April 28, 2025
Free Taster Sessions!
Membership of CURTC is open to all, very much town as well as gown. We love welcoming new members of any age. This ancient and intriguing game is fast or slow, tactical, subtle and addictive. One of our professionals (Kees, Peter and Mark) is usually here 9am – 5pm on weekdays or 9am – 12 noon on Saturdays, they will be happy to explain and encourage.
We offer free taster lessons in small groups usually on the first and third Wednesday each month at 12:30pm and 5 or 6pm. Just register your interest with the pros, in person, by telephone, 01223 357106 or by email curtcpros@gmail.com
Leamington Visit Redux
Paul Brennan, William Hollington, LTCC
Many thanks to the Leamington match manager, Paul Brennan, for sharing his report!
Leamington fielded a team of nine for the weekend’s match against Cambridge for an engaging day of Doubles – first to 10 – and Singles – first to 8. Adam Stokes and Ian Calvert were first up in the Doubles on the more familiar Blue Court, cunningly lulling our guests into what we all hoped would be a false sense of security with a 10 -4 defeat. Meanwhile, on the tricky Green Court, Rachel Hollington secured an impressive 8-2 victory over Cambridge match manager, Christie Marrian, dispatching Christie’s serve with a series of devasting volleys into the forehand corner. Rachel carried her good form across into her Doubles fixture, with Will “the Stork” Windham, resplendent in white silk stockings, in support, partnering her to a 10-9 victory in an enthralling encounter.
Back on the Green Court, LTCC match manager Paul Brennan, in spite of intermittent displays of competence and the thunderous imprecations that accompanied his various misfortunes and misjudgements, went down 8- 4 against an opponent, who, in his grey shorts, showed all the signs of having once been a very accomplished squash player. Next up in the Singles Adam Stokes, flummoxed by a quick surface and a back wall that is both considerably less susceptible to spin off the side wall and far more rewarding of cut than Leamington’s court, quickly succumbed, as did Roy Rogers who succeeded him, his difficulties compounded by a knee injury, he says, sustained early on. At this point the match stood at 4 – 2 to Cambridge.
Back on the Blue Court, William Hollington and Natalie Barber kept the Leamington challenge alive, winning out 10-8 in the match of the day against the talented Jin Lee, fresh from representing Cambridge in the Varsity Match, and the nameless grey-shorted former squash player. Whilst William gave a beautiful demonstration of how to pay the game with superior anticipation, guile and finesse, Natalie over-powered her opponents with a series of volleys, equally forceful on both the back-hand and forehand sides. Sadly, after such an exacting encounter, William wasn’t able to maintain the same degree of precision in his second Doubles encounter which followed immediately afterwards and Brennan was to prove a poor substitute for Natalie. Better things were on the way from Roy Rogers in the Doubles partnered by Colin Murray making his first appearance of the day, winning out 10-5 thanks in no small part to some forceful forehand drives.
Colin’s Singles match was a David and Goliath affair, in which Colin played the giant’s part, felled by Leandros Georgoulis, a youthful and diminutive opponent, and one of the rising stars of CURTC’s youth academy. Next up on the Green Court Ian Calvert also struggled with the conditions, and the day started to slip away from Leamington’s grasp. Natalie too, in her singles encounter with Jin Lee was not quite able to reprise her form from earlier in the day. In the final rubber, Will, the Stork, got into something of a flap, failing to produce the quicksilver display of which he is capable, However, true to the club’s traditions, and nourished by Cambridge’s generous hospitality, the Leamington contingent remained ebullient in spite of succumbing to an overall 9-4 defeat on the day.
Tellingly the match was lost in the rubbers on the Green Court, where Cambridge won 5 -1. The other notable statistic is that a member of the extended Hollington clan was a participant in each of the ties which we were the victors. We look forward to welcoming the Cambridge Team up here next year and bamboozling them in return with our beloved court’s superior bounce and fizz.
Paul Brennan LTCC
Leamington Visit
William Hollington, ‘Miles & Giles’, Paul Brennan
Nine of Leamington’s finest made the trip to CURTC last Saturday in some style (see below). Tennis wise, the hosts got off to a flier as I managed to lose both my matches by just gone midday although to be fair the Doubles did go to a final game. Fortunately CURTC’s finest did not follow my lead as everyone else managed to wine at least one of their two matches.
Leamington took the First Doubles with their consistency just about wearing down Jin and Andy’s stroke play. CURTC’s middle order proved solid with Leandros winning both his matches including a highly entertaining match with Colin Murray and Barnaby proving too much for Ian Calvert in both Singles and Doubles.
Many thanks to Kees and Peter for their marathon marking stints not exactly helped by some pesky IT issues.
Full Results HERE
And the Stream from the Blue Court matches: HERE
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 What Pinot should have been watching |
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 Leandros Georgoulis & Colin Murray |
 Kees in the midst of a marking marathon |
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 Wheels! |
 Barnaby Perks & Ian Calvert |
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CURTC Retain The East Anglian Pennant 2024/25
Marcus, Ellie, Alan & Ben
Congratulations to our everyone involved for retaining the EAP!
