Scott ties the knot

Our congratulations go to our Junior Professional Scott Blaber and his new wife Kerry, who were married last weekend in Fordham. The weather was glorious and a lovely day was had by all. Scott and Kerry honeymooned in Borneo, returning just in time for the Cambridge Weekend.

Cambridge Weekend, Graduate Cup and Club Dinner

Forty-eight alumni and supporters of CURTC congregated at Burrell’s Walk Tennis Court, Cambridge in the middle of May to take part in the annual Cambridge Weekend handicap doubles tournament.

The tournament is organised into two divisions by handicap. Each division is divided into four groups for the initial round-robin stages with the winners of each of the four groups going through to the semi-finals.

Division 2
The draw meant that there was a potential of husband and wife meeting in the final. Jeremy Fairbother with Guy Kirk won through but Linda Fairbrother & Malcolm Howlett were unable to overcome the handicap difference against Tipper & Womack to achieve this.

The final, between the closely match pairs of Jeremy Fairbrother & Guy Kirk and Donald Tipper & Michael Womack, was re-arranged to allow Jeremy to nip down to the river for a rowing training session as a warm-up! Fairbrother & Kirk quickly built up a 4-1 lead but in the 6th game a double fault gave Tipper & Womak game point and an excellent dig out of the backhand corner by Tipper drew Tipper & Womak back to 2-4 and then 3-4.

Strong serving by Fairbrother & Kirk gave them the next 2 games but Tipper & Womak won a chase 4 to draw back to 4-6. Fairbrother took on the serve at 6-4 and with a drive to the grill and tactical play of a drive into the last gallery to win a chase 2nd gallery pulled them within one game of the tournament. Tipper served carefully and into the nick to pull 30-love ahead. A hazard chase saw the serve switch and Fairbrother drove to the grill to gain match point and then with a lovely drive to the tambour took the game and match.

Division 1
Division 1 was a close-fought event with Ed Pearson & Ali Hakimi ; George Pearson & John Mears; Ross Smythe & Julian Stafford; M. Carter & J. Harrison winning through their round-robin groups. The draw meant that there was a potential of a father (George) and son (Edward) meeting each other in the final. George & his partner Mears did win through to the final but Edward & Hakimi were defeated by Smythe & Stafford.

The final was a real nip-and-tuck affair, with neither team able to pull ahead in the first 6 games. In the all-important 7th game Mears served and defended the galleries well to go up 40-love. Smythe & Stafford gained a hazard chase and rallied with the serve and won an excellent rest to to pull back to 30-40. Mears and Pearson won back the serve with another hazard chase and won the chase to pull ahead 4-3.

Mears & Pearson then started to dominate the match, retaining the serve for two games and driving this advantage to a 7-3 lead. In the 11th game Mears & Pearson, at the hazard end, gained two hazard chases to take the serve at 15-30 down. Great play by Mears at the net and strong cross-court play by Pearson at the back gave the game, match and tournament to Mears & Pearson – successfully retaining their hold on the Brian Church Bowl as well as winning the Cambridge Weekend Division 1 event for a second successive year.

The full results are given at the end of this report.

Graduate Cup
The Graduate Cup final, between Gill Houston and Raymond Spencer, also took place on Saturday afternoon. It promised to be an intriguing encounter between two players of contrasting styles. The match got off to a brisk start with Ray being perhaps the quicker to settle. Right from the start the spectators were treated to some very impressive retrieving from Ray in response to some typically searching forehands from Gill into the corners. During the course of the match there was rarely more than one game in it and the score quickly progressed to 4-4 with Gill gradually finding just that bit more penetration on the returns.

Then, as so often happens in Real Tennis, there was one of those imperceptible shifts in the balance of power with Ray, who had barely missed a beat in the early part of the match, making just one or two unforced errors. By 6-6 the smart money was perhaps on Gill (at least from those of us who have been ground into the dust previously by her unfaltering determination), but Ray regrouped mentally and by 7-7 it was too close to call. No-one was surprised when the score reached 40-40 and match point. At the finishing post, Ray pulled out yet another good-quality shot which made things just a bit too tricky for Gill and a shot into the net sealed victory for him.

The crowd had been treated to a match of extremely high quality – a tremendously watchable spectacle. Both players played well above their suggested handicaps and rose to the occasion magnificently. The crowd came away feeling very well entertained and mightily relieved that they were not on the opposite side of the net facing either opponent.

Club Dinner
On Saturday night the Blue Court was transformed from a top tennis court to an atmospheric dining area for about 80 alumni visiting for the Giraffe Cambridge Weekend, CURTC members and friends. It was a fine event with much opportunity to celebrate the game of Real Tennis.

Sunday saw a few stalwarts arriving at 9am for a morning of social doubles. Games were less competitive than Saturday and regular rehydration stops were a requisite following the convivial evening dinner.

Thanks to:
Pol Roger for providing Champagne prizes for the event
The markers: Scott Blaber, Kees Ludekens, Peter Paterson, Simon Stokes
The Cambridge Weekend Committee: Duncan Colquhoun, Kees Ludekens
Duncan & Sue Colquhoun for providing refreshments through the tournament
A special thanks to Sue Colquhoun and Linda Fairbrother for providing a wonderful feast for the 80 guests at Saturday dinner

The Giraffe Club Cambridge Weekend is an annual event. The event is for all Alumni, whether or not you played Real Tennis whilst at Cambridge University. It aims to be a fun social event with some tennis included. Next year will be a special event to mark the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University. As well as the doubles handicap tournament on Saturday we hope to have a Old Boys vs Students match on Sunday, matching players past and present for singles. Additionally Rob Fahey has agreed to attend the event and take part in an exhibition match with the leading student of the year. The Saturday night dinner will be held at a special location with up to 200 alumni, students, CURTC members and their guests. The dates for next year are 16th & 17th May 2009. Contact Kees Ludekens 01223 357106 or for further details.

