Seacourt Silver Racquet 2011
Feb 09, 2011 - Feb 13, 2011 Seacourt D Jones
*Seacourt Silver Racquet
Sponsored by Neptune Investment Management
The Silver Racquet got off to a flying start on Thursday with 13 players competing for 4 qualification places! Josh Dodgson eased into the first spot with a very commanding and dominant performance against Martin Higney (6.2 6.1).€ Louis Gordon, Assistant trainee pro at Seacourt, had a lucky escape against Paul Weaver, who had to retire with a pulled hamstring when he was one game away from taking the second qualification spot! Mark Mathias and Darren Long had the game of the day and thrilled the Seacourt faithful with a three setter which went 5/5 40/40 in the third! Mark found the winning shot to the grill to qualify. Last position went to John Lumley who survived a three setter with Constantine Bridgeman and then went on to beat KK in another thrilling match.
Main Event started 9am Friday morning with Josh Bainton taking on Josh Dodgson in a brilliant display of tennis. It was a perfect match to let the members and spectators know that they are in for four days of world class tennis. There were many notable performances over the tournament with Jon Dawes pressurising Conor Medlow in an epic three setter which went Conor€s way, 6,2 in the third! and another three setter against €Marc Seignuer, pushing Conor all the way but losing out again in the third. The best was the battle of old style versus new between Kevin Sheldon and Louis Gordon which had the Seacourt faithful on the edge of their seats especially as it went to three sets and inevitably 5 All forty all! What a rally, with both players getting into winning positions but Louis survived the match and then went on a rampage through the draw to reach the final! Which is remarkable when you realise that he entered the Silver Racquet playing off 15!! €The match that pulled all the members in was Rob Fahey against Josh Bainton! All the juniors turned up to watch Rob work his magic and they weren€t disappointed!
It was great to see two of Seacourts founder members sons, Ivan Snell and Luke Danby playing in the event and also playing very well. Seacourt welcomed back Ivan Snell who has been in the Real Tennis wilderness for too long, only to reach the Semi finals where he lost out to Conor 6.4 6.3 in a great match! The second semi final saw Luke Danby and Louis go toe to toe in an epic three setter. Louis raised his game and pressured Luke throughout the match and stole the final set 6.4 to reach the final.
An unprecedented amount of members and vistors turned up to watch the final and what a great final it was.€ Louis€ was remarkably free from fatigue from his 6 previous matches and as always Conor was fearless in his play which is a guaranteed combination for a spectacular final! Louis was nerveless and hitting the right shots at the right time and making full use of the receive 15 handicap. Despite Conor€s aggressive match play and tactics, Louis had the shots and the confidence to play them. 5 all in the first set saw Conor tentatively push the ball which Louis pounced on to get a great start and used that momentum to secure the first set! Second set went exactly the same way as the first! At 5 all, Louis blasted two straight dedans to go 40 love up and defended a short chase to win the title in true form!€ Louis has gone from strength to strength throughout his Silver racket journey! Watch this space as we will be definitely seeing more of him.
Seacourt would like to take the opportunity to thank Robin Geffen of Neptune Investment Management for their generous support and all the Seacourt members for their loyal support throughout the Silver Racquet.
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