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

This mixed doubles American format tournament was open to all Monday night coaching regulars - a fantastic opportunity to put into practice all the skills drilled into us every Monday night - rain and shine.

The American format meant every man partnered every lady - well in theory anyway, alas, on the night there were 8 men and only 4 ladies, so this caused some organisational challenges (so well done John and David Moore) and some rubbers were played as mens doubles and time did not permit all combinations to be played.

However, as each players scores were recorded with the two top scoring men and ladies progressing to the grand final it all worked itself out.

The resulting heats produced a final consisting of Kelvin and Matt from the men's draw, and Lee and Carmen from the Ladies draw.

Kelvin & Carmen, and Matt & Lee had been partnered during the heats, so the final would be contested between Kelvin & Lee vs Matt and Carmen.

Iain Mackie Winners 2009

Kelvin and Lee - on the night, just outta sight...

MENS DOUBLES Tournament

I Dreamed a Dream: The 12 finalists in the Bish's Got Talent contest LtoR: Jason, Dave W, Rob, Dave M, James, Sam, John C, Kelvin aka 'Simon Scowl', Big Gerry, Paul, John L, Les Miserable (Ian), and Matt

Mens Doubles Champions 2009

Let the Right One Win.... Champs, James (left) and Sam display the prestigious Bish Men's Doubles Trophy The tournament was held during the hours of darkness, especially so that James could participate... and crucifixes were also banned

The FLOSS SLACK Trophy

There was no Clubnight last Thursday (4th 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.

Floss Slack Winners 2009

Andrene and Paul - Floss Slack 2009 Winners

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The Spring Cup 2009

Kelvin's particularly pleased to have retained the Spring Cup - this time with partner, and new member Robert (right) Our Spring Cup tournament was held on a Friday this year (May 22nd), just to keep everyone guessing. It's our annual friendly tournament just to get the Season going. There were seven Mixed couples, everyone playing everyone else, for five games per 'match'. (Eh? - then why was it won this year by two 'blokes'? Oh, well - I guess it IS the 21st Century. 'Partners' I'm told they're called...)

Kelvin's former partner and Spring Cup winner - Helen ...err, Qickles* (is it?), shows her displeasure at the new rules for Mixed Doubles tournaments, which meant she didn't get to retain the Trophy she'd fought hard for, last year.



I'm only joking!!! There were too many blokes and not enough Ladies at the Spring Cup, so some pairs had a 'lady' who was sporting a five-o'clock shadow. Robert is a new member, more attuned to playing squash, so he was deemed to be an honorary volley-dodger for the evening!



* Some confusion about Helen's name which I'm happy to clear up. It's 'Pickles' on the backhand, and 'Qickles' on the forehand.