National Inter Club Tournament
For the second year running an MMTCC team of three won the National Inter Club Tournament at the Club on It was an excellent weekend with 14 teams competing so there was play at MMTCC and Leamington from 8.30 till 9.00 pm on the Saturday. There were some superb matches and a great dedans atmosphere at both clubs!
Knockout matches on Sunday November 1st:
Singles:
- Rory Sutton (Queen’s I) bt John Murphy (Oxford) 6/5
- Hattie Hamilton (MMTCC I) bt Bob Compton (Leamington 1) 6/4
- Kevin Higgins (Leamington II) bt Martin Kellaway (Jesmond Dene) 6/3
- Martin Trees (MMTCC II) v Simon Constantine (Hardwick ) 6/3
Semi final:
- Sutton bt H. Hamilton 6/4
- Higgins v Trees 6/3
Final:
- Higgins v Sutton 6/5
Sadly for John Murphy his Saturday form of 4 victories deserted him against Rory Sutton who had scraped through as a ‘lucky loser’. Hattie Hamilton, who plays most of her Tennis at Queen’s volleyed well against Bob Compton, Kevin Higgins proved too strong for Martin Kellaway and Martin Trees for the second time beat the other’ lucky loser’ Simon Constantine. Hattie staged a comeback against Rory whom she had beaten in the box match but left herself too much to do. Martin Trees was below par in his game with Kevin who never let him settle. The final was a grand affair, nip and tuck all the way, Kevin the winner at 5/5 40 all!
Doubles:
- Freddie Dixon & Chris Kroeger (Queen’s 1) bt Andrew Hamilton & Philip Shaw-Hamilton (guest) (MCC) 6/0
- Matt Fattorini & Vaughan Hamilton (MMTCC I) bt Chris Griffith-Jones & James Blackburn (Queen’s II) 6/0
- John Lillie & Simon Gill (Leamington II) bt Tony Harrison & Simon Johnston (Jesmond Dene) 6/4
- John Devis & Chris Sampson (Leamington I) bt Nick Mills & Flo Holland (MMTCC II) 6/4
Semi final:
- Fattorini & Hamilton bt Kroeger & Dixon 6/3
- Devis & Sampson bt Lillie & Gill 6/4
Final:
- Devis & Sampson bt Fattorini & Hamilton V 6/2
The Chairman of MMTCC and the former club champion were bombed out by Queens I’s Chris Kroeger and Freddie Dixon in about 5 minutes flat! ‘Bomber’ Griffith-Jones and James Blackburn lasted a little longer but succumbed to the same score line. John Lillie and Simon Gill squeezed through against the plucky Jesmond pairing of Tony Harrison (fully recovered after a traffic jam at the dreaded Toll Bar island in Coventry!) and Simon Johnston and the Moreton Morell/Leamington clash went Leamington’s way with John Devis and Chris Sampson inching past Flo Holland and Nick Mills. The first semi-final was a splendid match with 15 year old Vaughan Hamilton taking the game by the scruff of the neck to place too much pressure on the Queen’s pair. In the all Leamington affair, Lillie and Gill staged a comeback until at 4/5 40 all Lillie sent an unguided missile which had it gone through one of the open windows might have landed in Scarborough! In the final, young Vaughan found the challenge of giving away so many points against doughty, hard hitting opponents a test too far but a comeback at 40/40 to go to 3/5 was halted when his experienced partner Mat Fattorini double faulted!
The team trophy was awarded to Moreton Morrell 1 thanks to Mat and Vaughan reaching the doubles final and Hattie Hamilton the singles semi final.
Many thanks are in order to Leamington for use of their court and to all the markers, Tom Granville, Ben Matthews, Simon Marshall and Nick Jury for some long stints. On the warmest November day on record the quality of Tennis was equally hot and thoroughly enjoyed by a full and involved dedans!