assorted news

vs Holyport at Holyport Sunday 16th November Mark Piper (35) lost to Paul Gillam (35) 6/8 Mark Piper & Tim Dadd beat Paul Gillam & Richard Marmoy 6/2 Tim Dadd (44) beat Richard Marmoy (40) 8/4 Richard McGregor (45) beat Stuart Hodges (45) 8/1 Richard McGregor & Martyn Rowlands beat Stuart Hodges & Martin Trees 6/4 Martyn Rowlands (51) beat  Martin Trees (51) 8/4 The handicaps were matched perfectly but Holyport came up with a great result. Thanks to everyone who took part.
vs Manchester at Moreton Saturday 15th November Some excellent matches.  Anthony Parmiter beat Keyvan سراشپز  (maybe the longest match ever - at least 300 chases!) Andrew Hamilton beat Mark Seymour Mead 1/6 6/5 6/4  (a very close match and a great come back by Andrew) Chilli Con Carne beat Persian Murgh 1-0 Ed Steel beat Martin Cooper 6/1 6/0 (on paper there was only one point diff in handicap, we may need to adjust Ed's handicap! (particularly if I'm playing in  competition against him)) Richard Marmoy beat Tiff Fielden 6/3 6/5 (it almost went to a third set) Alex Reynolds lost to Adrian Fawcus 1/6 6/4 5/6 (excellent play by both players. Alex did well to stay in the game & almost won it)
Inter Club Tournament Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th November Sponsored by H.L.Barnes & Sons, Stratford upon Avon. 12 teams took part, each team playing once at Leamington and twice at Moreton on Saturday in the early rounds and at Moreton on Sunday in the final rounds. Select here to see the detailed results of the final rounds Jesmond Dene won the Singles, Moreton Morrell won the Doubles and Moreton Morrell won the Team Trophy. Clubs involved in the tournament: Bristol & Bath Leamington 1 & 2 Hatfield Jesmond Dene Manchester MCC Moreton Morrell Newmarket Oratory 1 & 2 Oxford The winning Moreton Morrell team left, with singles winner Tony Harrison representing Jesmond Dene on the right. Doubles: The tournament showed that you never can tell  from the first day's play just who is going to make good on the second day. Ian Steele and Paul Holland (Leamington 2) played exceptionally well on Saturday despite their low handicap but narrowly lost in the quarter finals to Jesmond Dene (Paul Raven and Keith Anderson) 6/5. On the other foot (or was it mouth?) Leamington 1 (Norman Hyde and Geoff Broome), both nursing injuries and who were written off at the start, survived to the semi-finals on Sunday. On Saturday Norman mis-struck a shot and the ball glanced off his racket into his face/mouth.  So he was well and truly in the wars, partly limping and partly holding his face. Hatfield got off to a poor start but played very well in their second two matches. Unfortunately their zest for life let them down and I think the kindest thing to say is that on Sunday morning they looked somewhat jaded in losing to the walking (they certainly weren't running) wounded. In the semi-finals Moreton Morrell beat Jesmond Dene 6/2 and Manchester beat Leamington 1. Mark Seymour Mead for Manchester volleyed extremely well throughout and Robin Barlow was very solid. It seemed as if Manchester were invincible but  in the final Anthony Parmiter and Tim Messer rescued shot after shot and seemed to play better against the more difficult shots from Manchester. In the end Moreton were probably slightly fortunate with a  handful of shots and ended up winning worthy winners 6/5 in a very close match. Singles: At the outset my money was on Richard Oliver and Tom Lewis, the latter demolishing a couple of very good handicap players in the box rounds. However, in the final rounds Tom came up against Richard (expletive deleted) Marmoy who, while nobody would call him stylish, certainly does have a knack of keeping the ball in play despite all odds. Matthew Fattorini was also playing well but lost in the semi-finals to an in form "no fooling about" Paul Wilson-Gunn and lost 6/2. The dedans was somewhat noisy during the Marmoy<>Wilson-Gunn match, Paul playing some amazing shots and showing us that if he concentrated on his game he could be 10 handicap better at least. However,  there were periods in the match when he played such atrociously poor shots into the net that you wondered if it were the same person playing. In the end Paul scraped through 6/5. Richard Oliver was unfortunate to have to play Tony Harrison, who played the best tennis I have seen him play. Tony had a marvellous Sunday beating Richard Oliver 6/4 in the semi finals and then Paul Wilson-Gunn 6/4 in the finals. Sir Andrew Hamilton introduced Robert Harper who presented the trophies and prizes. Robert was the first organizer of the competition in 1984 and thanks to him for a format of competition which has stood the test of time and is enjoyed by everyone who takes part. Numerous thanks are due to All the teams who travelled some distance - particularly Jesmond Dene, Manchester, Newmarket and Bristol & Bath. H.L.Barnes & Sons for sponsoring the tournament David Bryant who organised this  year's event (and those from 2001 to this year) The court professionals - Tom Granville (Moreton Morrell Head Professional), Marc Seigneur (Leamington) and Jo Iddles for their excellent marking and support over the weekend . Tom Granville for all the non-marking duties during the tournament Leamington Tennis Court Club for the use of their court and Marc's marking on Saturday
