The finals of the club tournament were played on Sunday 25th September. The weather started out sunny and warm. It didn’t stay warm but it did stay dry all day.
The first two events were the ladies doubles, on court 1, simultaneously with the mens doubles on court 2.
Ladies Doubles
Clare Law and Nicky Slight won 6-4 6-1 vs Vicky Roberts and Anne Hughes
Notice the dark clouds. It was also a bit cold !
Mens Doubles
Dave Bate and Ian Cload won 7-5 6-2 vs Pete Hill and Mark Skerton
Two players, Ian (who was carrying an injury) and Nicky, were in every final and Dave was in the first two events. Jess was in the last two events. All four were thus involved in the next event, the mixed doubles. At the start of the day we were willing to play the best of three sets, but as the day wore on – and the spectators started to get a little cold and/or need to go home – it seemed more and more sensible to cut some corners. Hence the mixed doubles on reaching one set all was decided by a very short 7 point tie break.
Mixed Doubles
Nicky Slight and Dave Bate won 3-6 7-5 7-3 (tb) vs Jess Randell and Ian Cload
We finished with the two singles finals played at the same time. In this current era at the club, Jess in the ladies and Tim for the men are rarely seriously tested in singles matches. The draw didn’t involve seeding so it should be remembered that Dave Bate had scored some games against Tim in the process of losing in the first round.
Ladies Singles
Jess Randell won 6-0 6-0 vs Nicky Slight
Mens Singles
Tim Randell won 6-0 6-0 vs Ian Cload
From the left: Jess, Tim, Nicky, Clare, Ian.
Clare and Nicky compare their cups for being ladies doubles champions. Above was the only slightly more formal pose with Phil our chairman. In the foreground it should be noticed that the spectators have been rewarded with food and drink as well as tennis.