The Giraffe Club is for Old Blues and supporters of the University Club. Subscriptions from the Giraffe Club go towards a fund that supports University Real Tennis players. Contact Kees Ludekens 01223 357106 or for further details.

Full Results
Division 1

You've been YouTubed

Jamie’s first return of serve in the Bathurst Cup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvyNPo9M-mc

National League Finals

On Thursday 17 April all roads led to The Queen’s Club in London for the finals of the Maurice Lacroix National League. For the first time the qualifying Premier Division teams, Cambridge University 1 and Prested Hall 1, were joined by the Division 1 finalists, Petworth 1 and Leamington 1, for a feast of tennis.

Division 1 led off with the second-string match between Tom Durack of Petworth and late replacement Craig Greenhalgh from Leamington. Craig raced away with the first set, 6-2, but then Tom took charge of the second set, leading 5-1. Craig came back to 4-5 with some patient retrieving, but Tom finally closed it out 6-4. The final set was nip and tuck all the way, with neither player able to stamp any authority on the game. Tom finally took the set 6-5.

[Win to Petworth 2-6, 6-4, 6-5]

With the timetable for the day already in jeopardy, the Premier Division second-string match between young lions Jamie Douglas (Cambridge) and Ricardo Smith (Prested Hall) was next up. Jamie laid his cards on the table with his first shot – a stunning force to the dedans. He kept up this attack to take the first game, then to lead 4-2 and 5-3. Ricardo was never out of this set, however, and squared it at 5-5 with winning shots to the grille and the dedans. Another flurry of clear winners in the final game saw Jamie squeeze victory 6-5. The second set saw Ricardo, serving to a very good length, race to a 5-0 lead; Jamie at last managed to get into the set and pull back to 3-5, but Ricardo finished the set off with some good shots to the tambour to win 6-3. So, to the deciding set. Jamie took the first game and then a long rest in the second game saw him set a chase of 1 yard, which he won to lead 2-0. Jamie continued to play with great power, forcing at every opportunity, although Ricardo’s defence kept him in the set at 3-2. From then on, Jamie’s patient play kept up the pressure, forcing Ricardo into mistakes, and he closed the final set out 6-2, giving him one of his biggest wins of the year.

[Win to Cambridge 6-5, 3-6, 6-2]

The Division 1 first-string singles was up next, between Ben Matthews of Petworth and Marc Seigneur of Leamington. This was expected to be the closest contest of the day, and there was hardly more than a game in it throughout. Although Ben fought well, Marc never let him off the hook and went on to win 6-5, 6-4 to level the tie.

[Win to Leamington 6-5, 6-4]

The first-string match between the World Champion, Rob Fahey (Cambridge) and Bryn Sayers (Prested Hall) had been eagerly awaited. Rob moved swiftly to a 3-1 lead with a series of main wall forces, but Bryn then managed to get the measure of these and defended them brilliantly for the rest of the match. At 2-3 down he hit the grille to get to deuce, then a rare mistake from Rob and a fine serve brought the set to 3-3. However Rob then increased the pressure, winning the set 6-3 with a brilliant volley into the hazard end. He started the second set in the same way to lead 1-0, playing very accurately into the corners, but Bryn continued to defend well and hit some clear winners to win the next two games and lead 2-1. The next game culminated in a great attack from Bryn but Rob pushed him from corner to corner to level the score. The fifth game saw Bryn playing excellent shots into the backhand corner to put Rob under real pressure, and then setting a chase of 1 yard. Playing the chase, Rob hit a force to the dedans to lead 3-2, then went on to win the next game with a cross-court volley, 4-2. Bryn must have seen the next game as his last chance to get back into the match; he hit two winning forces that Rob could only get his racquet to, but then Rob hit some killing shots into the corners and although Bryn set a 2-yard chase, Rob closed out the game with a shot to the grille. The eighth game saw a lethal boast from Rob that only just missed the dedans but set a chase at 40-15. Both players went for winning shots but Rob finished the match off with a shot to the winning gallery to take the set 6-2. In his last major competitive outing before the World Championship next month, Rob looked in great form against a strong and fit young opponent.

[Win to Cambridge 6-3, 6-2]
[Cambridge win Premier League title 2-0]

As the match was already won, and time was moving on, the Premier Division doubles was not played. The Division 1 doubles, between Ben Matthews/Tom Durack (Petworth) and Marc Seigneur/Craig Greenhalgh (Leamington) was an entertaining but one-sided match, with Petworth winning 8-1 and taking the Division 1 title.

[Win to Petworth 8-1]
[Petworth win Division 1 title 2-1]

Presentations of the Division trophies and Maurice Lacroix watches for Most Valuable Players were made by His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex. Rob Fahey and Scott Blaber of Cambridge were MVPs of their divisions, along with Ben Matthews, Gareth Rees, Olivier Walter, Julian Wilkinson, Martin Rogers, John Lumley, and David Mikail.

