British Handicaps Report and Photos 2013
BRITISH LADIES’ HANDICAP SINGLES AND DOUBLES TOURNAMENTS
15th to 17th November 2013
at Leamington Tennis Court Club and Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club
sponsored by and Anonymous donor and the Handpicked Collection
Go to British Handicaps Results 2013
Thanks to Jill Newby for the photos.
A bumper crop of 43 entrants flooded in for this year’s premier Handicap tournament, with the youngest aged 11 and the oldest…. rather older. Handicaps, too, spread over a wide range: from 34.7 (thank you for your custom, Ms Newby) to 80.6. Nicest of all was the presence of a French contingent of players and supporters, who certainly added cosmopolitan class (and a puzzle to your report writer, as one of the write-ups was written on the back of an envelope in scribbled French handwriting, which rather tested her long-forgotten French O level). Finally, welcome to the Very Pink Woolly Ball who attended some matches (of which more later).
Play alternated for the various stages between Moreton Morrell and Leamington, with the finals for both Divisions at Leamington (not to forget the delicious dinner, eaten in the elegant dining room there). Matches were mostly played to 6, with a one-all start, so the proceedings were rather brutal at times – suffer a slow start and it was difficult to make up ground in time (well, that was the post-match excuse from quite a few crushed players).
In the Singles, the winner and runner-up of each round robin went through to the knock-out stage; in Doubles, there was a knockout from the start.
Division One (59.9-) Singles and Doubles
Singles
There were six round robin groups with, as usual, some fiercely contested battles and a rather worrying trend (for those of us of a certain age) that a lot of young talent is emerging. In Group C, for instance, the youngest players sailed through to the next round (the winner, Sophie Dannreuther, didn’t drop a game, and the runner-up, Georgina Willis, only lost 4). This was at the expense of such experienced players as Katie Leppard. In Group E it was no surprise that Jess Garside finished convincingly with three wins, though she twice had to claw her way back from some way behind.
The young didn’t have it all their own way, though: in Group B Lucy Davies romped through with a score-line of 6, 5, and 6; and Katrina Allen also showed her class in Group A (with 3 players in it) by forcefully imposing herself with two 8-game wins. And in Group F ( a group of 3), Charlotte Barker had a hard time against 2 very capable opponents, Pam Tomalin and Fiona Harrison in perhaps the hardest-fought round robin with fiercely-fought games (to 8) in all 3 matches; She just lost out the runner-up position to Fiona on game score.
By Sunday, the last 12 were in place and – starting at 8.30, which is pretty cruel – battle was on in the knockouts, as play moved from Moreton to Leamington. Kevin the marker was sporting a fine pair of silver shoes, which made the most of his sparkling technique at nudging stray balls in to the basket. It was noted that he and Marc were not sitting in the dedans as markers, but in mid-court – possibly unable to take the barrage of banter from feisty LRTA members – we’ve got ‘em on the run, ladies!
There were some intriguing matches – such as that between Jess Garside and Rebecca Kashti, characterised by long rallies pulling each other from side to side and demonstrating enviable levels of fitness. But the big handicap against Jess was too much, and Rebecca went through 6/4. Some big hitting characterized the contest between Pam Tomalin and Candida Nicholls – heavy shoulder-high ground strokes from both into the corners. But Candida just edged ahead with some good serving, and held onto her lead to win 6/3.
A close match between Cecile Alchuteguy and Madeleine Grant was decided by good serving too, with Maddy just nipping through 6/5. And Fiona Harrison proved too steady for Linda Fairbrother, whose usually reliable serve didn’t get going, while Fiona played a consistently good game throughout. Despite saving a matchpoint (and thus avoiding a wash-out) at 5-1 down, and then winning the next game too, Linda couldn’t get back and Fiona won 6/3.
The final eight (which included some round robin winners) now took to court. In the first quarter-final, Candida Nicholls held off some lovely shots by Lucy Davies down the sides, in a cat-and-mouse contest. At times Candida seemed to be doing her best to give Lucy the match with double faults at the wrong moments, but was just as likely to follow with a superb serve in the nick. Not surprisingly the contest finished with a great serve from Candida, and she went through 6/4.
