Rain had threatened to disrupt this year’s club championships finals day, but in the end after a drizzly start which delayed things by just 20 minutes the rest of the rest of the afternoon was fine.
The afternoon started with the Mens and Ladies, and Mens over 55’s Singles Events.
The Mens singles was between last year’s holder Tom Mawby and Kuki Juric, this was a closely fought match but in the end Kuki came through to defeat the defending champion 6-4, 6-4.
The Ladies Singles was between last year’s finalist Becca Howard and Amanda Cook. Another close encounter with Amanda fighting her way through to victory 6-4, 7-6.
The Mens over 55’s event was between John Richman and Adrian Draffin. John found the conditions tough slipping over early on. Adrian went on to win 6-4, 7-5.
The second round of matches saw the Mixed Doubles, Mixed Consolation and Mens Singles Consolation take to the courts.
The Mixed was to be held between Rachel Speight and Kuki Juric against Amanda Cook and Gavin Burrows. This match saw a dominant performance by Rachel and Kuki as they dropped just 1 game in taking the title 6-0, 6-1.
The Mixed Consolation was between Sarah Gordon and Tom Gorden against Su Middleton and Peter Blyth. The Gorden’s put on a strong display and won 6-1, 6-2.
The Mens Singles Consolation was between Amit Bhave and Adrian Draffin. Amit took the match 6-2, 6-2.
The third and final round of matches of the day was the Ladies Doubles Consolation, the Ladies Doubles, the Mens Doubles and the Mens Doubles Consolation events.
The ladies doubles consolation event was between Tracy Barnard and Laura Lloyd-Jenkins against Val Ratcliffe and Noreen Bedford.Val and Noreen showed their normal very consistent game and won the match 6-0, 6-0.
The ladies doubles match was between Rachel Speight and Amanda Titmas against Amanda Cook and Becca Howard. A strong start by Rachel and Amanda saw them take the first set 6-1, but the second set saw the momentum change as Becca and Amanda took the set 6-3. So it went to a third set where Rachel and Amanda swung things back in their favour and took the set 6-0 and with it the title.
The Mens Doubles Consolation was between Father and son team Mark and Miguel O’Donnell against Jamie Crane and Peter Blyth. The O’Donnell’s took the opening set 6-4, the second set was then even closer, which Jamie and Peter took 7-6 to level the match. Peter picked up a calf injury but was determined to see out the match but unfortunately for them it wasn’t to be as the O’Donnell’s took the deciding set 6-2.
The Men Doubles saw a repeat of last year’s final with defending champions Tom Gordon and Amit Bhave taking on Kuki Juric and Gavin Burrows. This was to be the closest match of the day Tom and Amit made an impressive start and took the opening set 6-2, but Gavin and Kuki weren’t giving up and in a closely fought second set the came out on top in the tie break and levelled the match at 1 set all. With the floodlights now on it was in to a third set. It was to be a close third but Tom and Amit managed to come through to win 6-4 and take the title for a 4th time in a row. Can anyone beat them next year?
Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you for everyone who took part in this year’s club championships and to the match and tournament committee for organising the event.