Special thanks to Ben Craig, Ellie White, Marcus Cloke-Browne and Alan Sharpe (Captain) for all their efforts on Thursday evenings during the winter and their exemplary hospitality and friendliness shown at all matches.
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Varsity Match Report
So close…
Read all about it: HERE. Thanks Ben!
Kees & Ben Geytenbeek
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Martha & Venetia, CU W2 Doubles
Varsity Match @Lord’s 28/2-1/3/25
CURTC’s 2025 30 Category Tournament
Group matches: Lots of 7-alls and a nail-biting quarter final also going to the last possible game!
Semis: 8/7 Josh Elliott beat Colin Clifton-Brown, great match Colin came back from 5/2 down to lead 6/5 and looked have all the momentum then Josh turned it round to win 8/7 after having 2 match points. In the other semi, Dave Millward beat Jin Seok Lee 8/6. Jin made a few mistakes in the end. This meant we had two newbies in the final with Josh prevailing 8/3, Dave started to get into it and had a big game to close it down to 5/3.
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Peter
Billy Ross-Skinner
Ulla Petti (CURTC) and Simon Edmond (RTC) won the Billy Ross-Skinner Cup at Hatfield House. They overcame Katie Leppard (Oxford) and Henry Stuttaford (Hatfield) 2/6, 6/5, 6/3, countering their opponents strong position at the start of the match.
Kees
2nd’s Varsity Wrap-up
Rear: Jim, Charlie, Chris, Tom, Ollie, Mark, Kees, Peter
Front: Nina, Olivia, Anna, Valerie, Lucy, Martha, Theodora
A light blue tide swept through CURTC last Friday and Saturday. Our visitors battled man (and woman) fully but faced a strange court and a strong and focussed Cambridge squad. Some great tennis and a splendid atmosphere!
Many thanks to the Cambridge Pros for their marking along with Pol Roger and the Giraffe Club for their support to make it happen.
On to Lord’s next weekend for the Varsity match as we continue one of Real Tennis’ great rivalries.
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Friday Stream: Part 1 and M3 Singles
Saturday Stream: M1D onwards (Apologies but the gremlins were out in force for the W2D)
2nds Varsity @CURTC
Live Stream should be available starting at 1:30pm today, Friday February 21st, on the CURTC YouTube channel HERE
Check back for updates and more
SCORES
CURTC vs Hardwick House match report
It was a tough start to the day. All roads southbound seemed to be closed and there was no reliable information to indicate that Bella would be awake or even reachable in her student fortress. On top of this, Ian was due in at Reading Station at 0930 but had no idea his ride was a ‘rural’ and somewhat ‘cosy’ automobile complete with student, dog and half of the mud in Newton. Luckily he had his finest flat cap, a solid trench, and nerves of steel as Vix’s Dacia Sondero ‘Stepway’ found its stride in the narrow lanes and steep slopes of Berkshire. The temperature dropped another 10 degrees as we arrived at Hardwick House, and we all added some layers; but the short car ride, two coffees for the seniors and an incident with coffee and tennis whites for the student had everyone energised and raring to go.
Vix and Bella paired up first and took a set off the experienced Tomalins. Still in ‘AM mode’, however, Bella found herself flagging in the second set, just as the Tomalins were powering through with home court advantage. Match 1 to Hardwick.
Ben G and David P were up next, although running slightly ahead of schedule there was some anxiety as to whether David had been scuppered by rail replacement services, closed roads or some other misfortune. Ben warmed up the opposition and sure enough David arrived, bang on time, fresh off the back of what appeared to be a fabulous evening out. This formidable pair of hard hitters threw themselves around the court with David winning match point atop of the fully committed Ben G, who had body slammed into the ground to leave the field clear for his partner’s glory shot.
Ian and Hardwick defector Fergus were up next and looking to put Cambridge ahead before lunch. Unfortunately Ian had a touch of trauma from the journey still; although finding excellent form, the pair made a few too many mistakes, leaving the opposition to sneak through to victory 2 sets to 1.
Cambridge finished the morning session slightly despondent but lunch was next and Pam T had cooked up a storm; the Cambridge men dedicated themselves to the task. Not a drop was left of either the chicken or the booze. Ian looked surprised to be playing again, and somewhat disappointed to move from his spot in front of the fire, surrounded by cheese, wine and bread and butter pudding; but with the terrific encouragement of David and his relentless good humour, he took to the court with an additional spring in his step: the pair ran away with an excellent set to 8 (very sensible post lunch match format).
Bella and Vix were up next. Very firmly now in the “PM hours”, and replete with her first actual meal since Christmas, Bella found her feet moved and remembered the cut shot. Mother-daughter duo overcame a tough handicap to take the set.
Bella then teamed up with our ringer Fergus. The final pair had the most fun match of the day, against an experienced and much lower handicap team. It was an excellent match but with a friendly handicap Cambridge were able to secure the final set, thereby winning the fixture 4 matches to 2.
Huge thanks to Pam for the delicious food, Peter for the organisation and much of the marking, and the whole Hardwick team for their generous hospitality, blazing fire and excellent company. A great court to visit!
