tennis Fixture

World Overs Team and Individual Events 2012

TEAM

On 17^th January, at the RMTC in Melbourne, the GB teams for the Cockram Trophy (over 50) and Bostwick Cup (over 60) triumphed!

Cockram Trophy David Watson lead the Cockram team to a 4-1 win.

The GB Cockram Trophy team travelled knowing that they would have a tough fight to retain the Trophy won in London in 2010. The Australians are always great competitors and doubly so at home. Although most of the team expected to have a 2 point advantage over their Australian opponents they knew this would be readily nullified by the home court advantage. This was going to be a tight one!

The opening match saw Mark Nicholls and David Watson take on the experienced doubles pair of Jon Hamer and David Parker. On handicap, this looked to be a banker for the poms. The first set started evenly but GB took the crucial 7th game and moved smoothly to a comfortable 6/3 first set. They also opened up a 4-2 lead in the second, but the Australians pulled it back level at 5-5 before GB finally closed out an edgy set 6/5 to take the first match.

Mark Drysdale stepped up at third singles to try to extend the lead; his opponent, Graeme Bradfield, a highly experienced and savvy 15 handicapper with plenty of past form. Drysdale moved around the court in sublime fashion never raising a sweat or looking ruffled. The Australians understandably called for a drugs test and a certified birth certificate as Mark moved to a comfortable 6/4, 6/2 win.

The third leg was always going to be a tough one against Mike Happell, a proven scratch player playing on his home court. William Maltby the GB number 1 put up a stout fight but went down 6/1, 6/0. GB now had to win one of the last two!

John Prenn was next up against Richard Hince. The handicaps were close and Richard, an unorthodox player with baseball origins, was not going to be an easy opponent. John took the first set 6-2 looking confident. Hince rallied, volleying away any hard forces with confidence. Although John hauled his way back from 5-2 down in the second set, it ultimately went to Hince 6/5. Prenn called for a dry shirt and we settled in for a nail biter. Despite a tight start, John resumed his confident form of the first set and Hince finally started to look ruffled. With the gallery still on edge Prenn progressed smoothly to take the third set 6/3, and with it the Trophy.

It was just left to the final pairing of the experienced Paul Weaver and the dynamic Andrew Petrie to round off the match against Nick Carr and Andrew Gould. They followed the script admirably and closed out a comfortable win 6/4, 6/4. The Trophy was played in a delightful spirit by both teams and the Australians were charming and gracious hosts providing generous hospitality to our team and partners. Our thanks also to reserve Fred Satow for travelling so far and supporting the team so nobly. David Watson

Bostwick Cup Bernard Weatherill closed out a 3-2 win with a fine victory in the last doubles (partnered by Mick Dean).

1st Doubles Alan Fine and David Brazier lost to Tim Hurburg and Ted Cockram 1/6, 3/6

3rd Doubles Jill Newby and Jamie Bebb beat Graeme Richardson and Henry Turnbull 6/1, 6/1

1st Singles Philip Shaw-Hamilton beat Wayne Spring 6/3, 2/6, 6/2 in a high quality thriller. A good result, which basically secured the win for GB

2nd Singles Richard Moore lost very gallantly to Philip Barker 5/6, 6/3, 3/6

2nd Doubles Mick Dean and Bernard Weatherill beat Graeme Holloway and John Faull 6/1, 6/3 to secure a 3-2 victory. Bernard Weatherill

The Danby team completed the event by beating Australia 2-1 in a closely contested match on 18^th January 2012.

David Brazier & Robin Barlow lost to Paul Wheeler & Mike Garnett 2-6,4-6

Paul Danby & Willie Wilks beat Tony Poolman & Tony Cockram 6-5, 6-3

Tony Crook & Eric Nutter beat James Guest & David Wenzil 6-4, 6-3

The match was played the day after the UK Cockram and Bostwick teams had won their matches against Australia, so there was an added pressure alongside the good wishes from our compatriots. Perhaps that was reflected in the first rubber, with Brazier and Barlow being tentative and reluctant to attack. Wheeler and Garnett won the first set by making very few unforced errors. The second set was more closely contested but volleying errors by the UK pair at critical points proved fatal. Mike Garnett stood out as the player who rose to the occasion.

Half-an-hour into the second rubber, things were looking grim with Tony Crook and Eric Nutter behind 1-4. However, showing great match temperament the UK pair proceeded to win the next 9 games, with Crook as sweeper showing amazing athleticism for an over-70 and Nutter solidly volleying everything thrown at him. The match brought out the very best in both players and a great win was recorded to set up the final rubber as the decider.

On paper, the two pairs looked evenly matched and so it proved on court. The standard of play was high throughout and the 11th game of the first set could have gone either way, but crucially Paul Danby and Willie Wilks showed the greater ability to force to the dedans. In the second set, both Australians started serving better, especially Tony Poolman with his boomerang, resulting in the set being in the balance at 3-3.

Then Willie Wilks produced some outstanding nerveless play including some solid volleying to clinch the rubber and the overall match. The second and third pairs are to be congratulated on playing tennis to a very high standard. There was a good team spirit across the whole squad and it was a pleasure and honour to be captain. Robin Barlow

INDIVIDUAL

50s Doubles: Happell & Prenn bt Maltby & Nicholls 6/3 6/5

50s Singles: Happell bt Drysdale 6/2 6/3

55s Doubles: Prenn & Nicholls bt Weaver & Dean 6/3 6/2

55s Singles: Prenn bt Hince 6/1 6/5

60s Doubles: Weaver & Shaw-Hamilton bt Spring & Hurburgh 6/4 6/4

60s Singles: Shaw-Hamilton bt Spring 6/5 6/4

65s Doubles: Holloway & Faull bt Danby & Wilks 4/6 6/1 6/4

65s Singles: Holloway bt Hurburgh 6/2 6/5

70s Doubles: Brazier & Barlow bt Wheeler & Garnett 6/2 6/1

70s Singles: Barlow bt Wheeler 6/4 6/2

75s Doubles: Wheeler & Malseed bt Crook & Guest 6/1 5/6 6/0

75s Singles: Wheeler bt Crook 5/6 6/4 6/3