Surrey Seniors teams (40's through to 75's) had another successful season with 6 teams out of 11 reaching the County Division 1 finals at Dudley at the beginning of November. County Championship winners were the Ladies' 50's (Captain Lynda Blair), the Ladies' 60's (Captain Sue Hill), the Ladies' 65's (Captain Mary Harvey), the Ladies' 70's (Captain Jean Porter) and the Men's 60's (Captain Mark Staniszewski). The Men's 70's (Captain Derek Howorth) were beaten in the final by the narrowest of margins.
The Ladies' 50's had a comfortable 3-0 victory against Hampshire and IOW with good straight sets singles wins by Julia Blatchley and Liz Vlotman. Then Julie Willson and Hayley Watts won a very tight doubles which went to the Championship tie-break.
In the league, the team beat Norfolk 5-0, Essex 4-1, Leics 4-1, Hereford & Worcs 5-0 and lost to East of Scotland 2-3 with Charlotte McCaw and Jenny Cox also playing in some matches.
The Ladies' 60's final was extremely close. Captain Sue Hill was injured and the team's 3-2 victory over West of Scotland was down to three inspired doubles performances after losses by Rosie Naunton-Morgan and Penny Wyatt to the strong opposition singles players, Marjory Love and Christine Lockhart. Penny Mortimer and Penny Sheehan had two excellent straight sets victories and in the deciding doubles, Penny Wyatt and Gillian Bostleman looked as if they were going to the Championship tie-break but from 1-5 down into second set recovered to win 7-5. A great victory! Many thoughts for our many Pennies!
During the season, Sue Hill, Anne Collings and Julie Metz also represented the team which won all 5 matches in Division 1B: Bucks (5-0), South Wales (3-2), Hants (4-1), Norfolk (4-1) and East of Scotland (5-0).
The Ladies' 65's won their final against Cheshire 4-0 with only one match going to a Championship tie-break. First pair Amelia Robinson and Carolyn Botterill won all 4 sets. Rose Gedney played with Sue Milton in the first match winning the tie-break set and in the second round she and Rosemary Spence won in straight sets. The Cheshire first pair, Anne Bate and Cindy Fryer, had only been beaten twice in 4 years, so congratulations to our players for their efforts. Mary Harvey and Vanessa Relleen also played during the season and the match results in Division 1A were 4-0 v Dorset, 4-0 v Middlesex, 4-0 v Cumbria, 4-0 v Warwickshire and 3-1 v Nottinghamshire.
The Ladies' 70's final was also very close. After the first round of the final against Kent they were 2 games down! In the second round, Joy Dally replaced Ann Finch to partner Daphne Clement against the Kent 1st pair Marcia Ackers and Ruth Illingworth and splendidly won 6-3 6-3. This was a fantastic result as Ruth Weston, partnering Jean Porter, was injured at the beginning of the 2nd set against the Kent 2nd pair and could not run. The set was lost 5-7 and the tie-break 8-10 but because of the 1st set win, the whole match was won by one set! A great relief and great effort by all.
During the season, Pat Lovell, Di Hunter and Sue Whitear also contributed to the team's wins in Division 1B over Dorset (4-0), Cheshire (3-1), Avon (4-0), Essex 4-0 and Lincs (4-0).
The Men's 60's in Division 1A beat East of Scotland 4-1, Yorkshire 4-1, Oxfordshire 4-1 (all away) and Berkshire 5-0 and Cheshire 4-1 (both at home) before winning 3-0 at Dudley against Staffordshire in the final. Both singles matches in the final were won in straight sets and both were extremely keenly fought, John Paish winning 6-4 6-4 against Benson Greatrex and Rob Dickson producing shots that only he is capable of in his close victory over the dogged Neil McPherson 6-2 7-6. Jeremy Woods and Mark Staniszewski won the doubles match in the Championship tie-break to secure the team's victory. During the season Adrian North and Steve Anderson also played, as did Matthew Salisbury and Brian Snapes who both played down once from the 65's. Brian Snapes' singles victory against Cheshire's Bob Martin was very welcome with John Paish (a rare injury) and Rob Dickson both unavailable. Also against Cheshire Jeremy Woods' 6-2 6-3 victory over Cheshire's number 1, John Hilton, was excellent.
The Men's 70's lost two very close tie-break final sets in their 2-3 loss in the final against Hampshire and IOW. Players in the final were Roger Ambrose, Leon Fattal, Derek Howorth, Clive Hutchings and Perry Perera. During the season in Division 1A, they beat Hertfordshire, West Of Scotland, Avon and Warwickshire all 4-1 with Derek Horwood also playing in some matches.
Of the teams not reaching the final, the most successful was the Men's 65's (Captain Peter Hesz) which won 4 and lost just 1 of its 5 matches in Division 1A. Grieve Carson, Nick Coleman, Peter Hesz, Henk Nijeboer, Tom Peterson, Matthew Salisbury, Brian Snapes and Ian Stopps all played with 4-1 victories against Middlesex, Buckinghamshire and Kent, a 5-0 victory against Hampshire and IOW and a 1-4 defeat to Leicestershire.
The Ladies 40's (Captain Alison Taylor) had a disappointing 2013 season in Division 1A. They started off very well with a 5-0 victory against Nottinghamshire but lost the next four closely fought matches all 2-3 to Gloucestershire, Dorset, Hertfordshire and Middlesex.
In addition to Liz Vlotman who played down once from the 50's, the team had 4 new players who played in some matches this year and hopefully all will be able to play next year: St. George's Hill players Adele Keeler-Clark and Gill Thompson and Raj Nijjhar and Katie Jonas from Westside. Barbara Snapes, Mary Ann Hubbard and Hazel Middleton were all back on the team as well as Nicola Cooper back to fitness and form after a year off tennis due to shoulder surgery.
The Men's 45's (Captain Dan Bloxham) in Division 2B beat Oxfordshire 4-1 but lost to Berkshire 0-5, Kent 0-5, Devon 1-4 and Suffolk 2-3. Dan Bloxham was supported by Ashley Balm, Cliff Bloxham, Rob Dickson (playing down once from the 60's), Paul Hutchins, Nick Jones, Earl Knudsen, Stefan Martin, Berndt Stuebing, Bruce Walker and Tim Webb.
The Men's 55's (Captain Mike Dawe) had 2-3 losses against Cheshire, Oxfordshire and Essex, and wins 5-0 against Dorset and 4-1 against Sussex in Division 1A. In addition to Mike Dawe, those who played were Boyd Cuthbertson, Chris Gotla, Martin Hewish, Dave Mullarkey, Arun Vethakkan, Peter Warnock and Chris Coleman.
The Men's 75's (Captain Ian Bell) sadly were the least successful of all Surrey's teams with losses to Somerset, Kent, Middlesex and Hertfordshire in Division 2B. Next year will be different! Ian Bell was supported by Soo Faris, Jim Gordon, Tony Klima and Ken Standish.
No Men's 50's or Ladies 55's team was entered. Perhaps next year?
A total of 81 players represented Surrey this year and 59 matches were played of which 41 were won.
Finally, in June an inaugural Surrey Seniors dinner was staged at Roehampton Club. Everyone who has ever played for Surrey at Seniors level was encouraged to attend. Over 150 people were identified and 35 were able to attend. It is hoped to stage the dinner again next year, so please look out for the details in due course.
Mark Staniszewski