February 15, 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
Christmas Tournament 2016
Robert Doe & Ginny Myer, CURTC’s 2016 Xmas Tournament Finalists
At the knock out semifinal stage Virginia (Ginny) Myer showed her excellent strokes and consistency to defeat the much-fancied Kate Mason (returning to Grange Road after a 10 year absence). Richard Bowers and Gillian Moore have done well in this tournament before; this year it was Richard’s turn to progress through to the semis. Tony Kennedy could not overcome Kate Kirk, even though Kate was hampered by her husband’s marking and Robert Doe continued to play extremely powerfully to beat Karen Pearce.
Ginny’s accuracy allowed her to beat the tenacious Richard Bowers in their match and Kate Kirk came so very close, but again Robert Doe’s strength won out (6-5).
In the final, there was nothing between the players. Robert served sidewall serves to great effect, with Ginny needing to volley the return of service, which she did with accuracy into the corners. Ginny served underarm twists to which Robert replied with forces at the dedans and at the mainwall. There were many excellent rests made more fascinating by the contrasting styles of the finalists. At 3-all Robert was able to steady his game, overcome his unforced errors and take the final three games and the Championship (6-3)…. The day ended with the Senior Professional taking the photo of the finalists above.
Kees
Jingle Bingle Update
There was a crash on the roof, some shuffling around the chimney and a few expletives drowned out by Cody’s barking. Eventually it subsided but then the door bell rang which set Cody off again. Warily opening it, I saw three recognizable shapes lurking in our front garden. Rudolph (for it was he) had that self satisfied look that those with red noses so often have and was prancing about doing some recognizable impersonations of a forehand (he switches the racket Lyons style to avoid the complications of a backhand). He proffered me a thumbdrive and gestured with a shrug of the antlers at Donner & Blitzen who seemed far more interested in the vegetation than demonstrating correct positioning for a return of serve. He muttered (as those with red noses are prone to mutter) that he would be busy for a few days but back in touch looking for a game in the New Year. I asked about his handicap, but was met with the reply that surely the other 8 and the big guy were handicap enough. Living in a neghbourhood where chatting with reindeer attracts funny looks even at this time of year, I promised I’d put his handicap into RTO and work out the odds for our game. Wishing them seasons greetings, I retrieved the dog and opened up the thumbdrive….
Congratulations, Mike, Anthony & Gillian, you are the ‘Leaders of the Pack’ in the early going of the 2017 JB!
The Jingle Bingle is coming…
Jingle Bingle tracking spreadsheets
You will receive an e-mail* telling which of the three ‘Packs’**, headed by Rudolph, Donner & Blitzen, you are in. Please play frequently and often against members of your and other Packs (Singles or Doubles). Santa’s IT elf assures us the scoring system is so simple Santa himself could use it. The set-up is in the Blue Court Dedans. All you need to do is highlight your name and click on ‘WIN’ or ‘Lose/Draw’ as appropriate. No need to enter the actual score. This is all for fun and the IT elves have promised us the beta version of the software just as soon as they have finished some deliveries in a couple of weeks. (We told them to use Amazon’s new drones but they insist that Santa is somehow better ‘suited’)
* Instructions and background to the Jingle Bingle included with the e-mail
** OK, for you pedants, we are quite aware that reindeer come in ‘herds’, not ‘packs’. But then nobody has had a hit with a song called ‘Leader of the Herd’, so Vrrrmmm, Vrrrmmm…
*** Talking of ‘Leaders of the Pack’ when the Jingle Bingle closes on January 17th 2017 (unless R, D & B decide otherwise) the three LotP will be recognised with valuable prizes when frankly just a mention on the Club’s website would more than satisfy yours truly.
ps If the scoring system is by some remote chance non-operational, please write the name of the two (or four) players and highlight the winner(s) on the back-up ‘sheet of paper’
For each player, Click on your Pack tab, Highlight your name (Find box may help), Click on WIN or Lose/Draw
Cambridge vs MCC*, Pol Roger Trophy, 11/12/16
Click on the times/links below to take you to the corresponding part of the video.
Highlights include the 2nd set of the 2nd Doubles (listen for the banging on the Clubroom window towards the end…) and the 3rd Set of the 1st Doubles starting with Charlie’s 2nd Set winning shot….