A very close match followed between Maddy Grant and Gabrielle Smart. Gabrielle played her usual steady game, keeping the ball low. Maddy’s strategy was a bit bolder, going for winning shots, but making errors. The game developed into a contest between Gabrielle’s cunning play up the sides or short, versus Maddy walloping anything she could get her racket to. But at 5/4, Maddy looked as if she was just pulling back on her shots, giving Gabrielle the chance to return them. And at 5 all, Gabrielle fought off a last-minute flurry by Maddy to take it 6/5.
Another very close match was between Katrina Allen and Rebecca Kashti. Nearly every game went to 40 all, and up to 4/3 to Rebecca, it was difficult to predict who might come out on top. But then Rebecca began to find the tambour and the corners with very low shots that skidded just a few inches off the ground, and she edged ahead to 5/3. There was a fine rear-guard fight by Katrina who so nearly won the next game defending Chase 4 at 40-all, but Rebecca held on to force an error from her opponent, and clinched the match 6/3.
The last quarter-final was between Sophie Dannreuther and Fiona Harrison, played level. Again, play was evenly matched up till 3 all, with Sophie playing very solid shots at a tricky length, and Fiona serving well to set up slightly loose returns. But at 4/3, Sophie went up a gear and began to lay some excellent chases as well as successfully attacking Fiona’s good chases. Her serve also improved and Fiona had difficulty volleying its strong flat trajectory. Sophie took the remaining two games, winning 6/3.
By now, the dedans was full – not just with spectators but also taken over by the largest ball of pink wool you will ever have seen, being transformed by Pam Tomalin into the longest bit of crocheting you’ve ever seen (supposedly for a baby’s blanket, but it was the length of Tom Baker’s Dr. Who scarf by this time). Coats on – it was unseasonably cold – but as the Division 2 players began to arrive from Moreton Morrell, we all huddled together for warmth to enjoy the final matches.
In the Div 1 semi-finals, firstly Gabrielle met Rebecca, with Gabrielle giving owe half 15 handicap. To begin with, it was all going Gabrielle’s way, with some good kick serves and solid ground strokes that didn’t give Rebecca time to open up and slog them back. She looked home and dry at 5/1. But Rebecca had other ideas and staged a great fight-back, winning the next game, and then two successive 40 all games to bring the score to 5/4 to Gabrielle. It looked like Rebecca would continue her winning streak when she started the next game with a shot to the grille. But Gabrielle hunkered down, got to 40/15, and then at last won that elusive final game, 6/4.
In the second semi, Candida played leftie Sophie. Again it looked an easy win at first, with Sophie sending down some great serves that took her to 4/1. Candida then found her own serve at last, and with 3 aces in a row, finally got a game. But every time she sent a second serve, Sophie attacked it ferociously, and when Sophie was at the service end, Candida couldn’t return the compliment. At 5/2, Sophie put icing on the cake with a shot to the grille, followed by a great rest which she won after about 10 strokes. And with a final attacking shot from the hazard end which won Chase 2 and 3, Sophie won the match in fine style 6/2 in a contest where the score didn’t do justice to Candida’s efforts.
So in the final of Division 1 Singles, Sophie, the newcomer, met Gabrielle, the experienced (and that’s not intended as a euphemism for young v. older). Once again, Sophie romped away with the opening games. She played what looked more like Gabrielle’s game, hitting stongly when she could, and then just taking the pace off the ball at the right moment to pop it in a corner or at the base of the tambour. The only good news for Gabrielle was that she could return Sophie’s railroad very effectively, but she was still 4/1 down.
At this point she hunkered down and at 40-all provoked Sophie into netting the ball, to make it 2/4. Gabrielle then tried everything in her locker: lovely low shots along the walls, wallops into the corners, cunning kick serves. But Sophie hung on, and with growing confidence in her ground strokes, out-powered Gabrielle to win the match and the title, 6/2.