Premier League Cambridge 1 vs Hatfield 1

A full dedans watched four players they knew well – all having spent their formative years playing at Cambridge. Peter Paterson, defecting to the Hatfield team for the evening, played at a higher level than expected; most felt that he had a chance of taking the first set. But the Cambridge no.2, Jamie Douglas, showed great confidence, a determination to play a controlled game and, one would imagine, superior fitness to win through in straight sets.

As expected, Mark Hobbs would sweat blood for Hatfield and in the early stages, when the ball was mainly on the floor and in the corners, the score reached 3-all. It was at this point that David Woodman, now Dr. Woodman after being awarded his PhD the day prior, stepped up the pace with number of life-threatening forces. Hobbs just could not cope with the sheer aggression of Woodman and was defeated in quick fashion after his promising start.

Although all players made their contribution to a great night of tennis it was Dr. Woodman's quality and the rising star from the University, Douglas who were always ahead. Cambridge won all matches and took 7 points.

Jamie Douglas defeated Peter Paterson 6/4, 6/2
David Woodman defeated Mark Hobbs 6/3, 6/1
Woodman/Douglas won the doubles 8/2

The 2008 T&RA Amateur Doubles

The T&RA Amateur Doubles Championship was held at Cambridge on March 1 and 2.

Following the quarter final on Saturday, the first semi-final was between David Woodman (last year’s winner with Neil Roxburgh) and Jamie Douglas (last year’s finalist), fresh from their success as nos. 1 and 2 for Cambridge University in the Varsity match, playing Duncan Colquhoun (last year’s finalist with Jamie) and Nick Brown from Cambridge. The second semi was between the Americans Hombrecher and Miron and Luke and Charlie Danby from the Seacourt club.

Woodman and Douglas did not have things all their own way; Colquhoun and Brown defended well but were finally overcome in two sets by the university pair. The Danbys then played some excellent tennis to put Hombrecher and Miron out of the tournament.

The first two sets of the final were over quickly, with Woodman and Douglas racing into the lead, but in the third set the Danbys finally found their rhythm and led 5-2. Woodman and Douglas worked their way back into the set with some aggressive play and closed the match out 6-5 in the third.

The 2008 Varsity Match Report

The Men’s and Women’s Varsity matches were again hosted at the prestigious MCC where the players and guests from both Universities were entertained by some superb tennis with the generous support of Pol Roger, the renowned producer of excellent champagne.

On the Friday the Women took to the court for their singles matches. Marsali Grant played a very controlled match, intercepting the ball early throughout; she won against Emily Johnson 6-0, 6-2. In the next match it would have been understandable for there to have been some confusion in the crowd as the players had represented opposing Unis in the previous year. Clare Watson, now studying a PGCE at Homerton, was much too strong for Charlotte Barker, now doing her clinical years at Oxford – Watson winning 6-1, 6-0. At this point Oxford was still in the match but was unable to win a further game in the remaining four matches of the event. Although the Oxford women gave it their all they were up against players rated 8 and 9 in the World. Sarah Vigrass defeated Victoria Ormerod and Karen Hird defeated Emma Ormerod. On the Saturday, Karen partnered Marsali to defeat Victoria and Charlotte and Sarah partnered Clare to defeat Emma and Emily. Cambridge won 6-0.

The reverse of the format used by the women was employed for the men. Jamie Douglas and Burak Salgin started slowly in the second-string doubles but were able to withstand the Oxford pair, winning 6-5, 6-1, 6-0. In the first-string doubles, the Varsity veteran David Woodman was supported by the promising Edward Pearson. Their opponents tested the Cambridge pair and won the second set by a convincing margin to indicate to the crowd that there was more to come. Cambridge countered, winning the third set 6-0 and were just able to fight off Oxford’s final attack to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-0, 6-5. On the Saturday, Ed Pearson was the underdog against the more experienced Sam Halliday. Ed knew he needed to start well, and he did, but at 4-2 up he was unable to withstand his opponent’s more penetrating shots. At 5-5 Halliday took command of the match, only dropping one further game to win 6-5, 6-1. The Oxford no.3 was of a similar standard to their nos. 4 and 2, so Burak Salgin was expected to win. Although his opponent, Horatio Cary, showed excellent racket control, the formidable Cambridge player was always a step ahead, winning 6-3, 6-3. The Cambridge Captain, known for his ruthlessness, was next. Jamie Douglas, still on a high from his recent Premier League match when he defeated Mark Hobbs, a scratch player, was matched with another Oxford fresher, Tom Dance. Tom was athletic and focused but Jamie gave away nothing, literally, as the score was 6-0, 6-0. Cambridge had now reached an unassailable lead and as the proceedings were ahead of schedule there was an opportunity for the reserves to play an exhibition mixed doubles. This was also an excellent opportunity for Ali Hakimi and Julia Clarke (Ladies’ Captain ) to accumulate some valuable Varsity experience; it is hoped that they might both play in the first team in the future. After a slow start the Cambridge pair found their form, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. A huge crowd was in attendance for the premier match between David Woodman (+3 ) and the Oxford no.1 Will Fortune. Although Fortune is considered a future star he was unable to cope with Woodman’s mastery. Woodman won 6-2, 6-2.

An excellent dinner in the Long Room was preceded by a Champagne Reception in the Museum. The players and the guests of the MCC were treated to an excellent evening of fine food, wine and good company.

Many thanks to all the sponsors of the Varsity Match and Dinner Pol Roger and to the sponsors of the Cambridge University teams – Cambridge University Press, Kleinwort Benson, Mobilis, The Answering Service, Savills, Cambridge Saab, NW Brown Group, Lorimer, Longhurst and Lees, The Rice Boat, Noel Young Wines, D H Thomas Opticians – long may their generous support continue.

