tennis NEWS

Inter Schools Doubles Championships 2020

Under 13s - The Oratory

The day was (not surprisingly) carried by MCS, with Henry Henman – already handicap under 40 – ably supported by Finn Clarke. It was marred slightly by the unfortunate late withdrawal of Oratory Prep (injury the day before), but the contest was enjoyed throughout. Other places were contested with considerable vigour – especially that for runners-up in which Westbourne House just squeaked past Ludgrove with equal wins and equal games thanks only to their victory over them in the group. Both Westbourne 2 & 3 were clearly very respectable pairs and were not far off the standard – indeed Westbourne 3 beat their own 1st pair before losing to their 2nd pair! MCS beat Westbourne 1 comfortably in the final (6-1)

Under 16s - Radley College

An eagerly anticipated competition was somewhat marred by the illness (during the early stages) of one of the top-seeded Radley pair, leaving the groups slightly unbalanced. St Pauls (Rossiter/Livesey) eventually beat Winchester (Vallat/Nicholls) in the final despite qualifying from the same group, in which the result was the same. It was certainly a worthy final with some very fine junior tennis. Radley 2 (Duncan/Acheson-Gray) can feel somewhat unfortunate to have been in their group and might well have qualified in other circumstances. Wellington, Canford and Warwick all acquitted themselves with honour in early matches, especially the less experienced but clearly talented Warwick pair. I hope we see more of them.

Seniors - The Queen's Club

Report -A Grade

Wellington, with Freddie Bristowe starring, finally won their first ever Schools title. Supported manfully by Tommy Offer they beat Eton (Patrick Smart & George Genieser) 8/4 in a decisive final. Eton had squeaked past Radley (Ed Crowston/Max Wetton) the holders by 8/7 while Wellington beat their own 2nd pair. Radley 2 and Canford also contested the A grade competition in a tight initial group.

Report – B Grade

Extremely tight matches throughout characterized this B grade event at Queens. Radley 3 won their group with a splendid 6/5 over Eton while Seaford won the other group, just pipping Canford 2. The playoffs favoured Canford 4 over Radley 4 in an excellent 6/4 while Wellington 3 just lost to Canford 3 In the final stages, some excellent matches saw previous form rather overturned as the 2nd placed teams (Canford 2 and Eton 2) overcame group winners Radley 3 and Seaford in 2 superb semi-finals. Canford 2 finally triumphed over Eton in another fine match 6/3.

Under 14s - Wellington

Results

Semi finals

• Winchester bt Radley 1 6/1
• Canford 1 bt Wellington 1 6/3

Final

• Winchester bt Canford 1 6/4