Doubles Div 1
Twelve pairs took part in the Doubles competition, with the lowest handicap at 31.8 and the highest at 59.3.
No big surprises in the first round of the doubles, though Pam Tomalin and Chantelle Harding (the most experienced pairing in the tournament) had a bit of a fright against Annabel Wyatt and Candida Nicholls, just scraping through by winning the final point at 40 all, 5 all. Doris Siedentopf and Rebecca Kashti made a valiant effort in their match. Doris was able to send back Katie Leppard’s formidable railroads but too often the return was too easy and invited a killer shot from the other side, despite Rebecca’s bravery defending the tambour. Katie and her partner Barbara Carse went through 6/2. (Rebecca later had a second bite at the cherry, replacing Lucy Hutchinson who had to leave the tournament because of a family crisis. But alas, got beaten again by the talented pair of Maddy Grant and Sophie Dannreuther).
Katie and Barbara had to face formidable opponents in the next round, in the shape of Jill Newby and Jess Garside though they had a useful rec half 30, owe 30 handicap in their favour. The match was extremely tightly fought, marked by exemplary railroads from Katie, which leapt off the floor to head height which gave even a superb player like Jill Newby loads of trouble. There were many exciting rests, and all was equal till 4 all. Then Katie’s serve just lost its bite, giving Jill a chance to bury the return in the corners, and Jill and Jess took the game 6/4. Pam Tomalin and Chantelle Harding breezed past Fiona Harrison and Linda Fairbrother, 6/3, as did Bernadette Bidouze and Katrina Allen against Trish Morris and Angela Probyn 6/4 though there were some great rests with Trish and Angela playing very good steady tennis that just failed to get the crucial points.
At the semi-final stage, Jill and Jess came up against Bernadette Bidouze from Bordeaux with Katrina Allen, who had played very well as a pair in their previous match against Angela Probyn and Trish Morris, who fought valiantly but were out-gunnied in the rests. . This time, it was a very even match with excellent tennis, but Jill and Jess held steady once more in the face of their big handicap, capitalizing on low well-placed ground strokes that tempted their opponents to try too hard and thus make errors, so they progressed to the final 6/5.
In the other semi, Pam and Chantelle faced what could have been a hard task, with Gabrielle and Carolyn Armstrong-Smith on the other side of the net who are both more than capable of defending themselves against any hard tonks coming their way. But Pam and Chantelle proved their class once again, and after some very even games at the start, went through 6/3.
In the final of the Div 1 Doubles, it was Jess and Jill against Pam and Chantelle. Handicap rec half 30, owe 30, a very handy difference which Pam and Chantelle tried to make the most of, by laying on the power whenever they got the chance. But a tendency to then over-hit was setting up shots for their opponents who enjoyed having a good go at the winning openings and tambour. So the score was fairly quickly at 5/2 to Jill and Jess, with both apparently unfazed by the big handicap and hitting freely with hardly any errors. In the next game Chantelle was the heroine, first clonking a great return of serve into the dedans, and then in a fantastic rest, returning three attacking shots in a row aimed right at her, to win a chase and the game. But at 5/3, Jill and Jess piled on the pressure with three good serves to go ahead 30/15; they then won a rest for 40/15, and changing ends to attack Chase 2nd Gallery, a lovely shot into the corner won the chase and the match, 6/3. A superb end to some wonderful tennis, with worthy winners in the lowest handicap pair Jess Garside and Jill Newby.
Report by Linda Fairbrother, Doris Seidentopf, Rebecca Kashti and unknown French correspondent!
Division 2 Singles and Doubles (60+)
Singles
As in Division 1, young talent made its mark in the Round Robins, particularly the youngest entrant in the whole tournament, Hannah Parry aged 11. She coolly won all 3 of her matches, with well-placed shots at the tambour, good serving and a few spectacular forces into the dedans when attacking a tight chase. “A very intelligent performance” was the verdict of spectators.