Cambridge versus Hatfield - Thu 6 Mar

This premier league match promises to be the most outstanding event of the season! Hatfield is represented by the fabulous, ambidextrous, Drew Lyons partnered by our own Mark Hobbs, who has recently made huge progress in his game (now playing off scratch).

CURTC will be fielding two of the best students ever to represent the Club - David Woodman (+3) and Jamie Douglas (University captain who recently led Cambridge to a fine win over Oxford in the Varsity match).

We expect a large crowd so please book your place a.s.a.p. by contacting Kees.

Amateur Doubles Championship - Sat/Sun 1/2 Mar
Sponsored by British Land

Remaining quarter final match:
(best of three first-to-six-game sets)

D.Colquhorn & N.L.Brown
Saturday 13:30
W.Watson & S.Barker

Semi finals:
(best of three first-to-six-game sets)

D.Woodman & J.Douglas
Sunday 9:30
Winners of quarter final

A.Hombrecher & A.Miron
Sunday 10:45
C.Danby & L.Danby

Final (best of five first-to-six-games sets) to be played Sunday 14:30 after the Semi-final losers match at 13:30. Lunch will be available from 12:00 to 13:30 at a cost of £6 per person.

£100 limit on member's accounts from Mon 31 Mar

As you may know, the Committee has been considering for some time implementing a cap of £100 on the amount outstanding on any Member's bill, in order to help with cash flow and avoid serious arrears being accumulated. This has been described in the "Accounts" section in the Members' Booklet for several years. This system will be implemented from Monday, 31st March 2008. This will mean that any Member whose bill is £100 or more will be unable to book courts or play until the arrears are reduced.

It is very much hoped that Members will appreciate the necessity for this action, and that it will not prove a serious inconvenience in practice. If anyone feels that they will have a problem with this policy please contact either Kees or Simon as soon as possible.

Just a reminder that it may be convenient to pay online - if you would like to make an online transfer, please email for details.

It's Graduate Cup time - sign up now for Grad'2008

In a sure sign that spring is approaching, the time has come to sign up for this year's Graduate Cup. Time is of the essence, we want to start the tournament as quickly as possible to give the maximum period of time for people to play their matches, so don't delay... SIGN UP NOW!

The Graduate Cup is a fantastic opportunity for higher handicappers to gain the experience of playing better players, and for low handicappers to really test their control and composure when giving away significant handicap advantage.

And after months huddled in darkened rooms, endless data entry and spreadsheet modelling, hours discussing the relative merits of snowball samples and Quasi-Monte Carlo methods, and consideration of the effect of the American sub-prime lending debacle, the playing sub-committee has
decided that this year—refresher courses on calculus and differential geometry will be provided on request—the handicapping rule will change as follows—brace yourselves....

ALL matches will be played off a
maximum handicap difference of 23.

So come on, enter the tournament now before someone nationalises it…

You can enter by adding your name to the list posted on the club notice board or by contacting Kees, Peter or Scott by ‘phone or e-mail. Entries close , noon, 7 March. Maximum draw 64. Played at Cambridge since 1875.

More details are available in this 23kb pdf

CURTC 30-39 Category Tournament - Sun 17 Feb
Chrimes hands out Punishment

At last. A tournament that ran (more or less) according to schedule. Three closely contested round robin groups and proper semi-finals that were marred only by an injury to Paul Brown, but who still managed to complete a short set. The day culminated in a fascinating final that contrasted the power game of Chris Schramm with the considered floor shots of Nick Chrimes. Nick faced an early barrage of service returns that tested the dedans netting, his strings and the form book. But slowly and assuredly Nick began to take control. The tambour became his best mate, his tighter serving now restricted the frequency of the Schramm exocets and his volleying became attacking and penetrating rather than defensive.

Congratulations to Nick and commiserations to all who took part (this lot had even organised food!)

Thanks to John Trapp for marking the latter stages. At the end of a long day all players enjoy being able to concentrate on hitting rather than thinking. I was asked to be sure to mention the excellence of Trappy's marking but I can't recall who made the point.....err..oh, yes I remember now. It was him.

CURTC 40-49 Category Tournament - Sat 16 Feb
Pimblett Unstoppable

It seems that the best laid plans of mice and men feature not at all in CURTC category tournaments. After sweating courts in the 50-59, this time it was the organiser who was sweating. Though not, as we shall see, from playing tennis. But neither player no-show, nor agonisingly close round robin groups, nor player injury could knock this tournament off course. And the players were happy to introduce a new concept to Cambridge - Least Worst Loser. (But when I relate this to the Kees I'll have to call it something more Oz-positive, like "The Repercharge").

Linda Fairbrother bore the brunt of the re-formatting and in the semi-final came upon a very in-form David Pimblett for the second time that day. Long competitive rests could only help the Pimblett cause and a "fagged out" Linda finally succumbed to David's considered tennis. And so to the final. Gerald Smith had (embarrassingly) played fewer games than anybody in the whole shooting match, and this "disadvantage" rose to the top of his long list of excuses.

In reality David continued to play consistently and effectively as he had all done, all day and was simply too good. He even managed to complete a Woodmanesque hat-trick of match points via the dedans.Thanks to John Lees for marking the later stages and also for his gauntlet-throwing declaration: nobody has ever won the 40-49 tournament more than once.

Ladies Tea & Tennis - Sun Mar 16

Fancy an afternoon of real tennis,
with tea and cakes on the side-lines?

