The 2024 Inter Universities Cup and Tournament
MURTC are in the House (Err… Court?, Ed)
Seven Universities and over forty players are involved in this year’s Inter University Cup and Tournament. The first team to arrive (as in previous years) was Middlesex University RTC. And if past history repeats, they will be the most enthusiastic on and off court! All the best to those taking part and many thanks to the sponsors, the Dedanists’ Foundation and Pol Roger, along with the CURTC Pros without whom none of this would be possible.
Varsity Match 1st/2nd March 2024
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Results…
CURTC scores first with CURTC names (tired fingers…).
M1 (Arthur Adams) singles: 5/6, 1/6
W1 (Ulla/Stacey) doubles: 1/6, 4/6
M2 (Jin/Moritz) doubles: 4/6, 6/5, 2/6, 1/6
W2 (Ellie/Phoebe) doubles: 6/1, 6/1
M3 (Oliver Anderson-Shah) singles: 3/6, 0/6
W1 (Ulla Petti) singles: 6/0, 6/1
M1 (Arthur/Ollie) doubles: 2/6 0/6 1/6
W3 (Stacey Sandigurskaia) singles: 6/0, 6/3
M4 (Moritz Hirschhausen) singles: 6/2, 6/5
W2 (Ellie White) singles: 6/4, 6/3
M2 (Jin Lee) singles: 3/6, 2/6
W4 (Phoebe Fox) singles: 4/6, 6/1, 6/1
CU Women win 5/1, OU Men win 5/1
A Live Stream is available (1st two matches, Day 1), Last four matches of Day 1, Friday: here
Day 2: Womens 1 and half of first set of Mens 3: LIVE Stream
Day 2 remaining matches: Live
Varsity Seconds
Hannah Taylor, Lucy Caines, Phoebe Fox, Martha Rushbrooke
It was the turn of the other place to host the Seconds Varsity this year and Oxford gained the upper hand on day 1 by leading both Men and Ladies matches 2-1.
So Cambridge needed to win all 6 matches on day 2 to come away with the spoils. On paper at least (not that it means much in these contests) Cambridge had an edge in the Men’s contest but the Ladies were up against it on a very different court to ours in Cambridge…
And win every match they did!
 Ben Craig |
 Ben & Moritz Hirschhausen |
Cambridge Men and Ladies both win 4/2
 To the Victors… |
 …Go the Spoils! |
Photo Credits: Kees
The Brooke Report on The Bristol Handicap Doubles and The CURTC 60+ Handicap
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Hello again. It’s me, Brooke the dog, with a report of the Reviers trip to Bristol last weekend.
It’s a long way to go in the the boot of a Seat Ibiza but worth it if only because we did so much more than hang around the tennis club which, frankly, is just as well because they didn’t make the Sunday play-offs. The tournament was a complicated arrangement of doubled pairs, theirs was from the home club, with accumulated games seeing teams through to the Sunday’s finals. They played three one set to six matches at 1 and 5pm on the Friday and 8.30am on the Saturday. A 6/4, 3/6 and 4/6 mix had them in with a chance. With the rest of Saturday free, Mrs Revier had the two of them make the most of their journey. Two rounds of an all too muddy par 3 golf course was followed by an hour or more of them thirty feet up in the trees, Mr Revier clinging on desperately to harnesses, handholds and zip lines while questioning his life choices. Mrs Revier wasn’t listening. The evening had the three of us walk the two miles along the river back to the club and, given that Banksy is from Bristol, him expressing his disappointment at the quality of graffiti on offer. Worse, on arrival they found they’d not made the last day, their cause not being helped by a 0/6 suffered by their Bristol partners. The late on Sunday final was between the home club’s youngest pairings suggesting it’s not only Cambridge that struggles with pitching handicaps accurately for those new to the game.
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The tennis was fun and the company good. It always is. I was spoiled rotten. It was, though, a long way to go for three sets but it had Mrs Revier tick off another club on her way to playing them all. She’s about two thirds of the way there.
Lunch in Bath on the way back and we were home by early evening.
That little tennis in Bristol was in stark contrast to the previous Sunday where Mr Revier won the 60 handicap as it took him fifty games over four hours of one day to do so. His cause wasn’t helped by Smuts Beyers and Chris Swales taking him to five all, forty all in the group stage. He overcame Felicity RB’s more elegant strokes in the final but was, he admitted later, conscious of the thin crowd cheering on his opponent. It was more than, he muttered, supporting the underdog. What was obvious at the day’s end, though, was how fortunate we are to have two courts and how much tennis can be crammed in over one day. Given the state of him the following morning, one day was enough.