Another young player who made her mark was Anna Willis, who apparently felt that Dad’s supporting presence was putting her off in her game against Julie Levy – she gave him the red card after a poor start to her play, and he was banished from the Dedans. As confidence returned, he was allowed back for the 13th game, an exciting 40 all which ended with Anna just managing to return a tricky serve from Julie, winning the decisive point to go through as winner of her group.
Talking of cards, Sarah Mc Givern in her match against Jess Walker dropped her racquet – she received a yellow card for misuse of equipment and poor example to the young generation. However, this did not affect her play and without mercy she won convincingly.
The markers are to be congratulated on courage under fire during this stage of Division 2. Possibly it was a conspiracy by the players, but the markers certainly had more than their fair share of attack. For instance, Jane Rowland’s very first serve went straight at the marker’s jugular, and one of Felicity Sergeant ‘s shots nearly parted his hair.
The other achievement of note was Annabel Wyatt who in her match against Jane managed 5 unreturnable serves in a row, which does seem rather excessively show-off.
Moving to Moreton Morrell for the knock-out rounds, Katy Weston obviously had made good use of her lesson with Marc Seigneur on Friday before the tournament started. First she took on Sarah McGivern who had eased through the round robin with scores of 8/1 and 8/3 to win her group. But Katy made good use of the corners and served extremely well to put pressure on Sarah, and went through 6/4. A similar score in her quarter final with Kim Walker, took her to a semi final with Felicity Sargent. Felicity put up strong resisitance with some great corner shots and powerful cross court volleys. But again a score of 6/4 took Katy to the final.
Waiting for her there was Anna Willis, who at 13 had been scything her way through the opposition. In the quarters she met 11 year old Hannah Parry, and Anna took full advantage of her extra two years of life. Despite some good serving by Hannah, Anna’s superior steadiness won the day, 6/4. She then took on in the semi-final another sort of opponent in the shape of Annabel Wyatt, who is a grand thumper of the ball when she gets the chance. Annabel specializes in tricky penthouse shots, often off the wood!, and you need a cool head to stay on top. But Anna stayed calm, and also watched Annabel’s serves very well to return them accurately into corners. But it was a close match, going all the way to 6/5 for Anna.
So in the Division 2 singles final, Anna Willis met Katy Weston, playing level. Anna continued her strategy of playing without big power but very accurately, and Katy found it hard to return her bouncing shots low enough to do much damage. By 3/2 to Anna, Katy had worked out that the only way to get errors from Anna was to use angles, and the score moved on to 4/3 to Anna, more or less neck and neck. But then Anna started finding the nick with her serves and some ground strokes, and though Katy was playing extremely well, she was just missing out on the game points. True to form, Anna found two more nicked serves at 5/3, and so won the match and the title, 6/3 – a score which didn’t do justice to Katy’s elegant and consistent play.
Division 2 Doubles
Nine pairings took part in the doubles competition, including the two Willis sisters, Georgina and Anna, whose joint age was still less than most of their opponents’ individual age. With no respect for their elders – if not betters - they stormed through to the final, beating Sarah McGivern with Katy Weston (6/4), and Michelle Bucknell with Kim Walker (6/1) on the way.
The other successful pair were Julie Levy and Charlotte Barker. They too had eased through, beating first Isabelle Riou with Janet Peach (6/2) and then Diane Binnie with Jane Rowlands (6/4).
In the finals, Charlotte and Julie were given a 15/0 advantage over Georgie and Anna Willis. It was all even, up and up to 4 all. Charlotte displayed fine persistence and movement round the court, and together with Anna’s steadiness, this provided some fine rests. As the less experienced player, Julie was down the court defending the galleries. This was not always a successful strategy, as it put huge pressure on Charlotte at the back. But Julie gradually got the hang of it, and did her bit with 2 or 3 successful intercepts, plus a few useful serves. At 5/4 to Charlotte and Julie, the game went to 40 all, and with an error from their opponents, they took the title 6/4.
Congratulations to all!
