramline.
With Dream Topping prevailing, Andy and Sarah Chapman ("the Chappers") and Jan "the authority" Constable secured the first spot in the finals.
Over in group 2, "The Team With No Name" proved you don't need a name to win tennis matches. Those who shall remain nameless (for now, anyway) stormed to victory over their 3 competitor teams, putting themselves into the final with comprehensive victories over "Delta Force", "Kill Bill", and "Patstrix".
Perhaps if Kill Bill's namesake Billie Kotting (member of the previous championship team "The Tortoises and the Hare") hadn't pulled out due to illness, it could have been a different story? On the day, Kill Bill's Pete Hebditch, Mel Pointer, and Glen Constable had to settle for second in their group, just beating rivals Patstrix by a single point.
With the finalists decided, and a baying crowd of recently vanquished players in attendence, the championship match at last got underway in the fading winter light. Once court 4 was suitably floodlit, Dream Topping and The Team With No Name took to the astro to battle it out for the number 1 spot.
At the conclusion of the 3 doubles matches, The Team With No Name had built a handy lead, thanks to hard fought wins from all doubles combinations of Clare Hooton, Zachary Reed, and Richard Oaten. However, proceedings weren't over just yet, and it was either team's championship still to win going into the combined singles tiebreak. With just 7 points to settle it, Dream Topping needed to win big to clinch it, but on this day, The Team With No Name wouldn't be denied. A hard fought singles tiebreak (with some particularly excellent rallies courtesy of Andy and Zachary) concluded with Clare v Jan; Clare sinking to her knees in delight and exhaustion as Jan sent a return long. A fittingly dramatic roar of victory from Clare punctuated an equally dramatic final.
So The Team With No Name will go down in the history books, along with earlier winners The Tortoises and the Hare, as Amherst's 2024 Dream Team champions. We can only guess what would have happened had those two titanic teams clashed. Perhaps in 2025?
Congratulations to all the teams who took part, and we sincerely hope that win, lose, or draw, you enjoyed your matches and had a great time. Final shout outs must go to the winners of the "get a grip" awards, Mel Pointer for her sense of humour (earned in part by cheering on the wrong team), and Steph Fawbert for being the top cheerer (correctly cheering on her own team). And rounding things out, of course, Millie Mitchell-Pointer for her shot-of-the-day.
And now, on to the next! Players, keep your eyes peeled for November's instalment of the Amherst 2024 tournament season, which promises to be a very different, but equally exciting, affair. We think it will be a bullseye 🎯 hit... Details to follow soon.
Keep on dreamin'.
The Amherst Tournament Committee