Brooke
Cambridge University Real Tennis Club – Real Tennis Club Profiles
Many thanks to Ben Geytenbeek for putting this together!
40 and 50 Category Tournaments
The 40’s did battle on Sunday and certainly came up with a photo to rival TK and Felicity RB from the 60’s. Ben managed to play over 93% of the maximum possible games in winning the round robin which might explain why Leo had the edge in the Final!
from left: Lionel, Ben, Ulla, Leo, Chris
Scores below
Final Leo defeated Ben 8/4
The 50’s playing on Saturday produced a winner in Ben Craig who progressed from the round robin groups along with Miles Hember, Ruhan du Plooy and Peter Morrison
Semis: Ben def Ruhan, 8/3, Miles def Peter 8/4
Final: Ben def Miles 8/5
Photos: Kees
Peter Luck-Hille Cup
Congratulations to the CURTC PLH squad who emerged victorious from their trip to Queens last weekend by a score of 4-2
From left above, George Baumann-Downie, Riya Bharwad, William Buttrey and Leandros Georgoulis
BTW, the Peter Luck-Hille Cup is an inter club junior competition run on a handicap basis aimed predominantly at youngsters of age 12-15 and handicaps between 60-90. The tournament is organised by and sponsored by the Dedaniststs’ Foundation as part of their programme to help clubs recruit more youngsters into the game of Real Tennis.
1st Weekend of the 2024 CURTC Category Tournaments
Our first winners are:
Carlo Barriga who defeated Jack Zandi 6/3 in the 80+ Handicap Category (apologies, no picture)
Mihir Gupta who defeated Ian Glasscock 6/4 in the 70-79.9 Category
and TK who out battled Felicity Riddall Bell 6/4 in the 60 Category
Congratulations to all the Finalists!
Cambridge University Real Tennis Club – Vacancy for Third Professional
Click HERE for details
The DRTA* visit…
…CURTC for the 15th battle of the North Sea** and win quite reasonably convincingly! Full results are here.
As is customary in this annual contest we had a number of 8-7 finishes (including a 40-all). But this time there were all on the same court so the schedule ended up completely shredded.
Andreas van Braam Houckgeest and Andrew Petrie started the trend but the number 1 Singles pairing of Charlie D’Oyly and Saskia Bollerman who were handily team colour coordinated ensured the schedule was pretty much doomed by playing a full quota of points and games. 
but it was a pity about Charlie’s shoes…
Andy Smith and Oskar Knötschke made sure there was no way back by refusing to buck the 8/7 trend. So by the time these were over the DRTA were 4-3 to the good and the Blue Court was a clear 1 and half matches ahead of the Blue Court. Some canny play by the middle order kept CURTC in touch and a tie was at least in the offing when the final match started… But it was not to be and the DRTA emerged victorious 8-6.
Then the serious business of taking the team photos could start along with lunch. Given Pinot (the dog not the wine) was involved in the former as well as the latter, this soon got complicated and of the various attempts to get everyone facing more or less in the same direction, this was one of the less successful.
but was followed by a display of appropriately themed wristbands.
Orange vs the Light Blues
*Dutch Real Tennis Association (NRTB)
**We’ve long wanted to get a trophy for this annual contest which prompted a ‘when did the first match actually take place’ discussion. It looks like the first January encounter was back in 2007 but of course those results seem to have disappeared into the ether. Some if not all results from 2008 onwards can be found here. The current tally is CURTC 4, Dutch 3, Tie 2, CURTC (possibly) 3, Unknown 3
Xmas Tournament 2023
and What a Final Rally!
GP vs JF
Giraffe Club Cup Gallery
 Div 1 Final: Arthur & Charlie vs Jon & Ollie |
 Div 2 Final: John & Phoebe vs Richard & Mihir |
 Andy congratulates the Div 1 winners |
 Jon learns how many match points they had… |
 John in a state of shock after he and Phoebe win |
 Ed ponders on what might have been with a ghostly backdrop |
and last…
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The Brooke Report: CURTC visit Lords
Simon Martin & Sidney Yankson vs Colin Clifton-Brown & Andrew Petrie
The day’s highlight, she’s been all too keen to tell me several times, was the day’s last match. With the hosts’ unable to supply handicap appropriate opposition, The MCC kindly provided court time and marking for a Cambridge Exhibition match between Riya (aged 12) and Marc (15) vs Mihir (20+) and Camice (tba). This was the day’s only three set match. Indeed, it went to 5 all, forty all and was entertainingly marked by our hosts. Mrs Revier has played here before and one day, perhaps, the other three will realise how special it is.
