LADIES DOUBLES Trophy 2008

Champions every one... The Bish Ladies out for the annual Club doubles trophy tournament LtoR: Lee, Linda, Sally, Andrene (defending Champ), Georgina, Julia, Jane and Helen A lovely sunny, but nevertheless, fresh Saturday morning greeted the Bish ladies as they turned out to contest our annual Ladies Doubles Championship. With eight of us, it was decided that everyone should partner everyone else and.... play everyone else - AND for 6 games per match. Was that possible? It was certainly going to be a marathon, so we got to work...

Good toes... naughty toes. Sally takes to her points to keep her and Linda in the frame against Jane & Andrene.

A big, big THANK YOU to Sally for turning out at the very last minute, to bring the numbers up to the magic 8. It made for a very enjoyable and free-flowing tournament. Thanks, Sal (we should have let you win it after that!)

Sally and Linda were unlucky to narrowly lose 2-4 to Jane & Andrene.

Shoulder high in the tramlines? No problem to Lee who simply volleys them away...

Lee is one of our Monday-night Coaching graduates and has made a valuable contribution to our teams this year.

Julia seemed impressed - quite lost for words. All those weeks of Monday-nights playing Tram Hermit have obviously paid dividends.

(Eh? I must have been away when they practiced that drill....)

Easy to see Georgina & Helen's game-plan - HEAD up, and watch your p's and q's

...or should that be b's and d's? It's hard to tell with Helen. She plays a double-handed backhand and she's left-handed. By the time you've worked out what's she doing, she's done it!

That didn't fool Lee & Julia though - who battled for every point and won 4-2 ...would you Adam & Eve it?

"As you see, Ladies - I've nothing up my sleeves..." Sally is all anticipation as she waits to see what Lee can conjure up from her Service.

In their penultimate round, Sally & Lee were up against the Bish Ladies team first pair..... Helen & Jane First pair of the Division 3 Champions - who'd trounced all before them this Season. Eeeek!

Well, the score didn't reflect the very closely-contested nature of the match.... (It was 6-0 to Helen and Jane). That win really set Helen & Jane up for a thrilling finale in the final round, as Julia & Georgina had pegged Andrene & Linda to a 3-all draw.

RELAX, Jane! - Helen really doesn't put that much on her 2nd serve.

In the final round, Helen was a ghost-partner to Andrene.... well, she certainly spooked Julia! All good things must come to an end and it was decided that seven rounds (ie. 42 games played each) would be enough (really?). Helen had already completed her seven rounds and had won 26 games. After six rounds Andrene had 25 games, Julia 23 and Jane 20. So, the last round saw Andrene ghost-partnered by Helen (Helen played - and made odd noises - but didn't get any points), up against Jane & Georgina. Jane needed nothing less than another 6-0, really (against Helen & Andrene..?). Julia partnered Sally against Lee & Linda, and was really looking for at least a draw, and hope that Andrene won 2 fewer games than her. Andrene needed at least one game, but also to stay within one game of Julia's score. All very complicated, but very exciting! So what happened....? Well, Helen was the perfect ghost-partner - the ball seemed to pass straight through her (just joking!), and she and Andrene won just 1 game against a very determined Jane & Georgina. However, that one little game was enough to see off Jane, who needed to dish the doughnut to win. On Court 2, it meant that Julia had to draw to tie the 26 games won by both Helen and Andrene. ....but it just wasn't to be, as she & Sally went down 2-4. Poor Jules had lost out again, by the odd bloomin' game. 'Snot fair - 'sreally not.... But very well played Helen & Andrene - winning through such a marathon. So, Helen & Andrene are Bish ....

Ladies Doubles Champions 2008

Maybe next year, Julia - the Bish Ladies Doubles champs 2008 are Helen (left) and Andrene (extreme right)..... now let go, Julia..... JULIA !!! Seriously - Julia was kind enough to present the Trophy to our two worthy winners, Helen and Andrene - very well played, them. After 4 hours of Tennis, though, it was tough to take that Julia'd lost out by just one game.... Have to hold the tournament on a Sunday morning next year, eh?

