March 14, 2026
- Riya Bharwad wins the LRTA Under 21 singles at Radley
- Godsill and Glasscock (almost!) win the Doubles Double
- CAMBRIDGE WIN AWAY AT MIDDLESEX!
- National League on Friday (17th)
- East Anglia Cup, 28/6/25 at Newmarket
- East Anglia Cup+ 2025 @Newmarket
- FLM IRPTA National League, Division 9: Final
- Leamington Visit Redux
Behind the Scenes, part 3
By any account, the Juniors session at the DofE Tennis Challenge at CURTC was pretty special. There are loads of photos of these sessions already out there and there are more to come. But here are a few more taken from behind the galleries….
DofE Juniors, click on image for larger..
…plus a link to a Google Photos Gallery of the individual photos which let you see some of the detail!
Behind the Scenes, part 2
Of course, the DofE tennis challenge at Cambridge couldn’t have taken place without a large crew of volunteers. With apologies to those I missed, here are a few pictures in a Google Photos Gallery of everyone hard at work (but having fun, I hope!) along with the collage…
DofE Crew, click on image for larger..
Behind the Scenes, part 1
Incredible couple of days at the home of Real Tennis as the HRH the Earl of Wessex ticked off the first two of courts on his DofE Real Tennis World Tour. One of the truly remarkable aspects was the transformation of the Blue Court orchestrated by Jocelyn Poulton for the DofE reception on Thursday evening. It all started just after 2pm. Guests started to arrive just before 6pm and weren’t over keen to leave at closing time. But by 8:30pm the Blue Court was back to what it was designed for! Here’s a collage of the transformation….
Blue Court Transformation. Click on image for larger..
….and a link to a Google Photos Gallery of the Court between 2:30 and 8:30…
DofE Reception Doubles Exhibition Match…
…as streamed by CURTC’s Stream Team, Thursday January 18th. The Doubles Exhibition Match featured Ed Kay and Matt Shaw vs Ed Hyde & Alex Evans from broadcast from Cambridge’s 151 and a bit year old Green Court.
Update: Apologies the streaming gremlins hogged the audio for the relay on the Blue Court and failed to leave anything for the stream….
DofE Car Wash
On a very chilly Saturday morning, four of our intrepid juniors, led by Kees, washed nine of the Members’ cars. These ranged from fairly new looking and shiny to those which had clearly been ragging their motors round the field in preparation for the big day! Once Kees was up and running with his new toy, the power hose, none of the above proved too much for the juniors and a veritable feast of scrubbing, polishing and rinsing began. Many thanks all the juniors (Jim, Bella, Etienne and Andrew) for participating with such good humour, and to those members who gave so generously and patiently to our initiative (Andy, Christie, Doug, Peter, Stuart, Will’s Mum, Paul, Tom and Sue). Special mention to Jim who survived the entire day! The juniors raised a total of £170 for the D of E, which will be presented to HRH The Earl of Wessex on Thursday, alongside the juniors’ other fundraising efforts.
The Dutch visit the Home of Real Tennis
On their annual trip to Cambridge, the Dutch showed that ‘no Court’ is ‘no Problem’ as they won the match 7-4. 
Match result (missing Cambridge salvaging a bit of pride in the last Doubles) and John Trapp (missing from the above).
The Dutch 7 -4 CURTC
John Trapp, away cooking dinner
 The Dutch, 6/1/2018 |
 CURTC, 6/1/2018 |
 Part 3! |
 Part 4!! |
Click on the Thumbnails for much larger images!
and finally a link to a Google Photos gallery containing the photos in the collages above….
CURTC January 2018 Newsletter…
…can be found HERE and sign-up sheets for this year’s Ladies Championship & Category Tournaments HERE
5-all, 40-all in the Final of the Christmas Tournament
Finalists: Nina Ludekens & Harry Jones
A Christmas cracker of a final culminated another sociable, yet competitive, tournament. This was an opportunity to play members of different standards in both doubles and singles.In the knock-out stage of the tournament Nina Ludekens was able to overcome the tournament favourite, Guy Turvill, in the 1st semi final and Harry Jones beat his father Richard Jones in the 2nd semi. The closest of finals, which was between the two youngest players, was won by Harry 6-5.
