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TENNIS

All the up-to-date news from Boston Tennis Club

May 2006

News for week ending Sunday May 28

Matches over the weekend of May 27 and 28 brought mixed results. In the KIA National Club League the men lost 2-4. Sam Kemp, Mark Thompson, Andrew Cook and Chris Herbert were level at the conclusion of the singles but lost both doubles.

For the men’s third team it was a 5-4 win against Bourne second team. Even the final 5-4 result does not do justice to the closeness of the match. At 2-4 down going in to the last round the team of John Gibson, John Fisher, Ray Frankish, Clive Green, Callum Simmons and Michael Audus brought about an impressive turnabout.

With two rubbers left on court both went to a third set tie-break. John Gibson and John Fisher won their rubber 10-8 in the third just before Michael and Callum won their crucial rubber 13-11.

For the fifth team it was more clear cut in their encounter with Grantham second team. Apart from one rubber won by the father and son combination of Michael and James Sweeney, it was a 1-8 defeat for the team that included Peter Elphick, Charles Cottrell, Sev Smura and Chris Cook.

The ladies’ second team won their first match of the season in the KIA NCL county division. It was a 3-2 result for Joanna Purkiss, Faye Button, Rachel Atkinson and Mary Smura. The club’s men’s over-45 team — Mike Burnett, John Gibson, John Fisher and Clive Green — lost out to Doncaster in the national veterans knockout competition.

In the Boston and District Mixed League it was 5-4 for Boston Mixed 2 against Horncastle. The team was Joan Beale, Callum Simmons, Ros Keane, Peter Elphick, Jenny Grant and Chris Beale.

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The new sponsor of the Boston Tennis Club Singles League is the Bombay Brasserie, whose proprietor was on hand to present the trophies to winners and runners-up at the presentation evening held at the club during the week. The overall winner of the main singles league was Callum Simmons and Will Mason was the runner-up. The winning lady was Danielle Frankish and the most improved players were Raj Varma and Andrea Jackson. In the junior singles league Ben Mills collected the winner’s trophy and Carl Robinson was the runner-up. Kathie Dawson was awarded the trophy for the winning girl. Madeline Verdegaal and Oliver Harrod won the most improved player categories. The third singles league that runs throughout the winter months is the Daytime Singles League. Jeremy George-Jones won the winner’s trophy and Joan Beale was the winning lady. The trophy for the most consistent player in this league went to Helen Motson.

News for week ending Sunday May 21

In the KIA National Club League, Boston Tennis Club’s men’s third team had a close match against Eastgate. Callum Simmons, Michael Emery, Ray Frankish and Michael Audis played for the third team. There were wins for Callum and Ray in the singles round and for Michael Emery and Callum in the doubles. At 3-3 a tie-break shoot-out was played to decide the match. Boston lost 0-3.

An earlier match between Boston Ladies’ fifth team and Pilgrim Tennis Club also produced a close result. The team for Boston Tennis Club was Emma Cook, Trisha Sweeney, Helen Motson, Lesley Addy, Jane Hindmarch and Nicole Woodward. The score stood at 4-4 with the position in the one match left on court at one set all. The championship tie-break went to 11-9 in Pilgrim’s favour.

Without the luxury of indoor courts, Boston 3 mixed team braved the rain to play last Wednesday evening at Horncastle. Ray Frankish, Helen Cook, George Read, Emma Cook, Sushil Kumar and Trisha Sweeney played two rounds through heavy rain and with a 6-0 result achieved, wisely abandoned the final round.

The Boston 2 mixed team had indoor fall-back in its fixture against Heckington. Frances Keane, Ross Wilding, Diane Sharpe, Rod Horne, Ros Kearne and Peter Elphick playing for Boston Tennis Club won 8-1 in their first mixed fixture of the summer.

Elsewhere, it has been make or break time for three of the Boston Tennis Club junior teams in the KIA Junior National Club League. The results of the matches played at the weekend determined whether these teams progressed one step further towards winning the Lincolnshire Premier Division and going forward in to the Regional knockout rounds.

The girls 12-and-under team played the county semi-final against Grange Park. A 4-0 win for the team of Kathie Dawson, Elizabeth Hall and Sophie Hawkesworth puts them in to the county final and only one match away from the regional rounds.

The boys 12-and-under team of Lewis Fisher, Carl Robinson and James Niedermeier won two matches. But despite a 4-0 win over Grange Park and a 3-1 result against Grantham, the disadvantage of an earlier defeat at the hands of Tennis Buddies could not be made good.

Similarly, the boys under-14s team — with a history of two league wins — lost out to David Lloyd Burton Waters. The team of Andrei Clarke, Mikey Housby and Chris Sweeney was beaten 3-1 by the Lincoln team.

Any team that has played a match over the last 10 days will be reflecting that it has been an achievement to dodge the showers. The men’s sixth team moved inside for the match with Horncastle. Mike Sweeney, Tony Beswick, Kevin Hawkesworth, Chris Sweeney, George Dann and George Read had a 6-3 result making it their second win of the season.