There will be a ladies only event on Sunday 16th March from 2.30pm to 5.00pm.

An opportunity to catch up with ‘long time no see’ friends and to meet new players.

Games will be informally arranged amongst the attendees.
No scores will be recorded on the handicap system.
It is open to all lady members and is meant to be
a fun, non-serious event.

There will be a nominal charge of £3.50
Tea and cakes will be available – but please bring along additional delicious calories!
Feel free to bring along children to scoff cakes
and to have a go at Real Tennis too.

If you are interested please contact Gill Houston or by phone 01799 584167

Cambridge 2nds beat Oxford

The Cambridge men's and women's 2nd teams performed at a very high level to beat Oxford at Oxford yesterday.

The men were just too strong, especially with James Watson (18) playing at first string. The strength in depth was obvious as the team of Watson, Ali Hakimi, Nick Wright (c) and Kunal Dusad took all the matches, winning 6-0, with only the minor hic-cough of the loss of a set.

In a nail-biting match, the women also won, largely due to the excellent play and leadership of captain Julia Clarke, who did not concede a set over the two day contest. At 3 matches all a deciding doubles was required to determine the winner. All four ladies played a vital part to achieve the victory - Pippa Tregear in the 3rd string singles, Jess Nicholls in the 1st string doubles but it was Julia's contribution, with the excellent volleying of Clemmie Briance, in the deciding doubles, 6-2, 6-4, that separated the two teams.

Congratulations to all who played and many thanks to the spectators, who were mostly Team Cambridge. Oxford were gracious in defeat and were excellent hosts.

The 1st team matches are in two weeks, at Lords. Cambridge aim to achieve a repeat of last year's clean sweep.

T&RA Centenary Ball - Sat 26 April

The Tennis and Rackets Association (T&RA) are celebrating their centenary. All members are affiliated to the T&RA through membership at CURTC so are eligible to join in these celebrations, the core of which will be the T&RA Centenary Ball to be held at Hurlingham on Saturday the 26th of April.

Tickets are around £115 a head, and tables of 10 can be booked if you wish. There wil be a champagne reception, fine dining and both a hot Samba band and a discotheque going until well into the night. There will also be an electronic auction with some exciting and unusual auction prizes. It will all be enormous fun, and the organisers very much hope we and our team will be there with our partners.

Click here to download the application form

Ladies Club Championship - Fri 1st / Sat 2nd Feb

The 2008 CURTC Ladies Club Championship will take place on 1st–2nd February. All lady members of the club are welcome to enter, whatever their handicap.

This is a level tournament. If there are sufficient entries, a round-robin event will precede the knockout stage.

All players must be available for the final stages on Saturday afternoon; when you enter, you must also select the time slots when you are available:

Friday 09.30-12.30, 17.30-21.30
Saturday 09.30-12.30

Please sign up for this tournament on the notice board at the club. Alternatively, contact the professionals at the club via telephone or email , confirming the time slots for which you are available.

A light lunch will be available on the Saturday.

CURTC 50-59 Category Tournament - Sun 20 Jan

On Sunday 20th January we intend to stage our annual tournament for players with handicaps of 50-59.

The precise format will depend on the numbers entering, but it is likely to be run as round robin leagues followed by knock-out in the later stages. Matches will be played off level handicap. There is no entry fee, court time will be simply charged to your account.

If you would like to enter, please add your name to the sign-up sheet on the main noticeboard. Alternatively contact the Professionals or one of us .

The closing date for entry is Sunday 13th January.

Gerald Smith & Malcolm Howlett
CURTC Fixture Secretaries

2007 Christmas Tournament

Unfortunately the Blue Court was underwater on the day, and so the byzantine and elaborate formula of play that had been used hitherto for the tournament was replaced by a straightforward doubles tournament; the organizer had proposed a mixture of tennis on the Green Court and synchronized swimming on the Blue, but it was felt that some
would drown.

The first round robin produced a win for each of the three pairs, and Fiona Brown and Michael Womack sneaked in. In the second round robin, Alasdair Poore and David Pimblett (last year’s winner) swept all before them.

The final was a truly epic affair with never more than one game different, until the end. Alasdair and David looked in good form at the beginning with the betting on David reclaiming the trophy, but they made too many errors, giving Fiona and Michael strokes on a plate with watercress as decoration.

Scores

Round robins
Gillian Moore & David Herbert — 8 4 12
Fiona Brown & Michael Womack 6 — 8 14 Winners
Malcolm Howlett & James Miller 8 2 — 10
Andrew Petrie & John Trapp — 2 8 10
Alasdair Poore & David Pimblett 8 — 8 16 Winners
John Hodge & Martyn Downer 4 5 — 9

Final
Fiona Brown & Michael Womack beat Alasdair Poore & David Pimblett, 8–6

Field Trophy away at Queens - 9^th December

Cambridge unfortunately lost their first match in this year’s Field Trophy, being knocked out of the competition by Queens in a match reminiscent of their semi-final defeat in the same competition two seasons ago. Cambridge was represented by Duncan Colquhoun, Burak Salgin, Robert Hird, Nick Brown, Hugh Tomlinson, Charles Harcourt and David Mills.

The day started hopefully with Robert pulling off a convincing win over the experienced John Prenn. Robert, playing with such determination and with outstanding retrieving, pressurised John into making many errors, and it was Robert who ended up looking the more experienced! We have another excellent prospect at the University.

Duncan and Charles were evenly matched against a new Queens pairing but failed to make their mark at crucial times towards the end of each set. It seems the time has come for an injection of fresh talent after another disappointing performance from these stalwarts.

