Internal Club Competition
Collins and Shipley Combine to Win Doubles Event
2 May 2012 - Report by Alan Shipley
A number of HTTC players got together at Greenway recently to enjoy a club doubles competition There were 10 players entered. Entry was as an individual with the organiser pairing off the players thus:
Rory Scott/Eve Alexander
Mark Collins/Alan Shipley
Mark Weston/Colin Jones
Alex Morrison/Graham Beaney
Matt van Yperen/Graham Carter.
Four of the ten games went the full distance of five sets. Shipley and Collins battled well beating Carter and van Yperen 11-9 in the fifth and Morrison and Beaney 11-3 in the final set. Three of Morrison and Beaney’s games went to the deciding set. They edged out Carter and van Yperen 11-9 but lost to Weston and Jones 11-3.
The winners of the event were Collins and Shipley who combined well to win all four of their games. Weston and Jones were second.
Horsham Teams Extend Their Season at Greenway
Reports by organiser Alan Shipley
Thursday 3rd March 2011
The third and final round took place on 03/03. F beat H team 8-2 but this was not a true reflection of the match. 7 of the games went to 5 sets and only Barry Cheer’s defeat of Bob Rhodes failed to make the 4th set. Mark Weston won all three for F and Piers Van-Mol picked up 2 for H. Therefore, Alan Shipley & Barry won 2 each & James Arnold & Bob won none.
Bob was 10-8 up against Mark in the final set but Mark managed to claw back. The best turnabout though was by Piers playing against Alan. Piers lost the first 13 points but battled back to win 11-8 in the fifth. His smile was very broad at the end of that one! James battled hard but in the end his inexperience (and not very generous handicap!) went against him. He showed great temperament in winning the first set 17-15 against Alan.
In the other game G beat I 7-3. Matt Van Yperen won all 3 with Colin Holmwood and James Van Yperen taking 2 each. In reply Graeme Selwyn and Liam Cuffe won 1 each. Graham and Colin were involved in a titanic struggle which Graeme edged 14-12 in the fifth. The second set was won 18-16 by Colin who has enjoyed his matches back in the sport. Eve Alexander battled hard but was edged out by Colin 11-9 in the fifth.
Overall the 3 games were thoroughly enjoyed by all who participated and thanks to Rory for all his help.
Thursday 24th February
The second round was played on 24/2. 2 games again although the H team only had 3 players. Bob Rhodes was waiting for Piers Van-Mol to pick him up from his house as planned, but Piers was not playing & forgot to tell Bob, so Bob waited an hour and a half before deciding Piers wasn’t coming!
In I (Davide Brini, Liam Cuffe & Graeme Selwyn) v H the youth of Freddy Goodall and James Arnold held their senior opponents to a 5-5 draw. Freddy was the star with 3 wins, with Liam winning one for I, meaning 2 wins for James & none for Davide or Graeme. The doubles win for I clawed a defeat back to a draw. Not surprising as James & Freddy have basically never played doubles before.
F (Alan Shipley, Mark Weston & Martin Hoad) beat G (Barry Cheer, Matt Van Yperen & Colin Holmwood) 8-2 although this did not reflect the closeness of the match. Barry was in fine form for G winning two matches in 5 although losing to undefeated Alan in the fifth. Barry pulled back from 2-0 down to beat Martin Hoad. Barry and Matt were 2 sets up in the doubles but allowed Alan and Mark to level at 2-2. Barry and Matt were 10-6 up in the final set but were caught on the line by Alan and Mark. So two apiece for Mark & Martin, but Matt and Colin were unlucky not to win a game.
Thursday 17th February
As K1 season finished in early winter I decided to hold a club competition on a handicap basis. This went well the first week although I will have to tweak a couple of the handicaps.
Two matches were played. F team represented by Mark Weston, Martin Hoad and Erik Van Mol. They were up against I team – Eve Alexander, Graeme Selwyn and Davide Brini. Davide was the star of the show winning all of his games as well as the doubles with Graeme. Eve was unlucky to lose 3 very close matches. 4 of the games went to 5 sets and another 4 went to 4. A good close match ended 6-6 to F team.
In the other game G (Matt Van Yperen, Alan Shipley and Colin Holmwood) played H (James Arnold, Piers Van Mol and Bob Rhodes) and squeezed in 6-4. Colin is making a return to the sport after 17 years absence. After a sluggish start he excelled in the doubles and also won 2 singles. James also won two including against a lethargic (he had just walked 8.5 miles!) Alan. James just does not give up.
An enjoyable evening for all.