Brodie & Pol Roger Cup matches on Sunday
On Sunday, Prested are visiting the Home of Real Tennis in the Brodie Cup and Holyport in the Pol Roger Cup. It all starts at 10am, please drop by and lend your support if you can!
Update: the weather was a winner on Sunday, as Holyport (with one exception) had to cancel their trip and Prested was forced to forfeit two matches. Cambridge did win 2-1 in the matches played with yours truly partnering Will Boys-Stones and Andy Smith registering in the win column and Captain Kirk gamely giving something for Prested to cheer about. Next up, a Home tie for the Pol Roger squad and a trip to Wellington or Radley for the Brodie team. Both matches on Sunday, January 28th.
Updated Update. Wrote too soon on the Brodie result. The two missing rubbers will be played this weekend….
Update#2 Mark Perriton & John Firth clinched the 35D after an epic 5-all game to decide the 1st set. Umpteen deuces (I lost count) before the final denouement. Mark & John clearly decided enough was enough and cruised in the 2nd set after the gallant Prested pair had a chance to pull back to 3-all after losing the first 3 games
The 2017 Earthworks Doubles League
The Division winners are below. Congratulations!
- Div 1 Kings
- Div 2 Endeavour
- Div 3 Judge & Jury
- Div 4 Th’underdogs
Thanks to Peter, all the Captains and Markers for making the League run smoothly and last, but by no means least, Earthworks for their sponsorship!
Next up the Tayabali & White Singles League will start from Monday 22nd January,and continue for 20 weeks until late June (with a two-week break over Easter and a break for the Cambridge Week). Schedule will be released shortly!
Wednesday Outlast Monday to take Ball Sewing Honours
In the end it was down to the sheer single mindedness of the Wednesday crew who kept going even when key squad members were absent due to believing the ‘season was over’…. But many thanks to them and all the other ball makers who participated in the last six weeks of workshops. It was (surprisingly) a fun couple of hours each week and the various wounds are healing quite nicely, thank you.
ps Kees and Peter are already at work planning the 2018 season
70+ Category Tournament
Helena Tunks and Matthew Johnson’s route to the 70+ category Final. Click on image to see details…
2017 Inter Universities Cup
Over 70 players descended on Cambridge (and Newmarket) for the 2017 Inter-Universities Tournament at the Home of Real Tennis. In the team competition, Cambridge 1 regained the Inter University Cup by defeating Durham 1 in a tense final. Cambridge were represented by the bearded and non-bearded pairing of Matt Shaw and Jimmy Campbell whereas a clean shaven Durham comprised of Guy Maxwell and Olly Taylor
Cambridge just lost out in the final of the handicap singles to Middlesex as our Varsity Ladies’ Captain Olivia Chesser was defeated by Connor Holmes.
Many thanks to sponsors Pol Roger, Dedanists and the T&RA along with Kees & Peter for their marking and organisation.
ps Check the CURTC twitter feeds for the entrants to the ‘Real Tennis in 15 secs’ video competition.
Olivia Chesser (Cambridge) & Connor Holmes (Middlesex)
2017Inter Uni Winners: Cambridge
2017 Inter Uni Finalists: Cambridge & Durham
Survivors!
CURTC’s Stream Team are Back
After a frustrating afternoon of set-up yesterday, hopefully the gremlins have been well and truly put back in their box (or wherever gremlins hide when they are not making one’s life miserable). Tennis starts at 6pm, today, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, 23rd. Please use the Youtube live chat or Twitter to participate.
Our very own Ed Kay and Alex Evans will take on the North/South Capital pairing of Will Burns MURTC and Josh Smith RTC in the IRPTA National League, Division 1.
Queen’s visit in the Brodie Cup
Peter enjoys a cup of (well earned) coffee
Prested are visiting on December 10th. Should be a close one, especially for those of us who remember visiting PHTC in the Brodie two years ago….
CURTC is grateful for the support of our Sponsors…
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…and Supporter!
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Giraffe Club: CURTC Alumni
You Told Us….