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Chesham Bois Lawn Tennis Club Championships Finals
Saturday 11th July 2009
Simon 'Hooks' Singles Crown for the Third Year
With the entry of all the club's top players, this year's open singles final came down to a contest between the top two seeds Alec Allan and Simon Hooker the winner for the last two years. From the very start it was clear that Simon was on top form putting pressure on Alec with the power of his shots and moving his opponent around the court in what was a fierce baseline battle. Simon took the first set 6-3 and then the match was interrupted by a short but heavy downpour which delayed the match by some 30 minutes while the court was cleared and dried out. Any hope that Alec had that this would alter the course of the game proved unfounded and Simon continued as he had started and went to take the second set 6-2 and with it his third consecutive title.
The 45+ event was contested by last year's winner Geoff Green and runner-up Alec Spooner. Alec took the first set 6-3 and over came a 0-2 deficit to lead 5-2. Geoff fought back to 5 all and the set went to a tense tiebreaker that Alec won to take the match and the title.
The Under 16 and Under 14 Boys singles proved fruitful for Michael Turner who played aggressive yet consistent tennis to defeat two talented and determined opponents respectively defeating Will Rawlinson 6-1, 6-4 and a fast improving Matt Clark 6-2, 6-1.
In the U12 Matthew Sperling beat Greg Woodbury 6-1, 6-2 and Joe Roberts defeated Hugo Eaton-Hart 4-1, 4-1 for the Under 10 title.
Sadly as with many clubs the is limited interest from the ladies in the singles event and the winner in 2006 & 2007 Louise Dobby took the title with a walk over in the final. The two events that were contested were the Under 12 where Riona Woodbury took the event with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ellie Clark and the Under 10 where Nadine Eliasson beat Blaise Kelly 4-1, 4-1.
TIn the main doubles event Stuart Foster and Geoff Reynolds retained their crown proving too strong with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over William Ikome and the fast developing Christian Slater.
The 45+ event proved a real battle between the holders Alec Spooner and Peter Henry and the new pairing of Geoff Williams and Paul Gray. After losing the first set by 6-1 Geoff and Paul recovered from a 4-2 deficit in the second to take the set in the tie-breaker. The onset on heavy rain meant the match then had to be transferred to the Claytex courts where Geoff's aggressive net play brought victory to the challengers taking the final set 6-3.
Christian Slater now partnered with Luke Girling took the U16 title with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Sam Woodbury and Chris Gloyne, Michael Turner teamed up with Will Rawlinson in the U14's to take his third title of the day with the 6-3,6-2 defeat of Matt Clark and Matt Sperling, and Greg Woodbury and Chris Gurney had a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Ed Chaplin and Rohan Panya in the under 12 event.
Alison Williams and Caroline Adams successfully defended their 40+ doubles title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sharon Gurney and Lisa Woodbury but family pride was restored when Riona Woodbury and Charlotte Eaton-Hart won the U12 event with the 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kristin Adams and Katie Gillingwater.
The mixed doubles was yet another chapter in Stuart Foster's dominance of this event at Chesham Bois when, with his long-term partner Louise Dobby, he win this event for the 13th time in 14 years with the 6-1, 6-0 defeat of the husband and wife pairing of Geoff and Alison Williams. . In the only other mixed event the U12's Riona Woodbury won her third title when she teamed up with her brother Greg to beat Matt Sperling and Ellie Clark 6-2, 6-2
In line with the club's commitment to encouraging and developing juniors this year saw the inaugural Mini Tennis Championship. The Mini Orange event (9 & Under) was won by Nadine Eliasson with a 7-5, 7-6 tiebreaker victory over Edward Crowston and her younger sister Hannah kept it in the family beating William Hardman 10-8 in the Mini Red (8 & Under).
Despite a fairly dire forecast, the rain interruptions had little effect on players or the spectators and the finals were completed on schedule. Special thanks are due to Jane Freeman who provided lunches and teas, Simon Johnson for the club manager, the tournament organisers Jeremy Evans, Stuart Foster and Debbie Maurantonio (seniors) and Colin Slater (juniors), and the recently retired Tennis Chairman Mike Standing who presented the prizes.
Photographs.
- Finalists Group Photo
- Simon Hooker in action x 2
- Alec Allen in Action x 2
- Winners and Runners up in the Mini Tennis Competition Left to right: William Hardman, Nadine Eliasson, Hannah Eliasson and Edward Crowston
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