Inaugural Barber Jackson Home & Away Tournament
This weekend saw Prested host the Inaugural Barber Jackson Home & Away tournament. A new handicap doubles tournament that should be on everyone's calendar for the future! The Home & Away format sees home players sign up and invite 'away' players to play with them. Each team given one bisque a match, just to make it that much more interesting!
We had 16 pairs signed up for the weekend. I sadly report that club member, Derrick Wells fell ill at the beginning of the tournament and was rushed to hospital. On behalf of the club and all the members we wish Derrick a speedy recovery and the tournament wasn't the same without the Wells' contingent! With Derrick and his sons off to hospital we were left with 13 pairs in three groups.
Group 3 saw Amy Pye and Mark Bargent finish their group in first place. As they were a 'home/home' pair they proceeded to the 'Home/Home' final but could not go further in the main tournament. The played fantastically throughout and won the 'Home/Home' final over Ian Hawkey/Mike Cotton, winning 6/4. Unsurprisingly, Hawkey/Cotton won Group 2, but once again as a home/home pair, could not continue further in the main draw. With both home/home players finishing top, it would suggest home court advantage is a vital advantage!
We had play all afternoon on Saturday which was followed by our National League final. On Sunday we had semi-final 1 -Mike Norgrove/Chris Aley (Hatfield) v. Megan Hawkey/Tracy Thomas (Seacourt). Whilst the ladies had handicap on their side, Chris' cut shots and Mike's consistent play won through, winning 8/5. The other semi-final saw Fin Ramjane/Huw Thomas (Seacourt) v. Vince Lucey/Scott Levy (RTC). The youngsters were unstoppable and showed they can play tennis well below their handicap as they ran away with the match 8/0. So the final of Groups2/3 was all set between Mike Norgrove/Chris Aley and Fin Ramjane/Huw Thomas. Whilst Mike and Chris had played well all weekend, there was not much they could do as both Fin and Huw lifted their games and made little to no mistakes in the final! The final score, 8/2. Two very talented juniors who no doubt we will continue to see lifting trophies for years to come!
Onto Group 1. 5 Teams with an average handicap of 20 played off in a round robin format. Players included ex World Tennis Champion Howard Angus, ex Ladies World Champion Penny Lumley and ex Ladies World Doubles Champion Sue Haswell and Club Champion Tom Shrager. Needless to say, the top group saw plenty of talent which produced some fantastically well fought doubles matches. The final was between Tom Shrager/Simon Talbot Williams (Lords) and Lewis Williams/Sue Haswell (RTC). Tom and Simon dealt well with Lewis' pace and always seemed to get that one more ball back. Sue played incredibly well, lifting her game to deal with the attacking floor play from Tom and Simon, but with a mounting handicap, they had too much fire power to handle. Tom and Simon were crowned Champions of the Barber Jackson Home & Away Tournament 2014.
A brilliant weekend and great to see so many new faces at Prested. Once again, a huge thanks to Simon Jackson for his sponsorship and I hope everyone has it on their calendar for next year as we look to get even more visitors to the club!
Report by Claire Vigrass