The IAIN MACKIE Trophy

The Iain Mackie Trophy is all about having fun..... and copping off with a Trophy! LtoR (Hidden Dragons): Ed, Jo, Gerry, Katie, Paul, Ian, John Moore & Will (Crouching Tigers): Alison, Gabrielle, Angela and Cayley

We had our Annual Iain Mackie Trophy tournament the other Monday night - July 14th in fact. The tournament is just for those who come to our Monday-night Coaching sessions. It's the Coach's Cup of Bishopthorpe Tennis Club. The American format of this tournament meant mixed doubles matches of 5 games and then everyone changed partners and played everyone else.... in theory. It really is easier said than done, and on the night, the organisation of who was partnering who and against who else, was done in relays, so that the baton slipped a few times. Apologies to Gabrielle, especially. She partnered nearly everyone, but always seemed to play against the same people. After 6 rounds of 5 games each, the individual scores were totted up (see the table below) to determine 2 male and 2 female finalists. So the mega-stars of the 2008 Season Monday-night Coaching were.... (drum roll).... Jo & Katie - both with 19 games, and Ed & Paul 21 and 16 games respectively, and pictured below. Phew - it would have probably been quicker and easier to choose a new Pope.

* These two disqualified themselves from further competition because they haven't actually been Coached this year.... John IS in fact, the bloomin' Coach! He actually played left-handed to make things fairer... (and with a bag over his head too, by the looks of his scores!) Paul spun for a partner and got Katie, so they played a final of 5 games against Jo & Ed. It was a very close final. Katie and hubby Paul were always a team and got off to a good start 2-0. However, Jo has become a very reliable baseliner and with Ed's audacity at the net, they got the final back to 2-2. In the deciding game, and the gathering gloom, it was the proven team-work of Paul & Katie which gave them that bit extra to edge the narrowest of wins and take the title. Sadly, the gathering gloom of a very overcast evening, was too much for the camera and any 'action shots' were reduced to smudgy, washed out blurs. Apologies, but without sunlight this is the best that could be managed. Hopefully, you can still get some appreciation of the atmosphere of competition!

Iain Mackie Winners 2008

The first time we've had husband & wife winners of the Iain Mackie Trophies (in the TWO years it's been running!) Paul & Katie Lewis - many congratulations and very well played to them. Many thanks to Linda and John Moore for organising what always proves to be a very tricky tournament to get right. Thanks too to the Mackie Family who kindly donated the trophies in memory of Iain Mackie - a fondly remembered former Chairman of Bishopthorpe Tennis Club. It was also nice to see David Moore up and about and looking a lot better than he has done in a fair old while... Well done, mate - nice to have you back!

MENS DOUBLES Tournament

Twelve angry men.... I mean Twelve good men and true - the entrants for the 2008 Bish Men's Doubles tournament LtoR: Dave, Tom, Sam I, Kelvin, Duncan, Matt, Sam W, Graham, Jason, John, Gerry and Alex We had the ideal number - six pairs for the Mens Doubles on Saturday, June 21st. Organisers Jason and Sam W seeded the pairs so that - in theory - everyone had an even chance of winning. Every pair played each of the other pairs for 6 games. The games won were totted up to determine the finalists. The results are listed below.

