The twenty-two pairs who took part in the Rugby LTC’s Mixed Doubles championship last Sunday were once again treated to some ideal tennis conditions. There was little wind and the sun kept the temperature pleasantly warm.
The format saw 2 round robin groups of 7 pairs playing 9 games and 1 group of 8 playing 8 games. The top 2 in each group, plus the 2 best 3rds went through to the knockout stage. Everyone played very well and I was pleased to over hear another club member saying, “The standard of play keeps improving year on year.”
In group 1 Natalie Warren & Chris Hinds remained unbeaten to top the group from Harriet & Ed Tuite Dalton. Lisa Webb & Steve Rose was also unbeaten as they won group 2 ahead of Rachael Baker & Graeme Morgan. Group 3 saw Alison Kelly & Peter Brinkley finishing ahead of last years winners Natalie Victoros & Marcus Powell. Cat Benoist & Chris Haynes and Amanda & Nigel Trodd were the two best 3rd placed pairs.
The quarter final stage of the knockout saw fairly comfortable wins for Natalie & Chris over Cat & Chris 4-1 and Lisa & Steve against Amanda & Nigel 4-0. Meanwhile, Harriet & Ed pulled off a battling 5-3 win against Alison & Pete and Rachael & Graeme went right down to the wire as they won 7-4 in the deciding tie break to win 5-4 against Natalie & Marcus. Lisa & Steve continued their good form as they defeated Harriet & Ed 4-2 to reach the final. Unfortunately, Rachael & Graeme had to concede their semi to Natalie & Chris.
The watching crowd were treated to one of the best finals played at the club for many a year. All four players showed a great variety of shots and employed a wide range of tactics. Inevitably, the score reached 4 games all. Therefore, it was down to the tiebreaker to decide the match. It was amazing how the scoring flowed to and fro, but when match point down, each pair would pull off a great point. Eventually, it was one of the best points of the match when Natalie found a great angled winner after a twenty shot rally to win by 14 points to 12.
Congratulations to Natalie & Chris and I’d like to say many thanks to all who made it such an enjoyable day.