Reports by Doris Siedentopf, with Diane Binnie, Kim Walker, Liz Fisher, Annabel Wyatt, (ed Linda Fairbrother)
********************
Huge thanks to the two courts of Leamington and Moreton Morrell for their hospitality and the loan of the four markers: Kevin Sheldon, Marc Seigneur, Tom Granville and Ben Coleman. Charlotte Ricketts organized a wonderful dinner at Leamington. Without our sponsors there would not have been a tournament at all, so we are very grateful to The Handpicked Collection and our ever-generous Anonymous Benefactor. And above all, we must thank Katy Weston who organized the whole tournament and coped with a bumper crop of entries with flair and calm.
Play alternated for the various stages between Moreton Morrell and Leamington, with the finals for both Divisions at Leamington (not to forget the delicious dinner, eaten in the elegant dining room there). Matches were mostly played to 6, with a one-all start, so the proceedings were rather brutal at times – suffer a slow start and it was difficult to make up ground in time (well, that was the post-match excuse from quite a few crushed players).
In the Singles, the winner and runner-up of each round robin went through to the knock-out stage; in Doubles, there was a knockout from the start.
Division One (59.9-) Singles and Doubles
Singles
There were six round robin groups with, as usual, some fiercely contested battles and a rather worrying trend (for those of us of a certain age) that a lot of young talent is emerging. In Group C, for instance, the youngest players sailed through to the next round (the winner, Sophie Dannreuther, didn’t drop a game, and the runner-up, Georgina Willis, only lost 4). This was at the expense of such experienced players as Katie Leppard. In Group E it was no surprise that Jess Garside finished convincingly with three wins, though she twice had to claw her way back from some way behind.
The young didn’t have it all their own way, though: in Group B Lucy Davies romped through with a score-line of 6, 5, and 6; and Katrina Allen also showed her class in Group A (with 3 players in it) by forcefully imposing herself with two 8-game wins. And in Group F ( a group of 3), Charlotte Barker had a hard time against 2 very capable opponents, Pam Tomalin and Fiona Harrison in perhaps the hardest-fought round robin with fiercely-fought games (to 8) in all 3 matches; She just lost out the runner-up position to Fiona on game score.
By Sunday, the last 12 were in place and – starting at 8.30, which is pretty cruel – battle was on in the knockouts, as play moved from Moreton to Leamington. Kevin the marker was sporting a fine pair of silver shoes, which made the most of his sparkling technique at nudging stray balls in to the basket. It was noted that he and Marc were not sitting in the dedans as markers, but in mid-court – possibly unable to take the barrage of banter from feisty LRTA members – we’ve got ‘em on the run, ladies!
There were some intriguing matches – such as that between Jess Garside and Rebecca Kashti, characterised by long rallies pulling each other from side to side and demonstrating enviable levels of fitness. But the big handicap against Jess was too much, and Rebecca went through 6/4. Some big hitting characterized the contest between Pam Tomalin and Candida Nicholls – heavy shoulder-high ground strokes from both into the corners. But Candida just edged ahead with some good serving, and held onto her lead to win 6/3.
A close match between Cecile Alchuteguy and Madeleine Grant was decided by good serving too, with Maddy just nipping through 6/5. And Fiona Harrison proved too steady for Linda Fairbrother, whose usually reliable serve didn’t get going, while Fiona played a consistently good game throughout. Despite saving a matchpoint (and thus avoiding a wash-out) at 5-1 down, and then winning the next game too, Linda couldn’t get back and Fiona won 6/3.
The final eight (which included some round robin winners) now took to court. In the first quarter-final, Candida Nicholls held off some lovely shots by Lucy Davies down the sides, in a cat-and-mouse contest. At times Candida seemed to be doing her best to give Lucy the match with double faults at the wrong moments, but was just as likely to follow with a superb serve in the nick. Not surprisingly the contest finished with a great serve from Candida, and she went through 6/4.
A very close match followed between Maddy Grant and Gabrielle Smart. Gabrielle played her usual steady game, keeping the ball low. Maddy’s strategy was a bit bolder, going for winning shots, but making errors. The game developed into a contest between Gabrielle’s cunning play up the sides or short, versus Maddy walloping anything she could get her racket to. But at 5/4, Maddy looked as if she was just pulling back on her shots, giving Gabrielle the chance to return them. And at 5 all, Gabrielle fought off a last-minute flurry by Maddy to take it 6/5.
