tennis Fixture

Inter Universities Tournament 2013

A total of 35 students from Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Middlesex and Exeter competed in the Pol Roger Inter-Universities Tournament, held in Cambridge from 29^th November – 1^st December.

The Handicap Singles with a healthy entry of 30 players produced some quality tennis and tight matches, culminating in a final between Peter Hanton of Durham and Nick Worsnop of Cambridge. In the end, Hanton’s power and consistency proved too much for Worsnop and he won 8-6.

In the first round of the Pol Roger Inter-universities Cup the handicap difference between the teams showed as Oxford beat Durham 3-0 and Cambridge 2 beat Middlesex 3-0. In the first of the semi-finals Cambridge 1 beat Oxford 3-0 showing superior knowledge of the home court. The second semi-final, between Cambridge 2 and Exeter, was the match of the tournament. In the first rubber a slightly worse for wear Roly Grant managed to beat James Firth, while in the second rubber Ben Boddington levelled the match at 1-1 by beating Cambridge fresher Jamie Giddins 10-5. The doubles was a fantastic match, with Firth (despite his higher handicap) more than holding his own with some exceptional volleying. In the end Exeter saved 2 match points at 7-6 down to win through 8-7. This may have been their un-doing as they lost both singles in the final to a slightly fresher Cambridge 1. Freddie Kalfayan beat James Firth 10-1, then Ed Kay beat Ben Boddington 10-6. As Cambridge had an unassailable lead the doubles became redundant. All in all the tournament was a great success, thanks must go to Pol Roger for their generous sponsorship and Scott Blaber whose mercurial organisation made sure the tournament ran on time. A special mention should also go to James Firth for increasing the membership of the Exeter University Club and bringing a team of 11.