News for week ending Sunday May 14

Boston Tennis Club’s representative to go forward to the county stage of the Road to Wimbledon competition is Andrei Clark. The event is held in clubs and schools throughout the country with each venue holding a tournament for players under 14-years-old.

The winners move on to a county final from which each victor will go to Wimbledon shortly after the main Wimbledon fortnight to play in a national tournament. With such an incentive, competition was keen. The tournament has been running for almost two weeks but ultimately Andrei was a clear winner. Carl Robinson was the runner-up, having reached the final by overcoming James Niedermeier in the semi-final.

There was also a good entry for the girls’ tournament. The weather caused disruption to matches with rain forcing postponements. The girls’ event has yet to reach the final stage. Ashleigh Frankish is the first finalist to appear, coming through her semi-final against Kathie Dawson. In the other half of the draw Ailsa Linnell and Andrea Jackson are due to play off for the remaining slot.

In the KIA NCL, the ladies had a welcome win against the Radlett Club, Hertfordshire. The team of Samantha Vickers, Danielle Frankish. Joanna Purkiss and Rachel Atkinson was without many of the regulars for this away fixture. It was a relief to find that after the singles round the team was actually even with the opposition at two rubbers all. It grew more exciting when the score stood at three all with the doubles rubbers being shared. In this situation a tie-break shoot-out decided the winning team. The ladies rose to the occasion and won this to gain the advantage.

The glorious summer weather accompanied the first week of matches in this year’s Boston and District Mixed League. Boston’s first mixed team got off to an impressive start with a 9-0 against Alford. The team was Simon Bush and Ashleigh Frankish, James Geelhoed and Andrew Jackson, Thomas Brooks and Danielle Frankish.

The Boston Tennis Club closed championships 2006 sponsored by Chattertons will begin on Bank Holiday Monday. The first event played is the Chattertons mixed doubles that will be held on May 29. Players interested in taking part should see the notice-board for details. Following on from the mixed doubles, the senior and junior singles will begin on June 17 with all finals taking place on the weekend of June 24 and 25.

News for week ending Sunday May 7

The annual golf and tennis day held jointly by Boston Tennis Club and Kirton Holme Golf Club was as popular as ever this year. Thirty-two players took part in this double event when golf is played during the morning and tennis during the afternoon.

After the usual Texas Scramble format played at Kirton Holme Golf club, the tennis played at Boston Tennis Club followed lunch. The winning team emerged after three rounds of doubles had been played. Gloria Bursnell, Chris Paige, Sam Kemp and Jacob Thomas were the members of this team. Dennis Ellis, the organiser looks forward to next year and thanks the staff at Kirton Holme and Tony and Linda Beswick at Boston Tennis Club for their excellent hospitality.

It is near the beginning of the season for all teams. And with some of the divisions in the Lincolnshire Doubles League bigger than in previous years, there is scope to make good any early losses.

The men’s fourth team was disappointed to lose out to Bourne second team. Geoff Short, Michael Audus, John Fisher, Michael Emery, Chris Cook and Peter Elphick narrowly lost 4-5 when the fifth rubber eluded the team. The men’s fifth team lost out to Spilsby men 0-9. Despite forcing the opposition to a third set on several occasions, the team of Peter Elphick and Michael Audus, Sushill Kumar, Charles Cottrell, Sam Cooper and George Read just missed out on winning any rubbers.

The ladies’ third team of Helen Cook, Rachel Brook, Rachell Atkinson, Ailsa Linnell, Sandra White and Hilary Calvert found the going tough at Grimsby, missing out to St James without winning a rubber.

The ladies’ fourth team was delighted with their best result of the season. A 5-4 result was the outcome of an enjoyable match at Spilsby. The team comprised Sue Dring, Victoria Posey, Denise Priestley, Ailsa Linnell, Annette Jakeman and Liz Hewitt. All three pairs lost out to Spilsby’s first pair but had sufficient success against the second and third pairs to earn the win.

The men’s third team was defeated 5-1 by Eastgate second in a KIA NCL match. John Fisher, Ray Frankish, Michael Audus and Matthew Gibson made too many errors against a very solid team.

The horizon was brighter for junior teams. In the Junior NCL the girls’ under-12 A team has won all their league matches to be the first Boston team to qualify for the county semi-final.

The girls under-12s B team lost 1-3 to Eastgate. The team was Charlotte Harnes-Knowles, Emily Hawkesworth and Beth Ridlington. The boys’ under-12s team of Lewis Fisher, Carl Robinson and James Niedermeier had a 4-0 win against Eastgate and a 0-4 loss to Tennis Buddies at the league stages. Therefore they will wait to see how the remaining league matches turn out.

It was a silver medal for two Boston teams playing in the mini-tennis leagues. The team of Jared Brook, Luke Cocks, James Craven, Will Holmes and Victoria Needham and Sophie Walsh collected their medals for their team effort against Skegness and Tennis Buddies. The team of Jared Book, Elliott Brown, Samuel Felipes, Ben Hutson, Emma Mastin and Sophie Walsh took the silver medal when they played Deeping and Bourne and Spalding.