Another very close match was between Katrina Allen and Rebecca Kashti. Nearly every game went to 40 all, and up to 4/3 to Rebecca, it was difficult to predict who might come out on top. But then Rebecca began to find the tambour and the corners with very low shots that skidded just a few inches off the ground, and she edged ahead to 5/3. There was a fine rear-guard fight by Katrina who so nearly won the next game defending Chase 4 at 40-all, but Rebecca held on to force an error from her opponent, and clinched the match 6/3.
The last quarter-final was between Sophie Dannreuther and Fiona Harrison, played level. Again, play was evenly matched up till 3 all, with Sophie playing very solid shots at a tricky length, and Fiona serving well to set up slightly loose returns. But at 4/3, Sophie went up a gear and began to lay some excellent chases as well as successfully attacking Fiona’s good chases. Her serve also improved and Fiona had difficulty volleying its strong flat trajectory. Sophie took the remaining two games, winning 6/3.
By now, the dedans was full – not just with spectators but also taken over by the largest ball of pink wool you will ever have seen, being transformed by Pam Tomalin into the longest bit of crocheting you’ve ever seen (supposedly for a baby’s blanket, but it was the length of Tom Baker’s Dr. Who scarf by this time). Coats on – it was unseasonably cold – but as the Division 2 players began to arrive from Moreton Morrell, we all huddled together for warmth to enjoy the final matches.
In the Div 1 semi-finals, firstly Gabrielle met Rebecca, with Gabrielle giving owe half 15 handicap. To begin with, it was all going Gabrielle’s way, with some good kick serves and solid ground strokes that didn’t give Rebecca time to open up and slog them back. She looked home and dry at 5/1. But Rebecca had other ideas and staged a great fight-back, winning the next game, and then two successive 40 all games to bring the score to 5/4 to Gabrielle. It looked like Rebecca would continue her winning streak when she started the next game with a shot to the grille. But Gabrielle hunkered down, got to 40/15, and then at last won that elusive final game, 6/4.
In the second semi, Candida played leftie Sophie. Again it looked an easy win at first, with Sophie sending down some great serves that took her to 4/1. Candida then found her own serve at last, and with 3 aces in a row, finally got a game. But every time she sent a second serve, Sophie attacked it ferociously, and when Sophie was at the service end, Candida couldn’t return the compliment. At 5/2, Sophie put icing on the cake with a shot to the grille, followed by a great rest which she won after about 10 strokes. And with a final attacking shot from the hazard end which won Chase 2 and 3, Sophie won the match in fine style 6/2 in a contest where the score didn’t do justice to Candida’s efforts.
So in the final of Division 1 Singles, Sophie, the newcomer, met Gabrielle, the experienced (and that’s not intended as a euphemism for young v. older). Once again, Sophie romped away with the opening games. She played what looked more like Gabrielle’s game, hitting stongly when she could, and then just taking the pace off the ball at the right moment to pop it in a corner or at the base of the tambour. The only good news for Gabrielle was that she could return Sophie’s railroad very effectively, but she was still 4/1 down.
At this point she hunkered down and at 40-all provoked Sophie into netting the ball, to make it 2/4. Gabrielle then tried everything in her locker: lovely low shots along the walls, wallops into the corners, cunning kick serves. But Sophie hung on, and with growing confidence in her ground strokes, out-powered Gabrielle to win the match and the title, 6/2.
Doubles Div 1
Twelve pairs took part in the Doubles competition, with the lowest handicap at 31.8 and the highest at 59.3.
