The annual club tournament finished at the weekend, with some closely fought finals. Thanks to all those who played, came to watch and especially to Dean Zarins and Gary van der Byl who managed all the complexities of scheduling over the 8 days. Thanks also to Jenny Howse for organising the catering, all those who made all the lovely cakes and everyone who helped out in the kitchen/on the bar, ensuring food/drink was available throughout.

Results are –

Men’s Singles – Winner Jack Minski, Finalist Ben Minski

Men’s Doubles – Winners Ben/Jack Minski, Finalists Gordon Armstrong/Hussein Khan

Ladies’ Doubles – Winners Chloe B/Tabitha Homes (round robin)

Mixed Doubles – Winners Tabitha Holmes/Jack Minski,  Finalists Jane Cleaver/Hussein Khan

Men’s 40+ Doubles – Winners Martin Burch/Simon Leavy, Finalists Paul Heighton -Towers /Mike Minski

Ladies’ 40+ Doubles – Winners Jacquie Greenwood/Sue Platt (round robin)

Mixed 40+ Doubles – Winners Jenny Howse/Gary van der Byl, Finalists Jayne Stephenson/Paul Heighton Towers

Men’s Vets Singles – Winner Gary van der Byl, Finalist Dean Zarins

Men’s 60+ Singles –  Winner Bob Brown, Finalist George Milne

Men’s 60+ Doubles – Winners Paul Heighton Towers/Derek Buchanan, Finalists Gary van der Byl/Andy Binks

Men’s Singles Consolation Winner – Jack B, Finalist Hussein Patel

Men’s Doubles Consolation TBC

Mixed Doubles Consolation – Winners Sue Platt/Andy Binks, Finalists Sachin/Shivani C

Men’s 40+ Singles  Consolation – Winner Sanjiv Shah, Finalist Sherif Abdalla Darwish

Men’s  40+ Doubles Consolation – Winners Andy Binks/Joe Green, Finalists Harish Chauhan/Jon Pratt

Mixed 40+ Doubles Consolation Winners Jackie Rossa/Andy Smith, Finalists Veena Lakhlani/Jon Pratt

The Howse Fair Play Cup was awarded to Dean Zarins.

We also ran a Parent/10 U child tournament on Finals Sunday, with 10 pairs taking part and some great tennis. Congratulations to winners Ahmed and Ibrahim and finalists Parag and Veer.

Looking ahead, weekday evening tennis now returns to the normal court allocation. At weekends we have senior winter league matches with four teams in total (two pairs per team). We are still needing one men’s captain (any offers ??). Thanks to Philip Want for taking on the other team.

Junior winter league matches also run from late September to Christmas and we have a record number of teams entered, including four teams of four players at 8&U which has never happened before. We hope they all have a great match season.

Lastly,  a reminder that the club’s 2024 AGM will take place on Wednesday 30th October at 7.30pm in the clubhouse. Accounts and all other AGM documentation will be sent out nearer the time.

Best wishes

OGTC