The 83rd Kent County Closed Championships took place once again at Bromley Tennis Centre at the end of August. Players from across Kent took part with an aim of becoming County Champion for 2012. We are once again proud to acknowledge that the ‘Kent Championships’ were the largest of its kind in Great Britain for the second year running! Despite a little bad weather on some days the Tournament Team did exceptionally well in ensuring all matches were completed on time and that nobody was waiting around an exceptional amount of time.
This year, the tournament management team was headed up by Susan Finch (Tournament Director), Holly Richards (Tournament Logistics Coordinator) and Chris Mann (Lead Tournament Referee) set to the task of making The 83rd Championships even better than a very successful 82nd. The Open events which were introduced last year saw many returning competitors as well as many others, some of which just entered doubles. We hope the Open events will grow from strength to strength and next year reach a higher level of entries including some more of the players who once played in the Junior County Closed and have their names on some of the historic trophies. The Kent Championship silverware is now displayed in its own trophy cabinet in reception of Bromley Tennis Centre, housing much of Kent’s history. The Tournament Team were based in Bromley Tennis Centre’s new studio facility. The new facility gave the team much more room and made the event look even more professional. Doubles entries once again remained open until the second day, including extending the sign in for the Open events till the evening to allow players to find a partner on site.
This year saw 390 players enter the Championships resulting in 562 entries contesting in events from 8 and unders all the way up to adults across all 14 courts running well into the evening. As in previous years, each player received a T-shirt, Championship Programme and Information Pack courtesy of Kent LTA and their sponsors (Cripps Harries Hall; Slazenger and Trevor May Contractors). 828 matches were played over the course of the seven day event amounting to 1,487 sets and 7,623 games!!!
Austin Smith (Kent LTA President) and Tudor Rowe (Kent LTA Tennis Development Manager) were on hand to present the trophies and prizes to the Championships’ winners on Finals Day as well as offering their thanks to the Tournament Team.
Our most sincere thanks must go to everyone involved in organising and helping at the Kent County Closed Championships 2012 in particular Susan Finch (Tournament Director & Tournament Referee), Chris Mann (Lead Tournament Referee), Holly Richards (Tournament Logistics Coordinator), Court Supervisors, Control Desk Officials, Umpires and volunteers as without them this event would not be possible. The Championships Tournament Team would also like to thank the sponsors of the event and Kent County Lawn Tennis Association for their contribution. The overall standard of play on display was extremely high throughout the week and our final thank-you’s are reserved for the players who competed hard and played, in the main, fairly, their parents and supporters for their continued and unstinting support and the coaches who pass on their passion and skills to their charges.
We wish you all a great year and look forward to welcoming players’ entries for next year’s event - The 84th Championships 2013!
Kent County Closed Championships 2012
Tournament Team