Perran Tennis Club Championships 2014
Perran Tennis Club Championships
Over the course of two Saturdays Perran Tennis hosted the annual Club Championships. The first Saturday saw the juniors take to the courts. This year saw the inclusion of a red ball 8 and under section to compliment the established 10 and under and under 16 events.
Junior Tennis
Each event began with a round robin event to produce semi finalists and finalists. The under 16 girls and the 10 and under boys proved to be the strongest events entry wise.
The girls 8 and under trophy was not presented as there were no entries, but next year the club will have entries. Not so in the boys 8 and under where the standard of play was exceptionally high. Matthew Upton took the trophy with close win over Archie Mallet 10.7 10.7.
The girls 10 and under suffered late withdrawals – Holly Jennings (holder) with a dislocated toe and Jennifer Upton with a broken arm. However the final was very exciting seeing the Hawken sisters play each other. Lucinda came through to take the title over her sister Lydia by 4 games to love. The boys 10 and under saw Archie Mallet and Matthew Upton take to the court once again. Again the match was extremely close. Archie eventually triumphed by 2 games to love.
In the 16’s it was the holder’s day. Amani retained the girls title with a 6.3 win over 11 year old Laura James. Oliver Walker also retained the boy’s trophy by a win over Harry Lampier by a score of 6.2. Oliver and Amani have now held their respective titles for three years running.
Perran Tennis wishes to thanks the many parents who assisted in umpiring etc with the juniors.
Senior Tennis
This Saturday is was the turn of the adults to compete for the senior titles. Two junior boys – Harry Lampier and Oliver Walker also entered. Twelve men and six ladies played five matches in the round-robin phase. This enabled all participants to play a total of twenty five games each. This helped to promote the philosophy of the club in being inclusive to all.
In the men’s group one a clear winner was produced to progress through to the semi-final. James Betty accumulated an impressive 20 game total. However the other place was not clear cut, both Oliver Walker and Chris Dennis tied with 16 games each. A tie-break was then played to decide the other semi-finalist; Oliver came through by a margin of 7.0.
Group two saw previous finalist Stephen Hawken with 21 games and previous champion Sancos Boland with 18 games also progress through to the semi-finals.
James Betty despatched Sancos Boland 3 games to 1. The other semi final was not as clear cut. Oliver Walker took a 2.0 lead only for Stephen Hawken to level to 2.2. A tiebreak then was played out seeing Oliver through to the final by a margin of 7.4.
The ladies final saw the holder Jacqui Hancock take on new club member Alison Legg. In a keenly fought final Jacqui just proved a little too consistent for Alison, eventually taking the title for the third year running by 6 games to 2.
Unusually the men’s final saw up and coming junior Oliver Walker take on the men’s captain and holder James Betty. The standard of tennis was at a high level throughout the match with some great baseline exchanges. James produced some great serves, whilst Oliver intelligently worked his opponent around the court. Oliver eventually emerged as a well deserved winner by a margin of 6.1.
The trophies and runners-up medals were presented by Club Chairmen Peter Lampier as the Club President Dave Pell was on holiday. Peter finished the presentation by saying a few words thanking everyone who played and assisted in the background. A special mention went to the treasurer Alison Luck for providing an exceptionally well received tea and to club member Frances Drury for taking charge of the refreshments throughout the afternoon.
The next major event which will precede the next season grand opening will a mixed doubles tournament to open the 215/16 season.