Club Championships Finals Day

Sunday 18th September 2022

The club’s 2022 championships finals day was a perfect demonstration of everything that is good about what is well known as one of the friendliest clubs in Bucks.

The day was perfect for tennis with a pleasant temperature and lots of sunshine.  It was great to see the friendly nature of our club shown by the attendance of members and their families, from the very young, our future members to those whose glory days have sadly past, enjoying the setting, atmosphere, competition, and of course the bar and catering.

In line with the weather, we were treated to a wonderful display of competitive tennis, all played in the best possible spirit of friendly rivalry. It was an example to us all, and brought to mind the famous Rudyard Kipling quote “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same” which is seen by tennis players wait to go onto Centre Court for a Wimbledon final.

The Men’s Singles featured the two Adam’s, Adam Chambers and Adam Bleakley who was last year’s runner-up. Both players showed a level of accuracy and consistency that made the match a pleasure to watch.  Adam Chambers started the better taking the first set 6-2, however, Adam Bleakley then found his rhythm and took the next two sets 6-1, 6-1.

The ladies’ singles event between Millie Salloux and Emily Koya, again last year’s runner-up to Millie’s sister Chloe, was a case of youthful potential versus more seasoned experience.  On this occasion the strategies employed by Emily proved effective in countering Millie’s aggression and weight of shot, with Emily winning in two sets, 6-2, 6-3.

With an early morning start, the Ladies Vets singles saw Yanjie Wang take on Viv Windsor.  After a close first set, Yanjie asserted her dominance with a 6-4, 6-0 victory to retain her title.

The Ladies’ Doubles pitted Sarah Skepper and Kelly Adams against Louise Dobby and Adrianna Wong.  This proved to be another hard-fought match with the outcome decided by a second set tie-breaker with Sarah and Kelly winning 6-4, 7-6.

Paul Vicary and many times champion Stuart Foster faced each other in both the Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles finals.  The Mixed was the first to be played in the morning and it turned out to be an epic struggle lasting over two hours.  Paul and his partner Emily Koya took the first set 7-5, to which Stuart, playing with Sarah Skepper, responded by winning the second 6—4.  The decider went all the way to a tie-breaker in which Paul and Emily triumphed giving them the title.

In the afternoon, last year’s winners Stuart and Matt Reid runners-up Paul and Adam Reid competed for the Men’s Doubles crown.  This was another hard- fought quality encounter but in the end Paul and Adam, through their blend of attacking tennis and stout defence, especially on break points, won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

The afternoon saw a three of winners of two main events, Paul Vicary and Emily Koya were two, as already mentioned, and the third was Jonathan Grant, winning both the Men’s Vets Doubles and the Vets Singles.  The first to be played was the Doubles where, partnering Paul Sweeney, they defeated last year’s champions Fergal Davern and John Bleakely 6-1, 6-1. 

The Vets Singles saw him once again face Fergal across the net.  This was a great game of aggressive tennis with a flow of winners from both players.  Fergal raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set but Jonathan dug in his heels and won the next 5 games taking the set 7-5.  The second set proved even closer but eventually Jonathan took the tie-breaker to retain the title.

Last year’s Champions, husband and wife team of Geoff and Alison Williams took on Simon Reynolds and Donna Cuplan in the Vets Mixed Doubles final and as with a number of other events after a close first set, Geoff and Alison took control and won the match 6-4, 6-1.

The Ladies Vets Doubles saw two new pairs from last year and in yet another very close match, Emily McCarter and Donna Cuplan took an attacking approach to achieve a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Yanjie Wang and Julie Moan.

So, to the final event, the 60+ Men’s Singles, where Jerzy Stera took his first title at the club with a convincing victory over the defending champion Russell Cooper.

The inclusive nature of the club was further demonstrated by the sharp rise in the level of participation in the consolation events this year.  These give the opportunity to progress further in the tournament to a broad cross section of members and it was really pleasing to see that all but one of these events were completed on finals day

Before the tournament awards Anne Dewick presented the Keith Dewick Sportsmanship Award which for the first time was given to a junior Christian Grant, who, at only 15, is an absolute pleasure to play against (and with too), is positive and polite, and a role model for all other teenage and adult tennis players!

The Trophies were presented by our Tennis Chairman Wayne Stretch, after which he thanked Alison for all the time and effort she had put in, without which there would be no tournament.  This tribute is particularly apt as, after 9 years she is handing over the reins to a new team.

Note for the members. If you want a copy of any of the photographs, just email me at phc@talk21.com and I will send them to you.

 

Results 2022

Event Winners  Runners Up
Men’s Open Singles Final Adam Bleakley Adam Chambers
Ladies Open Singles Final Emily Koya Millie Salloux
Men’s Open Doubles Final Paul Vicary & Adam Reid Stuart Foster & Matt Reid
Ladies Open Doubles Final Kelly Adams & Sarah Skepper Louise Dobby & Adrianna Wong
Mixed Open Doubles Final Paul Vicary & Emily Koya Stuart Foster & Sarah Skepper
Men’s Vets Singles Final Jonathan Grant Fergal Davern
Men’s over 60 singles Jerzy Stera Russell Cooper
Ladies Vets Singles Final Yanjie Wang Viv Windsor
Men’s Vets Doubles Final Jonathan Grant & Paul Sweeney John Bleakley & Fergal Davern
Ladies Vets Doubles Final Donna Culpan & Emily McCarter Yanjie Wang & Julie Moan
Mixed Vets Doubles Final Alison Williams & Geoff Williams Donna Culpan & Simon Reynolds
 

Consolation Events

Men’s Open Singles Plate Christian Grant Howie Mantell
Men’s Open Doubles Final Subir Desai & Tom Tapper Roy Cox & Ed Rix
Ladies Open Doubles Final Alison Williams & Caroline Adams Anna Buylova & Marina Theodoraki
Mixed Open Doubles Final Julie Pledge & Subir Desai Yanjie Wang & Oliver Osborne
Men’s Vets Singles Final Alec Spooner Roy Cox
Ladies Vets Singles Final n/a
Men’s Vets Doubles Final Colin Slater & Peter Adams Shaun Ahearn & Russell Cooper
Ladies Vets Doubles Final Pat Lau & Anna Buylova Susan Harrison & Aleksandra Rohrt
Mixed Vets Doubles Final Kathy Hamill & Rob Chapman Lisa Reid & Mark Raine

 

Album of all the photos can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/196590474@N07/9t26UZge8G