No big surprises in the first round of the doubles, though Pam Tomalin and Chantelle Harding (the most experienced pairing in the tournament) had a bit of a fright against Annabel Wyatt and Candida Nicholls, just scraping through by winning the final point at 40 all, 5 all. Doris Siedentopf and Rebecca Kashti made a valiant effort in their match. Doris was able to send back Katie Leppard’s formidable railroads but too often the return was too easy and invited a killer shot from the other side, despite Rebecca’s bravery defending the tambour. Katie and her partner Barbara Carse went through 6/2. (Rebecca later had a second bite at the cherry, replacing Lucy Hutchinson who had to leave the tournament because of a family crisis. But alas, got beaten again by the talented pair of Maddy Grant and Sophie Dannreuther).
Katie and Barbara had to face formidable opponents in the next round, in the shape of Jill Newby and Jess Garside though they had a useful rec half 30, owe 30 handicap in their favour. The match was extremely tightly fought, marked by exemplary railroads from Katie, which leapt off the floor to head height which gave even a superb player like Jill Newby loads of trouble. There were many exciting rests, and all was equal till 4 all. Then Katie’s serve just lost its bite, giving Jill a chance to bury the return in the corners, and Jill and Jess took the game 6/4. Pam Tomalin and Chantelle Harding breezed past Fiona Harrison and Linda Fairbrother, 6/3, as did Bernadette Bidouze and Katrina Allen against Trish Morris and Angela Probyn 6/4 though there were some great rests with Trish and Angela playing very good steady tennis that just failed to get the crucial points.
At the semi-final stage, Jill and Jess came up against Bernadette Bidouze from Bordeaux with Katrina Allen, who had played very well as a pair in their previous match against Angela Probyn and Trish Morris, who fought valiantly but were out-gunnied in the rests. . This time, it was a very even match with excellent tennis, but Jill and Jess held steady once more in the face of their big handicap, capitalizing on low well-placed ground strokes that tempted their opponents to try too hard and thus make errors, so they progressed to the final 6/5.
In the other semi, Pam and Chantelle faced what could have been a hard task, with Gabrielle and Carolyn Armstrong-Smith on the other side of the net who are both more than capable of defending themselves against any hard tonks coming their way. But Pam and Chantelle proved their class once again, and after some very even games at the start, went through 6/3.
In the final of the Div 1 Doubles, it was Jess and Jill against Pam and Chantelle. Handicap rec half 30, owe 30, a very handy difference which Pam and Chantelle tried to make the most of, by laying on the power whenever they got the chance. But a tendency to then over-hit was setting up shots for their opponents who enjoyed having a good go at the winning openings and tambour. So the score was fairly quickly at 5/2 to Jill and Jess, with both apparently unfazed by the big handicap and hitting freely with hardly any errors. In the next game Chantelle was the heroine, first clonking a great return of serve into the dedans, and then in a fantastic rest, returning three attacking shots in a row aimed right at her, to win a chase and the game. But at 5/3, Jill and Jess piled on the pressure with three good serves to go ahead 30/15; they then won a rest for 40/15, and changing ends to attack Chase 2nd Gallery, a lovely shot into the corner won the chase and the match, 6/3. A superb end to some wonderful tennis, with worthy winners in the lowest handicap pair Jess Garside and Jill Newby.
Report by Linda Fairbrother, Doris Seidentopf, Rebecca Kashti and unknown French correspondent!
Division 2 Singles and Doubles (60+)
Singles
As in Division 1, young talent made its mark in the Round Robins, particularly the youngest entrant in the whole tournament, Hannah Parry aged 11. She coolly won all 3 of her matches, with well-placed shots at the tambour, good serving and a few spectacular forces into the dedans when attacking a tight chase. “A very intelligent performance” was the verdict of spectators.
Another young player who made her mark was Anna Willis, who apparently felt that Dad’s supporting presence was putting her off in her game against Julie Levy – she gave him the red card after a poor start to her play, and he was banished from the Dedans. As confidence returned, he was allowed back for the 13th game, an exciting 40 all which ended with Anna just managing to return a tricky serve from Julie, winning the decisive point to go through as winner of her group.
Talking of cards, Sarah Mc Givern in her match against Jess Walker dropped her racquet – she received a yellow card for misuse of equipment and poor example to the young generation. However, this did not affect her play and without mercy she won convincingly.