* Although both pairs ended in 2nd place with 17 games, Alex & John went through to the final because they'd won the head-to-head match 4-2 against Kelvin & Matthew Below: John makes a mental note to buy a longer racket as Alex gallops to the rescue in the Play-Off final

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Duncan unleashes a forehand as only Duncan can (OUCH - that high-elbow action is definitely not recommended... sorry Duncan*) The final comprised six games with a sudden death decider in case of a tie. It was nip-and-tuck all the way and came to 3-2 in favour of Duncan & Sam. The final game proved a very nervy affair with Duncan & Sam offering their opponents every opportunity to make it 3-all, but Alex & John politely declining! So the Final score was 4-2 to Duncan & Sam - our new Mens Doubles Champions. It had been a keenly contested, but affably played competition and I think everyone enjoyed the experience. Certainly it was pleasing to see everyone stay and watch the final played out. Thank you to everyone who participated, and to Jason & Sam for organising it all so well. *On a constructive note - for those who are interested, take a look at how a forehand should be played. Notice how at no point do Djokovic's hands leave the end of his wrists. Djokovic forehand in slow-motion

Mens Doubles Champions 2008

Popular runners-up Alex & John (left) with worthy Champions, Duncan & Sam (right) (Duncan & Sam are 'worthy' winners because Duncan's wearing a Bishopthorpe Tennis Club sweatshirt!)

The FLOSS SLACK Trophy

There was no Clubnight last Thursday (5th June) because instead we held our annual Floss Slack Tournament. The Trophy was donated to the Club by Floss Slack, to promote friendly, competitive Mixed Doubles.

We had twenty people enter, which worked out as 10 seeded pairs - good job our resident Doctor of Mathematics was on hand to work that one out for us.

10 pairs did add up to a lot of Tennis, and so our organiser, Kathryn decided that each pair would only play every other pair for 5 games each. Otherwise we wouldn't get home at a decent hour (...and there was FOOTIE on!)

Anyway ALL the scores can be seen in the table at this foot of this report. In the end, two pairs topped the table with an equal number of games won - Julia & Steve and Lee & David.

Which pair was better? There was only ONE WAY
to find out..... F-I-I-GHT !!!

Sadly, Kathryn said that we had to have a Play-off instead.

So the final (Yesss - it's a montage...) was played out between Julia & Steve (left) and Lee & David (far right). It was to be the best of five games, and the spectators settled down for some genteel Mixed Doubles (...but even Rocky had a montage).

As the ball mooned back 'n' forth, cross-court, Lee felt that the game was passing her by. Some of the crowd were restless too. But never fear, a light-bulb moment was near...

Lee then decided to impose herself on the match, and try and speed the whole process up a little...

Her lightning reflexes and accurate volleys at the net produced satisfying results.

Buoyed by early success, Lee really warmed to her role as net-tyrant.

With the usual 'hit it at the woman' tactic just not working, Steve was non-plussed.

Although the odd spike did manage to elude her, Lee ruthlessly dealt with every shot that had the audacity to try and get over the net.

Lee's partner David was only pleased that Lee wasn't pointing his-a-way.

...but Lee's dominance at the net continued, only ceasing with the final point of the match.

It had been a simply awesome display of doubles Tennis. With a mind to the Fukaya Trophy in August - Gentleman form a queue to sign-up Lee as your partner!

So the play-off ended with a straight 3-nil victory for Lee and David. Lee was overjoyed to win her first Trophy at the Club, but David was slightly more blasé about it...

Still, it had been a thrilling evening's Tennis, enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone who played, to Kathryn for organising it, and especially to everyone who brought some food!

Floss Slack Winners 2008

David and Lee - although for all the World it could be Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert from 1974... (wasn't that the Mens Doubles?)

The Spring Cup

Kelvin and Helen certainly benefitted from a pre-tournament warm-up on the Wii. Drawn together, they went on to win the Spring Cup Our Spring Cup tournament was held on Tuesday, 20th May. It was a very enjoyable evening and our annual friendly tournament proved more like a sociable clubnight. There were seven couples, everyone playing everyone else, for five games per 'match'. The eventual winners were Kelvin and Helen P with 21 games, narrowly pipping fierce rivals Milly and Jason L, a very close second with 20. Well played everyone, and congratulations our worthy Champions! (Sadly - no-one brought a camera to the Spring Cup, so if you think you recognise our 'champs' above, then leave your answer on our message board and we'll see who can get it right - you need BOTH names to be correct)