Brodie Cup vs Newmarket Sunday November 2nd A very enjoyable day, even the dog enjoyed it (sic). Tim Messer had a convincing win over John Crawley. Gerry Slora lost to an  in-form and hard hitting John Burnett. Alastair Goulty continued his good play of previous weekends - either nerves or court knowledge defeated them in the first set but they came good in the second two sets. So the match score was 2-2 and there was a little doubt in both camps about who wanted to win and travel to Jesmond Dene. However, the result was more or less decided (although our trusty two looked like they did their best to avoid the forthcoming travel) because John Kirk Patrick of Newmarket was unavoidably delayed on business and arrived too late. So John Crawley stepped in as the second doubles player for Newmarket. It was a very close game, Anthony and Keyvan finally clinching it 6/4 in the third set. Many thanks to Tom and Jo for marking and to our photogenic chef for cooking such a royal lunch.   S.Holland lost to K Smith 2/6, 1/6 T Messer beat J Crawley 61, 6/4 G Slora lost to J Burnett 4/6, 1/6 A Goulty & D Prophet beat  G Smith & E Nutter 4/6, 6/2,6/0 A Parmiter & K Farmanfarmai beat D Wells & J Crawley (replaced J KirkPatrick) 4/6, 6/5,6/4
vs Hatfield (away) Sunday November 2nd Hatfield won 4-1. It seems unlikely that we will receive a match report from our players. Peter Heck (48)  lost to Stuart Hodges (45) 6/5 2/6 5/6 John Hedges (40) beat  Chris Northcote Green (42)  6/1 3/2 Ret David Holmes (44)    Richard Thornton (45)  NR Alan Gude (54) beat  John Lambdon (56)   2/6 6/2 6/3 John Hedges (41) beat  Ed Loades (41)    6/5 6/3 Barry Miller (50) beat  Hazel Dunn (51)    6/3 6/5
vs The Dedanists Sunday October 26th The Dedanists won 3-2. Even though it was well before lunch, JC and his royal partner did not play to their full potential - Anthony Parmiter however did and Josh Farrall played his normal very competent game. Richard Wills had a very successful afternoon (handicap committee please note) partnering Patrick Kelly first and then Tim Messer. Matt Fattorini overcame seeming self induced mid-match depression to play some excellent shots from the middle of the second set onwards. Patrick, despite being a natural racket sport player, let a few games slip that perhaps he ought not to have and capped it all by catching a ball when playing off a chase. John Cook & Keyvan Farmanfarmai lost to Josh Farrell & Anthony Parmiter 3/6, 4/6. Peter Jackson & Grant Arthur lost to Hans Heyman & Basil Henson 6/1, 3/6, 4/6 Richard Wills & Patrick Kelly beat David Mills & Norman Hyde 6/0, 6/1 Tim Messer & Richard Wills beat Carl Snitcher & Josh Farrall 6/4, 6/1 Patrick Kelly lost to Matt Fattorini 6/4, 4/6, 3/6
Moreton Shield October 17th to 19th 2008 At the beginning the serious money would have been on either Roly Grant or Alastair Goulty winning this competition - Roly for his speed around court and Alastair for those well timed shots with all his weight behind them. In the semi-finals Alastair Goulty beat Roly Grant 5/2 with Roly conceding a fairly large handicap considering Alastair's form. Paul Wilson-Gunn beat Anthony Parmiter 5/1 - mainly down to bobble serves which seemed to fool Anthony (I'm going to try that too next time I meet Anthony!). Paul showed what a good handicap player he can be when he is interested in winning, demonstrating  considerable restraint throughout in not playing his normal table tennis like top spin with both feet off the ground. In the final, Alastair looked as if he would beat Paul at a canter, leading 4/2 (or was it 4/1?) and playing some beautifully timed shots and laying chases around 1and 2. Then Paul went through a purple patch, returning everything and playing some unbeatable shots into the corners. Perhaps Alastair ran out of steam a little and Paul Wilson- Gunn won through 6/4 in one of the best handicap finals for a few years. Quarter Finals: Loades vs Wilson-Gunn 3/5 Messer vs Parmiter 4/5 Grant vs Miller 5/3 Farmanfarmai vs Goulty 2/5 Semi Finals: Wilson-Gunn vs Parmiter 5/1 Grant vs Goulty 2/5 Final: Wilson-Gunn bt Goulty 6/4 Paul Wilson-Gunn having been presented with the Moreton Shield by David Bryant.