CURTC’s 2025 50 Category Tournament…
Finalists: Ed & James
Full results HERE
 Alan & Ed |
 James & Dave |
Peter
CURTC’s 2025 60 Category Tournament
Felicity’s railroad combined with her excellent length game from the hazard end was too strong for the field. She won 6/1 in the semi and final versus Leandros and David Isherwood respectively. In the other semi, Dave eased past John Lees 6/3.
Full Results: HERE
Many thanks to John Trapp who provided a fabulous spread for lunch.
 60 Category Finalists, Felicity & Dave |
 John Trapp, chef extraordinaire |
 Felicity Riddall-Bell & Leandros Georgoulis |
 John Lees & David Isherwood |
Kees
Graduate Cup KO Rounds
Full Results HERE
We have our finalists for the 2024/24 Graduate Cup!
James Dowson in the dark shorts (above) will play Danny Lawrence in dark longs (below) in the final of the Graduate Cup Final (date tbd).
Kees
Giraffe Club Cup
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The Giraffe Club Cup took place on Saturday 23rd November, a tournament that celebrates the amazing support that Cambridge’s Giraffe Club provides. This support enables the students to experience the wonderful game of Real Tennis more fully than anywhere else – with multiple hours of training sessions with the fantastic Pros every week, and the opportunity to take part in the many organised intra- and inter- matches. Thirteen students and recent alumni signed up to play, including five new students, eager to put their skills to the test against the experienced members of CURTC.
On one side of Division 2, Jonathan Spence and Almudena Caro won both their games narrowly with Gillian Moore and Theodora Enslin (a double student pair!) hot on their heels. Robert Tasker and Nigel Belbin had the unenviable task of giving 20 handicap points, but fought valiantly during their matches. On the other side, Serena Mundy and Marcus Streets utilised their handicap advantage to its fullest extent, sweeping past both their opponents. In the final game of the group, a battle for qualification to the semi-finals, Martha Jameson and John Bailey came through a close encounter with Lucy Caines and Ian Glasscock 6-5.
In dispatching their respective semi-final opponents, the group winners continued their winning form and met in the final, with Pol Roger champagne at stake! In the end, Serena’s consistency and Marcus’s experience took them to a confident 6-3 victory, meaning the Division has been won by a new student for as long as I can remember!
The format of Division 1 was for the group winners to meet in the final; an exciting design that left little room for error. In the first group, Oliver Anderson-Shah and Miles Hember produced an irresistible combination of controlled placement and mainwall boasts to win all three of their matches. The Committee pair of Vix Harvey and Charlie d’Oyly were always giving at least 10 handicap points but to their credit they finished strongly, overcoming Joshua Elliott and David Pimblett 6-5. Joshua and David produced very tidy tennis, with Joshua’s Padel pedigree shining through with excellent use of the walls and deft shots into the corners. With David’s excellent serving they earned a deserved victory 6-2 over Isaac Wighton and Jonathan Wallach. Isaac and Jonathan (significantly raising the sartorial standards of the day) started the day strongly, comfortably beating Vix and Charlie 6-3, drawing out errors while giving away very little and always playing attractive tennis.
There was also lots of excellent tennis in the second group. Leo Sanitt and Danny Leboff’s consistency propelled them to first place, overcoming their closest challengers Ben Craig and Giles Pemberton in the final group game; an effective semi-final. Ben and Giles played well, especially off the back wall, and racked up two impressive victories, one when receiving and one when giving handicap points. Ellie White and Jonathan Brown secured third place with a dominant 6-1 victory over Jin Lee and Andy Smith – thanks to a combination of solid serving and Ellie’s often unplayable length. Jin and Andy, the 2022 Champions, had a tough task giving away more than 11 handicap points per match on average, but produced numerous close games despite this – testament to their resilience.
In the final match, Oliver and Miles raced into a 7-3 lead, courtesy of some excellent volleying and many shots aimed at the tambour. However, Leo and Danny were not finished and saved a handful of match points, before storming through the next five games to earn their Champagne as worthy winners and to become the 2024 Giraffe Club Champions!
An exhibition match between Mark Hobbs and Ed Hyde capped off an excellent day of tennis, and there was much to learn from their consistency and ability to hit the ball where they had intended! In the end, Mark’s extensive preparation for the British Open shone through, and he won 8-1.
We are very grateful to Andy Smith for organising such a smooth event, and for all his work in running the Giraffe Club, without which CURTC would look very different. The day could not have run without the Pros’ help – thank you to Kees, Peter, and Mark for a mammoth day of marking! We would also like to thank Pol Roger for their supply of Champagne (always to be drunk responsibly), but the final word of thanks must go to the Giraffe Club itself and its generous benefactors. At its heart, CURTC aims to broaden the experience of real tennis and encourage more people to play, and the support of the Giraffe Club is essential to achieve this – thank you!
Oliver Anderson-Shah, Men’s Varsity Captain, 2024/5
CURTC is grateful for the support of our Sponsors…
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…and Supporter!
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Giraffe Club: CURTC Alumni
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