* Marlborough Mixed Doubles 2024

With 14 pairs entered we had a fantastic draw with four groups starting the day’s play.

It was great to see lots of Old Marlburians alongside current pupils supporting the tournament, several players competing for the first time, and lots of ladies participating, especially those coming through from the Queen’s Club Sunday sessions.

The group stages were first to 25 with lots of close games and some being called on time grounds. Following on from this we had some very close quarter finals, all a very high standard of rackets. Eve and Simon Shenkman narrowly defeated Georgie Willis and Valla Scott-Geddes on time 22-20, the two Taylor pairings both advanced in style in their respective quarters (Will Taylor and Amelia Drayson and Theo Taylor and Tara Lumley), and the hard-hitting Sweet twins continued their strong run through the competition with a win.

In the semi finals, Cesca and Willem Sweet showed great consistency defeating the two forehands of Will and Amelia 2-0. Theo Taylor and Tara Lumley brought excellent serving and smooth elegance to court one, defeating Eve and Simon Shenkman with a particularly close second game.

The final was then set: Cesca and Willem Sweet vs Theo Taylor and Tara Lumley. This was a closely contested match with the first game going to 13-13. In the end Tara and Theo came through to win.

Alongside the main competition we ran a Plate with plenty of hotly contested 10 minute matches! Alex Reyner, who has come through the Sunday ladies sessions, and Oskar Denby, who hasn’t played since school, came out on top to take the Plate title. Congratulations to both.

There was a great buzz all day at the tournament, with all matches played in good spirit. A massive thank you to Marlborough College for hosting, to Rob Horn for marking and organising, Theo Taylor and Eve Shenkman for co-organising, and to the T&RA for their continued support of the mixed game. Special mentions go to Ruth Burlington (Eve’s mum) who provided a trio of baked goods which were greatly enjoyed by all, the Sweet’s family dog who was a keen observer in the gallery, and Rob Wakeley who came along to support some of his former pupils.

Eve Shenkman