MONKHOUSE SHIELD

The Monkhouse Shield interclub junior doubles championships at Congleton on 20^th September once again provided a festival of tennis.  It was the third time that the event has been held as a one day tournament and it attracted a record entry of 11 boys teams and 11 girls teams meaning 88 players in total. The tournament runs over 2 rounds with all teams involved in both rounds. In the first round, there were 2 draws of 4 teams with play offs and 1 round robin group of 3 teams. Positions in the first round decided which division teams went into in the second round which was played in a similar way.

An abbreviated match format is used to squeeze the event into one day starting at 10am and finishing at 5pm. The no 1 pairs play 8 no ad games against each other and the no 2 pairs do the same.  The total number of games won by each team decides the result. 

There were many closely contested matches, none more than the final of girls division 1 between 6 times consecutive champions Bramhall Lane and Widnes Tennis Academy.  Bramhall Lane’s first couple shaded the first 8 games 5 games to 3, but the Widnes second pair fought valiantly in an electric atmosphere to square the match at 8 games all.  The match was decided by a tie-break between a player from each no 1 pair and a player from each no 2 pair. This was the last match of the day and everybody crowded round the court to watch. There was some fantastic tennis which was loudly applauded by everyone, with Bramhall Lane winning 7-4 to retain the Monkhouse Shield.

The boys division 1 final was also a close match.  The first pair from Lymm beat the first pair from Thorndale 6-2.  The second pair from Thorndale won 5 games but Lymm were the winners by 9 games to 7 to take the Monkhouse Shield.

The winners of the second and third divisions also received a trophy to mark their success.  Neston won girls division 2, Hoole won boys division 2, a joint team from Port Sunlight and Thorndale won girls division 3 and Alderley Edge won boys division 3.

The trophies were presented by Barbara Newnes.  She thanked the players for their enthusiasm and sporting spirit.  She also thanked Congleton LTC for allowing the use of their facilities, John and Marion Doe for organising the event, and June Bowyer and Andrew Giltrap for providing the refreshments.