In possibly his last match for this side, Burak began in outstanding form and demolished Harry Eddis in the first set. Burak has been very busy with work and his possible lack of practice saw the match turn completely in the second set, Harry well on top. So to the final set, and Burak regained his focus and confidence to storm to a 4-0 lead and surely had done it. No such luck: Harry stopped making errors and Burak could not finish off his determined opponent, not managing to win another game. Thanks from us all to Burak for his enthusiasm, availability whenever required, and for all those nail-biting times watching him play. We’ll miss you.

So we now had to win the final two matches, and first it fell to Nick to try and upset the much lower handicapped Tom Seymour-Mead. The first set saw Nick fight back from 5-3 down to take it 6-5. He had taken a lot out of himself, and it was Tom who now took control. Despite good efforts to fight his way back in, Nick was unable to disturb Tom’s composure and both Nick’s result and that of the team were decided. Nick has landed himself with very demanding fatherly commitments and has not played that much recently, but he is another prospect who will surely improve with more experience.

Our final pairing of Hugh and David proved too strong for the Queens pair. How we had hoped the result would be decided by the final match as this is such a good doubles partnership.

Results

Premier League match and Club Christmas Dinner

The National League match against Burroughs was an eagerly anticipated game, with Rob Fahey, fresh from victories at the British Open and the IRTPA championships, was matched against Nick Wood, who just missed being one of the World Championship contenders for 2008. Jamie Douglas was up against Rod McNaughtan, who played for Cambridge 2 last year.

Unfortunately the conditions played the greatest part in the match. Jamie started well against Rod, taking the first set, but the Blue Court started to sweat and the match transferred to the Green Court. Rod obviously preferred the conditions there and took the match 2-1. However the players were not happy with the state of this court either, and so it was decided to attempt the doubles rubber, rather than the number 1 singles, back on the Blue Court. It started well, but the players moved more and more gingerly until the match was called off due to the dangerous conditions.

The spectators were obviously disappointed but managed to lift their spirits by going for a splendid meal and fortifying drinks at the Rice Boat in Newnham, where a good time was had by all. The Spirit of Christmas was invoked by a beautiful reading from Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by Nigel Brown, who was in fine voice.

Jeremy Davidson triumphs in the first of the Season's Category Tournaments

This season the Category Tournaments (for players within set ranges of ability) are being held in order of descending handicap. The 60+ competition kicked off proceedings on Saturday 1st December with a series of close-fought matches played out amongst 7 members each of whom clearly fancied lifting the trophy and getting his or her name on the Honour Board. Jeremy Davidson won through from the Blue Group to contest a final against Mike Whibley, winner of the Green Group. This was only after a close run where in a round robin game against Gillian Moore, Mike had lost 6-5 against the handicap. Gillian used any opportunity to place a return of serve into the backhand corner, and made Mike work very hard not to go down 6-3, which would have put his route to the final under threat. When Gillian triumphed, the crowd (all 2 of them) went wild whilst Mike went to have a lie down.

And so to the final. In his own inimitable style Mike ruled himself out of the reckoning, citing exhaustion, malfunctioning surgical supports and beer deprivation. Jeremy soon found his range and was peppering the tambour to take an early 3-0 lead. But Mike gritted his teeth, girded his loins and climbed back into the final, taking his opponent to deuce on several occasions and entertaining the crowd with two consecutive shots which floated majestically into the dedans. In the end though Jeremy showed a standard of gentle controlled play that will no doubt worry many in the 50's handicap range, and had just a bit too much for Mike. He came out a worthy winner, six games to two.

Congratulations or commiserations to all who took part.

Forthcoming Category Tournaments - watch the notice board for sign-up sheets.

50-59 Sunday 20th January
40-49 Saturday 15th February
30-39 Sunday 16th February
20-29 Saturday 16th March

Gerald Smith

Cambridge make a great start to their Premier League Title Defence

The third National League Premier Division match of the season took place at Grange Road on Thursday 8 November. Once again Cambridge 1 is represented by Rob Fahey, the world champion, and his new partner is Cambridge University captain Jamie Douglas.

Cambridge had already won their first two matches, away at the Royal Tennis Club (2/1) and at home to Oxford (3/0). The third match was against Prested Hall’s team of Bryn Sayers and Ricardo Smith. Jamie’s match against Ricardo was first up, and this was a tough game between two well-matched players. Although he lost a close first set, Jamie came back strongly in the second and looked at one point as if he could even things up, but Ricardo continued to play calmly against the fierce onslaught and closed the match out 6/4, 6/3.

On paper, Rob’s match against Bryn looked to be an easy win, and the score of 6/1, 6/3 suggests that it was, but Bryn put up a spirited defence and his flat two-handed backhand caused Rob some problems. Rob, preparing for the British Open this week, showed just why he is the top player with a terrific display of accurate power tennis.

In the doubles, we were treated to the unusual sight of Rob playing at the front, with Jamie trying to live up to his instructions of “Don’t miss anything!” He missed very little and Cambridge won an exciting rubber 8/5, to win the match 2/1.

The next Premier League match at home is Cambridge 1 versus Burroughs 1 on Thursday 6 December, followed by the Club Christmas Dinner. The approximate timings are:

6 pm - Jamie Douglas versus Rod McNaughtan
7:15 - Rob Fahey versus Drew Lyons
8:30 - Doubles
9:30 - CURTC Christmas Dinner at the Rice Boat

Jacob Abrahams, the owner of the Rice Boat in Newnham – serving excellent food from Kerala – has booked out his restaurant for us and has selected a special set meal.

