Winter Tournament 2009

The Winter Handicap Tournament finals day dawned bright and sunny…..for once! We are not traditionally lucky with the weather on this date but the sun shone on our finalists this year which bought supporters out in their droves to cheer the participants on.

First up were the two singles matches. On court five Matti Bothwell took on Gail Palmer and after a nail-biting final in which both played some stunning shots yet also suffered dips in their form, Matti finally took the trophy beating Gail 9-7.

Meanwhile, on court four an epic match was unfolding between Paul Farrugia and the reigning champion many times over – Steve Whittle. Steve is the man to beat and many have tried, but many have failed…. could this be the year that we have a new champion? Despite his best efforts and some brilliant tennis, though, Paul came second in the gladitorial exchange of shots and Steve managed to hang onto his title after winning 12-10 – despite his handicap of -30 every game. A true champion!

It was to be a case of ‘follow that then’ for the two doubles matches. And they did! The youngsters Sam Wright and Owen Wadey took on newly paired Simon Holloway and Danny van Rooyem. Sam and Owen were trying for a third title and therefore had been handicapped fairly heavily, but non-the-less managed to overpower Simon and Danny 8-5 with some marvellous serving from Owen and clever volleying from Sam.

Meanwhile, on court 5 Alison Blay and Claire Mitchell were also trying for their third title but Matti Bothwell had the double in her sights and, teamed up with Liz Morrall this year, managed to beat the formidable previous champions 8-4.

The mixed final was a wonderful end to a magnificent afternoon of tennis. Mother and son pairing of Caroline and Oliver Webb were in the final for the first time against last year’s winners Sonny Lau and Fran Johnson. Despite his tender years Ollie played out of his skin, ably supported by his mum but Fran and Sunny’s experience eventually got the better of them and they eventually won the title 8-6.

Roll on the summer and more tournaments and events!