2nd Doubles: 12:15 Start, 31:30 2nd Set, 1:09:40 3rd Set
1st Singles: 1:55:05 Start, 2:14:37 2nd Set
2nd Singles: 2:47:29 Start, 3:09:51 2nd Set
3rd Singles: 3:51:15 Start, 4:16:25 2nd Set, 4:51:00 3rd Set
1st Doubles: 5:31:10 Start, 5:50:47 2nd Set, 6:11:45 3rd Set
Results:
2nd Doubles: Matt Shaw & Ed Pearson bt Alexis Hombrecher & Jolyon Symonds 2/6 6/5 6/2
1st Singles: Ed Kay bt William Maltby 6/1 6/2
2nd Singles: Jamie Giddins bt Horatio Cary 6/1 6/4
3rd Singles: Alex Evans bt Mark Howard 6/4 4/6 6/3
1st Doubles: Duncan Colquhoun & Charlie D’Oyly bt Mark Mathias & Neil Roxburgh 2/6 6/1 6/5
* a.k.a. the Home of Real Tennis vs the Home of Cricket
ps The flaming streamers will be back for the visit of Petworth on Sunday, January 29th in the semi-final of the Pol Roger Trophy.
Match report from the real MCC v CURTC match, Saturday 10th December 2016 at Lord’s Cricket Ground
CURTC opened well when Gary Weller won against MCC match manager Tom Carew Hunt. The match went the full distance (one set all, 5 games all, 40-all) and then Gary defended a short chase to perfection. The next match almost went the same way. CURTC match manager Keith Beechener & Julian Stafford led in all three sets but at one set all and 5 games all Keith Beechener mis-judged his defence of a short chase and the notorious Lord’s low bounce gave MCC (Paul Cattermull & Robert Kilgour) their first victory. David Pimblett & Nick Heath succumbed to Brian Woodbridge & Jonathan Cundy, and this was followed by a further defeat when Gerald Smith & Howard Mason were beaten by Peter Brunner & Robert Kilgour to give the MCC a winning 3-1 lead with only one match to play. The final match saw the Davidson brothers (Jeremy for CURTC and Nick for the MCC) facing each other for family pride. Jeremy D, with the assistance of Keith Beechener, took the family title in straight sets against Nick D & Mark Wilcox.
Many thanks to MCC for their hospitality and congratulations on a deserved 3-2 win.
Keith Beechener
2016 Pol Roger Inter-University Tournament
The 2016 Pol Roger Inter-University Tournament saw a gathering of Men’s and Women’s student real tennis players from across the country at the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club (the home of Real Tennis at Grange Road) and, for those brave enough to venture there, the Newmarket and Suffolk Real Tennis Club.
Representatives were present from St Andrews to Exeter University including a lone wolf from Oxford. There were early (and in some cases, very painful) starts at Newmarket, rumours of a winning gallery competition within the Middlesex camp, too many photos to count and some splendid tennis played across four days.
The Handicap singles saw 61 students take to the court and Cambridge’s Keeler Mears, Amanda Murphy and Matt Shaw topped their groups and made it into the round of sixteen. Precision and killer spin then took Matt Shaw into the Handicap Singles Semi-Final where he played splendidly to beat Charlie Drew 6-1. The other Semi-Final saw an all Durham affair, where Oliver Taylor (a.k.a. Bandit 1) took on Matt Brooks (a.k.a. Bandit 2). Taylor came out on top 6-4, and nobody was left in any doubt that both of these players would have much lower handicaps come next year! In the final, Taylor defeated Shaw 8-3 playing a handicap difference of 35, highlights of which can be found on the “CURTC Fixtures” YouTube channel!
Semi-Finalists from left, Charlie Drew (Durham)-
Oliver Taylor (Durham) – Champion, Matt Shaw (Cambridge) – Matt Brooks (Durham)
The Pol Roger Champagne Reception and Dinner was a great event, held at the nearby Robinson College. Pol Roger Champagne and a three course dinner was enjoyed by all. Some of the more serious athletes continued the festivities in one of the local ‘training’ establishments, meaning there were some sore muscles (heads) for finals day.
The Pol Roger Inter-University Cup saw teams from Durham, Exeter, Middlesex, Newcastle, St Andrews, London and Birmingham and Cambridge (including the Cambridge women’s team) battle it out in both singles and doubles. Both the first and second CURTC teams made it through to the Semi-Finals beating teams from Newcastle, St Andrews, Durham and Exeter. Despite the attempts of Jimmy Campbell to provide an epic Saturday night for the London and Birmingham (HS2) team, Robert Shenkman and Charlie Braham arrived at the courts on Sunday and had the measure of the second CURTC team in the Semi-Final, defeating Campbell and Shaw three matches to love.
