TAVISTOCK Tennis Club held the finals of its annual club tournaments last Saturday.
There were some entertaining and hard fought matches, notably the ladies? singles, ladies? doubles and mens? doubles, all of which went to three sets, and the boys? doubles.
There were some new faces, both runners-up and winners, and outstanding performances by Annie Jefferies, winning the ladies? singles, doubles and runner-up in the mixed, with junior Josh Brown winning two boys? singles events and runner-up in the doubles.
Tournament results ?men?s singles: Phil Harbottle beat Sean Jefferson 6-2, 6-1 in a match closer than the score depicts and mainly contested by ground strokes with long rallies, one of the few volleys being the winning shot. This is the fourth time Phil has won the title.
There was an exceptional men?s semi-final earlier in the week when Sean beat Terry Lanchberry 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 which took three hours to complete and was the longest match recorded in recent times.
Ladies? singles: Annie Jefferies beat Sue Whitman 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Sue, after losing the first set, came back strongly, winning the second, but faded in the third. This is the seventh time Annie has won the title.
Ladies? doubles: Annie Jefferies/Jane Colegate beat Kylie Martin/Gaynor Pollard 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the longest match of the day lasting 2 hours 5 minutes, where there were some hard fought rallies.
In the second set Kylie and Gaynor were love three down at one stage, pulling back to win it, but faded in the third.
Mens? doubles: Tim Wallis/Terry Lanchberry beat Mike Jefferies/Bernard Mowle 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) which swung to and fro with a high standard of play and the only match with a tie-break.
Mixed doubles (veterans): Jenny Robins/Terry Lanchberry beat Annie Jefferies/Steve Fletcher 6-4, 6-3, where Annie and Terry showed signs of feeling the strain from previous matches.
Juniors: played three weeks before. U13 (mixed), Philip Snell beat Rhys Dunford 4-1, played on the basis of the first to reach 4 games. U15 boys: Josh Brown beat Tom Bury 4-0. Played on the day: U15 girls: Sara Lucas beat Antonia Hudson 4-0. U18 boys: Josh Brown beat Ashley Rice 6-1, 6-2.
U18 boys? doubles: Ashley Rice/Jamie Osborne beat Josh Brown/Rhys Dunford 7-5, 6-1 after being 2-5 down in the first set. It is worthy of note that Rhys played exceptionally well as by far the youngest player at 10 years holding his own in the rallies. Junior player of the year award went to Josh Brown, boys? captain award to Ashley Rice and most improve player to Philip Webb.
President Norma Woodcock presented the trophies and the day was rounded off with a well attended barbecue in the evening organised by Viv and Mike Iles.
Re-arranged league matches: men?s C team drew 5-5 at home against Hill Lane. Peter Rogers/Bill Sparks v their 1st pair 6-1, 5-7, 4-6; v 2nd pair 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. Alan Bruce/Ashley Rice v their 1st pair 5-7, 2-6; v 2nd pair 6-2, 6-3.
E team lost 6-3 at home against Ivybridge E. Russell Rice/James Martin v their 1st pair 3-6, 7-5, 2-6; v 2nd pair 6-4, 7-5. Steve Fletcher/Mike Webb v their 1st pair 3-6, 2-6; v 2nd pair 3-6, 4-6.
Ladies? A team lost 3-6 at home against Plymstock. Tric Locker/Tric Mowle v their 1st pair 2-6, 3-6; v 2nd pair 6-3, 6-4. Annie Bruce/Jane Colegate v their 1st pair 1-6, 4-6; v 2nd pair 7-5, 5-7, 4-6.
Phil Harbottle and Bernard Mowle have received merit awards in the league for winning six consecutive matches together in Division 2 without dropping a set.