In sport, Brooke
 Before… |
 …and after: CURTC, 2 – 2, MCC |
LRTA British Ladies Handicap Tournament 2023*
Outside, the grey rain.. Luckily, the inside of Prested Real Tennis Club is not glumly decorous like most RT Clubs, but glories in a vibrant clash of colours: pink floors, green and blue stripes, yellow lines – some find this a cue to go and lie down on the welcoming leather sofas, but in the weather conditions of the LRTA Ladies Handicap weekend, the bold décor was just the thing to get our blood racing.
There were twenty four players– with an age range from 12 year old Lexi to a select group whose age data is carefully locked behind an inscrutable password (we hope).
This year the tournament saw an exceptional French turnout of seven, all thanks to Bernie Bidouze’s tour operator talents. Among them, Amy Wintersteen, an American interloper currently living in Bordeaux, to make the tournament a truly global event. Huzzah!
Arriving en masse in a large van, the Bordelaises proceeded to first take over the club with French chatter, and then the tournament, with feisty, competitive tennis. They also were extremely voluble supporters of their team, cheering not only the success of their own, but also every stumble or fault by the opposition – this cunning plan was very effective…
Bernie provided the gaiety on court – her long shorts billowing round her sturdy calves; hands waving at the penthouse to invite the ball into the right spot; a firm volley at the net into a far corner – and of course, the frequent ‘merde!’ coming – possibly – from her direction.
The French contingent played above their pay grade with Bernie (and Kate Evers) winning the Division 1 Final, Typhanie and Cécile also reaching the finals, and Amy, Jeannette, Florence and Emmanuelle all going knockout. through to the Not surprisingly, the group plans to come back next year to beat les Anglaises again.
Full results will be found on the LRTA website before too long.
Div 1 Singles Final
Sarah Sullivan had been playing excellent consistent tennis throughout, solid and safe and she continued this way in the Final, and with a hefty handicap in her favour, kept up with Ulla Petti whose athleticism had been very apparent in all her matches, But by 4/2 to Ulla, the strength and accuracy of Ulla’s shots into corners took their toll, though Sarah never stopped trying. 6/3 to Ulla.
Div 1 Doubles Final
Bernie and Kate Evers against Amy Pye and Cécile was a great prospect and so it turned out. There were a number of great rests, with Kate and Bernie usually coming out on top. Amy and Cécile were patchy at times, playing superbly for 2 or 3 points, and then over-casual for the next 3. No such favours from Bernie and Kate, who were solid throughout, and Bernie’s war dance told it all. She really wanted to win, and she and Kate stayed ahead all the way, embracing French style after every difficult rest, winning 8/4.
But to finish, some particularly outstanding efforts:
Most consistent:
Sarah Sullivan, who won all her first round singles and doubles matches (plus adding more in further stages)
Best hair styling:
Saffron and Emilia, the Wellington girls, who not only played their socks off, but also had matching pony tails with an hypnotic bouncy life of their own.
Best Victory Dance:
Bernie by a mile.
Best use of the tambour:
Amy and Cécile in their semi-final
Most promising:
Typhanie and Emily Wilson, who both began to play barely a year ago.
Most fearsome:
A tie between Ulla and Kate who were obviously AI generated, hence able to run, reach and return any missile aimed at them.
One last thought:
Only two winning gallery shots were landed during the two and a half days…. Now why should that be?? Answers on an envelope, please.
Our thanks to the Prested Club and committee, and to the professionals, Levi and Vaughan, for their excellent marking. Also the catering staff, the kind hosts who offered beds, and all who made it such a successful tournament, especially Kate Evers, Sarah Sullivan and Candida Nicholls who did the organising, Ian for the scheduling, and all those others too many to mention.
Linda Fairbrother, LRTA & CURTC
*Many thanks to the LRTA and Linda for allowing us to post this splendid report!
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….