Club Championships 2009

31st August to 19th September

Saturday was finals days in the Club Championships and we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day! We kicked off with the Ladies Singles final, Ann Darragh and Lisa Wallace stepped on to the court shortly after 2.00pm ready for battle. Lisa was a heavy favourite but Ann was determined to do herself justice. It was a competitive match with some good rallies and Lisa ran out the winner 6/2 6/3. It’s her second title and she’s gunning for the hat trick next year.

The Mens Singles was between Tim Blomley and Stephen Strickland. Stephen put up a valiant effort but couldn’t break the dominance of Tim’s serve which despite his sore shoulder was bending and swerving all over the place!! Tim won 6/3 6/1 regaining his title for 2009 have missed last years competition.

The Ladies Doubles was one of the most highly anticipated events of the day. Ann Darragh and Alison Nesbitt were up against last years Champions and the number one seeds, Lisa and Lynda Wallace. Ann and Alison were a little overwhelmed by the occasion in the first set losing it in quick time 6/1. However, once the crowd started to get behind them, Ann and Alison seemed to rally. They played some excellent tennis and had a chance to take the match into a third set when they were 5/3 up. As many of you will know, it’s not always easy to close sets out and the Wallaces showed why they’re champions and took the second set to a tiebreak, winning it 7:2. That made it three in a row for the Wallaces. Who will challenge them in 2010?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohtSxc3-0bQ[/youtube]

The Mens Doubles final featured Tim Blomley and Mark Mullan who were playing James Mavitty and Gilbert Nesbitt. It was another entertaining encounter and there were some great rallies although the match was nearly spoiled by a controversial line call in the second set. The crowd were sure that the ball was wide but Tim was not so sure. The video replays were inconclusive but Tim was able to put the call behind him and he and Mark won 6/3 6/2.

The last match of the day was the Mixed Doubles final. In a true David and Goliath encounter Edward Robinson and Joanne McNaney took on Lisa Wallace and James Mavitty. Even with a handicap of -40 on every game Lisa and James raced to early lead and took the first set 6/1. Edward and Joanne did their best to make a comeback in the second but eventually succumbed to the monster hitting of James and Lisa 6/3.

So another Club Championships has come to a successful end. Thank-you to everyone who entered the tournament, to the Committee for sanctioning the tournament and to all the other Club members who didn’t play but gave up court time to allow matches to be played. Pictures and video from finals day will be available soon.

If you would like to get involved with running the event next year or have any feedback you’d like to make please speak to the Committee or email me with your thoughts. Now, time to get into training for next year…