The special Christmas price to cover the whole evening: £35, which includes
    Dedans or Sponsors room tickets and drinks
    Dinner and drinks
Please book your tickets for the match, the dinner, or both with Kees.

Opening fixture of the KBCL - Wed Nov 7th
The Kleinwort Benson Cambridge League gets off to a smooth start

The opening fixture of the Kleinwort Benson Cambridge League (KBCL) took place on Wednesday the 7th between the Division Three teams Shelford Rugby Club, who fielded David Herbert, Tony Clarke and Mike Whibley, and Hazard When Wet, who fielded Barnaby Perks, Richard Holt and Guy Kirk.

These fixtures take place between 5:30 and 9ish on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (first, second and third divisions respectively) fitted around other court commitments. They take the form of three singles matches of two-and-a-half sets each (the final set, if needed, is played from 3-3) played on handicap one after another (no doubles). Food and drink is provided by the 'home' team, in this case Hazard When Wet who provided some Crozes Hermitage and a smashing Lasagne.

The opening match between Barnaby and David started much better for Shelford Rugby Club than David's 63 handicap would have suggested seeing him take the first five games, although often being held to a 40-all game-point decider by his opponent. Despite the owe-15-rec-15 handicap Barnaby faced, he pulled back two games to finish the first set 2-6 but clearly on the ascendant for the next. Sadly his run of good form peetered out and Barnaby's darkening mood didn't help him focus enough to avoid losing the second set 6-4. First match to Shelford.

Richard's match against Tony was more closely balanced, with Tony receiving 15 points a game. As is often the case, Richard took a couple of games to warm up, but by then the damage was done and he lost the first set 6-3 to Shelford. The second set went to a nail biting five-games-all and from somewhere Richard dug deep and found that little extra to clinch the deciding game to take the second set 6-5; one set all. Bouyed by this success, and despite some great 'gets' from Tony, he held the final set to win 3-6, 6-5, 6-4 for Hazard When Wet.

Guy Kirk faced Mike Whibley for the decider, giving him an owe-half-15-rec-15 handicap advantage, but seemed to be playing on great form. Protestations of the remains of a hangover from Mike not-withstanding, Guy's experienced play took two sets off him cleanly 6-3, 6-2, giving the fixture to Hazard When Wet, 2-1.

A great evening, great food and good wine was had by all, including Peter our excellent marker. Both teams said they look forward to the return match and to their other fixtures which range between now and the end of May as they nestle into CURTC's already crowded fixtures diary.

T & RA Category 'B' Open Championships
(10-14 & 15-19) Hosted at Cambridge Nov 6/7th

Generous sponsorship by John Evans and The Answering Service provided the Cambridge Club with the opportunity to attract Professionals and Amateurs from around the Country to compete in the two tournaments. A social event (tutored Salsa Dancing on the Saturday night) that also included club members and University students provided first-round losers with another reason for staying, and all those who did not lift the title had the excuse of dance-induced exhaustion.

In the top half of the 15-19 draw there were many close matches: Robert Hird defeated Nick Brown in 3 close sets. Scott Blaber overcame the stylish pro from Jesmond, Peter Wiegand, after an excellent first set, and then progressed to the final after defeating Hird in another 3-setter.

In the bottom half of the draw the defending champion, Hugh Tomlinson, was too strong for James Watson and then Ross Brown, the visiting Scot.

In the all-Cambridge final the first set should have gone to Blaber but his commitment to a strict summer of training didn’t prepare him for the sheer determination and focus of Hugh Tomlinson, who retained his title, winning 6-5, 6-3.

In the bottom half of the 10-14 draw Simon Barker joined a collection of young players with the potential to achieve a scratch handicap. Barker fought hard and improved through his match against Craig Greenhalgh but eventually succumbed 6/2, 6/5. Adam Player versus Paul Knox, followed by Player versus Greenhalgh, were excellent spectacles: Player defeated Knox 6/4, 6/5 but lost by a similar margin to Greenhalgh.

There were some close contests in the top half of the draw too, but tired legs were often apparent, making matches in the latter stages of the tournament surprisingly one-sided. Alistair MacKeown defeated Alan Oliver in 3 well-fought sets but was a weakened man against Kees Ludekens in his next round, losing in straight sets. Ludekens could not cope with Kevin King when the score was 5-6, 6-5, losing the third set 6/2.

A final between Greenhalgh and King was obviously a battle between youth and experience. King had previously shown his superb array of serves and a canny ability to pace himself through the duration of a match, but the benefit of his years did not prevent Greenhalgh from dominating the first set with excellent court speed and accuracy with his shots. After a one-sided 6/0 score in the first set, King was determined to come back, and he did, but at 3-all it was all Greenhalgh. He won the match and the Championship 6/0, 6/3.

Brodie Cup

As Brodie Cup winners for the last two years, Cambridge are marked out as the team the other clubs all want to beat in this year's inter-club knockout tournament. But in the first round at Hatfield on October 28 we showed we were hungry for more successes ourselves, coming through victorious in a series of closely-fought games.

In the Brodie format, a team consists of seven players with a spread of ability from 30 to 50 handicaps - each playing once, either singles (at 30, 40 and 50) or doubles (at 35 and 45). So that's five games in the match - each played level.

Christopher Dean and David Pimblett were first on court for CURTC in the 45+ doubles. Playing from the back of the court in contrasting styles, their straight sets win was anything but straightforward, with fine old scraps developing at 5-5 in each set after Hatfield had clawed back from an early Cambridge lead.