The markers are to be congratulated on courage under fire during this stage of Division 2. Possibly it was a conspiracy by the players, but the markers certainly had more than their fair share of attack. For instance, Jane Rowland’s very first serve went straight at the marker’s jugular, and one of Felicity Sergeant ‘s shots nearly parted his hair.
The other achievement of note was Annabel Wyatt who in her match against Jane managed 5 unreturnable serves in a row, which does seem rather excessively show-off.
Moving to Moreton Morrell for the knock-out rounds, Katy Weston obviously had made good use of her lesson with Marc Seigneur on Friday before the tournament started. First she took on Sarah McGivern who had eased through the round robin with scores of 8/1 and 8/3 to win her group. But Katy made good use of the corners and served extremely well to put pressure on Sarah, and went through 6/4. A similar score in her quarter final with Kim Walker, took her to a semi final with Felicity Sargent. Felicity put up strong resisitance with some great corner shots and powerful cross court volleys. But again a score of 6/4 took Katy to the final.
Waiting for her there was Anna Willis, who at 13 had been scything her way through the opposition. In the quarters she met 11 year old Hannah Parry, and Anna took full advantage of her extra two years of life. Despite some good serving by Hannah, Anna’s superior steadiness won the day, 6/4. She then took on in the semi-final another sort of opponent in the shape of Annabel Wyatt, who is a grand thumper of the ball when she gets the chance. Annabel specializes in tricky penthouse shots, often off the wood!, and you need a cool head to stay on top. But Anna stayed calm, and also watched Annabel’s serves very well to return them accurately into corners. But it was a close match, going all the way to 6/5 for Anna.
So in the Division 2 singles final, Anna Willis met Katy Weston, playing level. Anna continued her strategy of playing without big power but very accurately, and Katy found it hard to return her bouncing shots low enough to do much damage. By 3/2 to Anna, Katy had worked out that the only way to get errors from Anna was to use angles, and the score moved on to 4/3 to Anna, more or less neck and neck. But then Anna started finding the nick with her serves and some ground strokes, and though Katy was playing extremely well, she was just missing out on the game points. True to form, Anna found two more nicked serves at 5/3, and so won the match and the title, 6/3 – a score which didn’t do justice to Katy’s elegant and consistent play.
Division 2 Doubles
Nine pairings took part in the doubles competition, including the two Willis sisters, Georgina and Anna, whose joint age was still less than most of their opponents’ individual age. With no respect for their elders – if not betters - they stormed through to the final, beating Sarah McGivern with Katy Weston (6/4), and Michelle Bucknell with Kim Walker (6/1) on the way.
The other successful pair were Julie Levy and Charlotte Barker. They too had eased through, beating first Isabelle Riou with Janet Peach (6/2) and then Diane Binnie with Jane Rowlands (6/4).
In the finals, Charlotte and Julie were given a 15/0 advantage over Georgie and Anna Willis. It was all even, up and up to 4 all. Charlotte displayed fine persistence and movement round the court, and together with Anna’s steadiness, this provided some fine rests. As the less experienced player, Julie was down the court defending the galleries. This was not always a successful strategy, as it put huge pressure on Charlotte at the back. But Julie gradually got the hang of it, and did her bit with 2 or 3 successful intercepts, plus a few useful serves. At 5/4 to Charlotte and Julie, the game went to 40 all, and with an error from their opponents, they took the title 6/4.
Congratulations to all!
Reports by Doris Siedentopf, with Diane Binnie, Kim Walker, Liz Fisher, Annabel Wyatt, (ed Linda Fairbrother)
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Huge thanks to the two courts of Leamington and Moreton Morrell for their hospitality and the loan of the four markers: Kevin Sheldon, Marc Seigneur, Tom Granville and Ben Coleman. Charlotte Ricketts organized a wonderful dinner at Leamington. Without our sponsors there would not have been a tournament at all, so we are very grateful to The Handpicked Collection and our ever-generous Anonymous Benefactor. And above all, we must thank Katy Weston who organized the whole tournament and coped with a bumper crop of entries with flair and calm.