Inter Universities Tournament 2012
Feb 10, 2012 - Feb 12, 2012 Manchester W Hopton
After an absence of over 20 years the Inter Universities Rackets event is back! 10 teams entered the tournament and we were grateful to both Simon and Robert Shenkman for helping to complete the Bristol and Reading sides respectively. Unfortunately the Loughborough pairing of George and Dave Mackenzie never made it to Manchester due to illness but the rest of the competitors were involved in a non stop program of activity.
The format allowed for both singles and doubles play as each tie involved 2 singles rubbers and 1 doubles contest. There was a plate draw for those pairs defeated in either 1st or 2nd round and a real tennis event also took place to keep everyone busy! The action started on Friday afternoon and continued right through until lunchtime on Sunday. The 4 seeded teams all made the semi-finals although Durham I (B.Stevens + T.Spurling) required a final game decider in their doubles encounter to beat Bristol (S.Shenkman + M.Barstow). The Durham pairing were then put out in the last 4 by a superb display from the Oxford duo of Alex Portz and John Beale. Oxford secured the tie by winning 2 closely contested singles rubbers. The expectation was that their reward would be a meeting in the final with the number 1 seeds Manchester I (T.Stevens and D.Shiner) but this wasn’t the case. Shiner and Stevens were beaten by a combination of the steady play from Durham II (H.Britton and C.Marlow-Thomas) and the amount of alcohol they had consumed the night before! The final went down to a deciding doubles as the singles rubbers were shared following wins for Portz and Marlow-Thomas respectively. There were many fine rallies in the doubles game but in the end Oxford prevailed to secure the title.
In the plate event Bristol edged into the final after a narrow victory over Manchester II (B.Graham + H.Corcoran). Their opponents at that stage were Edinburgh (S.Cox and A.Raeside). Wins for Shenkman and Raeside meant the doubles was crucial and it was the steadiness of Barstow that proved key in leading the Bristol pair to victory. On the real tennis court Portz and Beale carried all before them to secure their second success of the weekend.
A huge thank you must go to Simon and Ruth Shenkman for providing a wonderful dinner at the club for all the players on Saturday evening. Finally once again Will Hopton did a great job in organising and running yet another tournament in Manchester!
Results
Friday 10th
Manchester I (T.Stevens + D.Shiner) beat Manchester II (B.Graham + H.Corcoran) 3-0
Stevens beat Graham 21-10
Shiner beat Corcoran 21-19
Doubles Manchester I won 15-4, 15-4
Leeds (A.Rozier + A.Corridan) beat Loughborough (G.+D.Mackenzie) w/o
Edinburgh (S.Cox + A.Raeside) beat Reading (T.Barton + R.Shenkman) 2-1
Cox beat Barton 21-6
Shenkman beat Raeside 21-10
Doubles Edinburgh won 15-6, 13-18, 15-11
Saturday 11th
Durham II (H.Britton + C.Marlow-Thomas) beat Leeds 3-0
Britton beat Rozier Pamplin 21-12
Marlow Thomas beat Corridan 21-5
Doubles Durham II won 21-8
Oxford (A.Portz + J.Beale) beat Edinburgh 3-0
Portz beat Cox 21-9
Beale beat Raeside 21-4
Doubles Oxford won 21-12
Durham I (B.Stevens + T.Spurling) beat Bristol (M.Barstow + S.Shenkman) 2-1
S Shenkman beat Spurling 21-8
Stevens beat Barstow 21-10
Doubles Durham I won 13-15, 15-3, 15-9
Leeds beat Manchester II 3-0
Rozier Pamplin beat Graham 21-6
Corridan beat Corcoran 21-9
Doubles Leeds won 21-14
Bristol beat Reading 3-0
S Shenkman beat Barton 21-11
Barstow beat R Shenkman 21-14
Doubles Bristol won 21-18
Plate SF Edinburgh beat Leeds w/o
Main SF Oxford beat Durham I 3-0
Portz beat Spurling 21-15
Beale beat Stevens 21-17
Doubles Oxford won 18-16,15,12
Plate SF Bristol beat Manchester II 2-1
S Shenkman beat Graham 21-7
Corcoran beat Barstow 21-4
Doubles Bristol won 18-15
Sunday 12th
Main SF Durham II beat Manchester I 2-1
Britton beat Stevens 21-17
Shiner beat Marlow-Thomas 21-10
Doubles Durham II won 11-15,15-11,15-2
Plate Final Bristol beat Edinburgh 2-1
S Shenkman beat Cox 21-6
Raeside beat Barstow 21-18
Doubles Bristol won 21-8
Main Final Oxford beat Durham II
2-1 Portz beat Britton 15-4,15-5
Marlow-Thomas beat Beale 15-5,15-8
Doubles Oxford won 15-8,15-8