The final was streamed live (and can also be found on the CURTC Fixtures YouTube channel) where the HS2 duo took on the Cambridge first team of Kay and Giddins. Kay took the first rubber 8-7, saving match points along the way, against Braham, while Shenkman continued his good form against Giddins winning 8-5. The doubles deciding rubber provided tennis of the highest quality, team HS2 fighting back from 7-5 down to take the match 8-7 and the trophy.
Inter University Cup Winners – Team HS2 Rob Shenkman & Charlie Braham
The weekend was enjoyed immensely by all that attended, and thanks must go to all of the pros for organising one of the biggest tournaments in Real Tennis.
Over 70 people attended the Pol Roger Dinner at Robinson College
Cambridge vs MCC, Pol Roger Trophy, Sunday, December 11th @11am
The next outing for the stream team! If you can’t make it to the Club to support the our Pol Roger squad, follow along from the comfort of your own armchair/desk/bed or wherever you happen to be….
Inter-Uni Wrap-up, part 2
Congratulations to Team HS2, Rob Shenkman, Birmingham & Charlie Braham, London, Winners of the 2016 Inter-Universities Cup. Rob & Charlie won the deciding Doubles 8-7, saving a match point along the way.
CURTC President, George Pearson offers some ‘Congratulations and Thanks’ following the Final.
More from Freddy Adam/T&RA
A Grand Finale
Congratulations to all the participants in this weekend’s Inter-Universities Tournament. It was truly great to see such enthusiasm on (and off) court…
The Finals of the Handicap and Team Cup are available via Youtube.
Meanwhile here are the worthy finalists of the Handicap Tournament
from left, Charlie Drew (Durham) – Semifinalist, Oliver Taylor (Durham) – Champion, Matt Shaw (Cambridge) – Finalist, Matt Brooks (Durham) – Semifinalist
Semi 1: Shaw def Drew (6-3)
Semi 2: Taylor def Brooks (6-4)
Final: Taylor def Shaw (8-3)
Inter-Universities Tournament, Finals
We are taking a short break and will be back for the Inter-Uni Cup Final at 2pm
Ed Kay (Cambridge) vs Charlie Braham (London: HS2 Uni)
Jamie/Alex (Cambridge) vs Rob Shenkman (Birmingham: HS2 Uni)
then Doubles!
Cambridge vs Leamington, Live Stream with Commentary
CURTC joins the Instagram revolution
CURTC is fast becoming a new world leader of social media. Follow our latest venture on Instagram @cambridgerealtennis. The competitors for this year’s InterUniversity Tournament have been invited to participate in a photo competition to win a bottle of Pol Roger Reserve Brut so our feed should be on fire by the weekend!
If you download the Instagram app on your mobile you too will be able to play with the filters and post your best photos to our account. Get practicing and keep an eye out for our Club competitions.
InterUniversity Event 2016: Win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Reserve
o Champagne Pol Roger would like to invite all competitors of the Inter University Real Tennis tournament to submit their best photo of the tournament, and whomever uploads the best image (as decided by James Simpson MW, Managing Director of Pol Roger Portfolio) will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Reserve.
o All photos must be uploaded to either Twitter or Instagram, or both, using the handle @Pol_Roger and the hashtag #InterUnivRealTennis. Please also tag the Twitter handle @cam_tennis and the instagram account cambridgerealtennis
o The subject matter is open to interpretation, ranging from shots of the team, action shots of the players, artistic shots of Pol Roger bottles, images of the real tennis court; the winning image will be judged on the composition of the image and how well it is deemed to capture the spirit of the tournament.
o The competition is only open to adults, over the age of 18; this is to be verified by Kees Ludekens when awarding the prize
o Kees will present the winner with their bottle of Pol Roger Brut Reserve at the Pol Roger champagne reception and dinner on Saturday evening.
Cambridge vs Leamington, National League
Cambridge take on Leamington in the top division of national league this Thursday, 5.30pm start. First up Jamie Giddins (10) will be taking on Robert Shenkman (7), where Jamie will look to get revenge for his three set loss in last years final. Next up Ed Kay (1) will take on world number 6 5 Ben Matthews (+6). We are privileged to be able to watch a player of Ben’s calibre at Cambridge, and I hope that as many people as possible will make it down to the club to watch one of the worlds best.
Ed Kay
Busy Week ahead
- The Brodie squad are off to Seacourt on Sunday so please drop in if you are passing…
- Ed & Jamie are back in action on Thursday evening against Leamington featuring World number 6, Ben Taylor-Matthews, and ace commentator Rob Shenkman. We will be streaming the matches live but please drop by the Club if you possibly can.
- The inter-universities tournament runs from Thursday through Sunday. It is bigger and better than ever this year!
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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