Ed Pearson then showed he could make it even more tense. His left-handed opponent Steve Brewerton in the top (30+) singles powered through the first set to 6-3 before Ed could really settle into his classy floor game. Cutting down on the return of service errors, and moving so well around the court that Steve had to really work to win any of the longer rests, Ed got back to 4-4 in the second set, then closed it out at 6-4 to set the scene for a real thriller in the third. Narrow leads changed hands as both players produced some superb shots. At 5-5 we held our breath, but Ed held his nerve and suddenly CURTC were two up with three to play.

Mark Perriton (40+ singles) came up against Silas Manhood, whose handicap is already better than 40, probably because of his remarkable ability to get everything back. On the unfamiliar court Mark could never get on top: Silas won in two sets and Hatfield were back in the match.

So the dedans was packed for Julia Clarke's 50+ singles game - and it did not disappoint. Before the game her opponent had openly wondered if his bus pass would be a match for her young person's railcard; on court, it was his calm, his local knowledge and skill off the back wall against her nerves, crosscourt forehand and double-handed backhand power. We thought she'd win if she took the first set. She did so - but even so the second set went game for game. Julia was serving a better length now but needing her best strokes to come off to clinch the critical rests. At 5-5 and deuce, the ledge under the first gallery came to her aid to give her match point- and a crunching forehand won it under the grill.

Cambridge could celebrate now - and we duly did, while the Hatfield 35+ doubles pair made John Trapp and Jim Ludden sweat in the final battle, storming through to take the first set 6-2. Our heroes turned that round to level at one set all, with John doing all the lurking at the net, leaving most of the actual running and hitting to Jim. This wise division of effort paid off in the end, as we won the final set 6-4, and the match by 4 to 1.

Next round at Cambridge on Sunday Nov 18. Worth dropping in to see some of it if you can.

You are a better player than you think you are!

Overnight your handicap, if it was worse than 30, has suddenly changed and you are now a better player. Magic!

The T & R A Handicap and Rankings sub-committtee, of which our John Trapp is chairman, has been considering match results between players from different clubs, and, based on these data, it has recommended that all Cambridge handicaps in excess of 30 have improved by 10% of the difference between the handicap and 30. For example, a handicap of 40.0 has become 39.0, a handicap of 55.0 has become 52.5, and so on. (There may be a slight discrepancy due to rounding error, but at most it is 0.2)

A similar, but only to the extent of 5%, change has been made to handicaps at Prested Hall.

If you have any queries, please contact John on

Kleinwort Benson Cambridge League (KBCL)

The Club is committed to give all members the opportunity to play competitive tennis. The National League serves this function for the top 10 per cent of the Club and all members are invited to participate in a variety of other tournaments and matches organised by the Club’s Fixtures Secretaries, match managers, tournament organisers and professionals. Now, the new and exciting sponsorship of the Club by Kleinwort Benson allows us to extend the opportunity to compete using the league format to players with handicaps from 30 through to 70.

The Kleinwort Benson Cambridge League ( KBCL) is for members of the CURTC and will run very much on the same lines as the National League. The first matches will be played in October and the finals will take place in June.

Each team will have five players, three playing on any given match day. There will be five teams per division and three divisions.

Mondays: Division 1 players (handicaps 30 – 46)
Tuesdays: Division 2 players (handicaps 46 – 55) and
Wednesdays: Division 3 players (handicaps 55 - 70)

Each rubber will consist of three matches, each a best of three set singles contest (the 3rd set will be shortened). Each match will start at 5:30 pm (the evening should end by 9.30 pm). The sponsors, Kleinwort Benson, are very generously covering the cost of professional markers and each player will receive a complimentary KBCL polo shirt.

A captain will be appointed for each team and ultimately it will be their responsibility to recruit and organise their team. The only requirements for the players will be to be present when their captain selects them, pay for their personal court time, and to prepare a light meal (eg. Sandwiches), for half of the matches ie. when your team is designated as the ‘home team’.

We would like to encourage competitiveness and representation from a variety of areas of the Cambridge Community – Businesses, school parent teams, college teams, etc….

The league will start on the 15 October 2007 and all matches will be expected to be played by 12th May 2008. A special final day will be organised in early June. A match schedule using the following dates will be prepared for each league. Each team should play eight matches prior to the finals.

"Kleinwort Benson, one of the UK’s longest established and most innovative providers of total wealth management solutions to corporate and private clients alike has recently opened a Cambridge office and is keen to support the development of key Cambridge organisations, and are therefore thrilled to support the first Cambridge League."

Draft fixture schedule
Division 1
Mondays: 15 October, 29 October, 5 November, 12 November, 19 November, 3 December, 10 December, 14 January,
21 January, 28 January, 4 February, 18 February, 25 February, 3 March, 10 March, 17 March, 21 April, 28 April, 12 May
Division 2
Tuesdays: 16 October, 30 October, 6 November, 13 November, 20 November, 4 December, 11 December, 15 January,
22 January, 29 January, 5 February, 19 February, 26 February, 4 March, 11 March, 18 March, 22 April, 29 April, 13 May
Division 3
Wednesdays: 17 October, 31 October, 7 November, 14 November, 21 November, 5 December, 12 December, 16 January,
23 January, 30 January, 6 February, 20 February, 27 February, 5 March, 12 March, 19 March, 23 April, 30 April, 14 May

The closing date for the entry of teams is 30th September.

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