vs Hardwick House October 12th 2008 Strange omens for the FTSE - wonderful weather all weekend and then Johnnie Cook and Keyvan Farmanfarmai narrowly won their match for Moreton to win 3-2. Gerry Slora (33) lost to Gordon Robertson (33) 5/6, 6/5, 5/6 David Prophet (38) beat David Fox (41) 5/6, 6/5, 6/3 Richard Seymour Mead (30) lost to Peter Harding (31) 4/6,3/6 Tim Messer (50) beat Angus Robertson (48) 6/2, 6/4 John Cook & Keyvan Farmanfarmai (41.8) beat Ian Wood & John Steeds (43.8) 5/6, 6/4, 6/4
Category C 20-24 October 3-5 2008 Ladies made a clean sweep of both parts of the Category C tournament - Jo Iddles defeating Sir Andrew Hamilton in the 20-24  range and Freddie Adams beating Martin Rogers in the 25-29. Well done to both Jo and Freddie who played well throughout.  No doubt Hippokratease will have something to say about the results. Quarter Finals (only three matches) M Henman v A Hamilton   winner A Hamilton       6/1 6/5 A Fawcus v J Miller           winner J Miller              6/3 5/6 6/4 P Wilson-Gunn v A Prior   winner P Wilson-Gunn 6/5 6/5 Semi finals: A Hamilton v J Miller   winner A Hamilton    6/4 6/3 J Iddles v P Wilson-Gunn  "    J Iddles          6/3 6/1 Final: A Hamilton v J Iddles  winner  J Iddles          6/1 6/1 Category C 25-29 October 3-5 2008 M Rogers v R Grant      winner M Rogers        6/1 6/2 F Adam v J Lambert     winner    F Adam        6/2 4/6 6/4 N Brodie v C Swan       winner    N Brodie       6/4 2/6 6/5 Quarter Finals: M Rogers v J Lumley     winner M Rogers       6/1 6/4 F Adam v D Lockhard   winner  F Adam         6/3 6/2 P Harding v A Greenwood   winner  A Greenwood   6/2 6/2 N Brodie v R Barlow       winner    R Barlow    1/6 6/3 6/0 Semi Finals: M Rogers v F Adam           winner F Adam        2/6 6/4 6/4 A Greenwood v R Barlow   winner    R Barlow   2/6 6/2 6/2 Final: F Adam v R Barlow       winner F Adam              6/4 6/2
Ponsonby Cup 10th May 2008 Andrew Hamilton and John Miller had won this competition 4 years out of the last 5 but this year the old partnership lost to both Wilson-Gunn&Grant and Bryant&Rogers.  All three pairs were judged to be 24 handicap so all matches were played off level handicap . Bryant & Rogers handicap if calculated from their singles handicap would have been somewhere around 27. It was reduced to 24, judging Martin Rogers to be a much better doubles than singles player with a doubles handicap in the region of  21 or 22. Hamilton & Miller's handicap was (quite rightly as it turned out) left as that of their singles handicap despite obviously being very good at winning doubles tournaments. The first match between Bryant & Rogers and Wilson-Gunn & Grant was very close. At 8-8 W-G & Grant had a game point to go 9-8 (each match was first to 10 games). Somehow B&R hung on and eventually won the game and then won the match 10-8. In the second match W-G&G stormed away to a 7-1 lead and late on H&M in determined fashion got 3 games in a row. W&G however were too strong and won 10-4. In the last and deciding match  Bryant & Rogers played much better than in their first match and despite Hamilton playing very determinedly B&R won reasonably convincingly 10-5. The editor believes this was the first MMTCC club tournament win for Martin Rogers and it certainly was for David Bryant (who had won the Inter-Club doubles twice but never won a club tournament). There was much discussion afterwards about the use of doubles handicaps for doubles tournaments. Unless doubles results are recorded continuously at MMTCC then the debate about their validity is likely to rage.