TENNIS: Doubles Successes for Amherst and The Green
HUGH SULLIVAN
Amherst tennis players enjoyed a vintage winter doubles season as their top two men’s teams and first ladies’ team each gained promotion up the Sussex (TDS Ultra) Leagues.
Amherst and The Green players together – L to R: Dylan Preece, Joe Adams, George Moon, Quentin Soucek
The men’s first team, led by Dylan Preece and Quentin Soucek, lost three of their seven matches in Division M5E but won each of the other four 4-0. One of those victories was achieved in a final match on 3 March against Badgers in Brighton, with Jack Watson elevated into the second pair with Anthony Hickey. There was then a wait for over a month to learn the result of the game last Saturday between rival contenders Grasshoppers and Crowborough – a 4-0 success for the former – which confirmed Amherst’s promotion as divisional runners-up.
The men’s second team cruised to the M7E divisional title, winning all five matches with only one rubber conceded (and that in a third set tie break). Watson, Jeff Gedge and George Moon were top points scorers, but were also aided over the course of the season by positive contributions from Andy Chapman, Josh Craig, Paul Ferrie, Hickey, Hayden Hoxey and Steve Kirby, showing the club’s strength in depth.
By contrast, the ladies’ first team squeezed into second place in Division L3 by the narrowest of margins, finishing equal on points with Seaford, but claiming the second promotion spot by the aggregation of sets won (32 as against 30) over their six matches. The final match, away to Angmering on 17 March, was won 3-1 with all three victorious rubbers decided in third set tie-breaks: the top pairing of Nikki Crowhurst and Pearl Hare triumphed twice, while Anita Pearce and Jane Garrett gained the crucial extra point. The ladies’ third team, led by Clare Hooton, also gained promotion from Division L9E.
Playing home matches just a mile down the road, The Green have also been promoted after finishing second in Division M3. Alex Williams was the top points scorer but, when they played, coaches Ross Cudmore and Joe Adams added an extra level of quality to the team performances.
For The Green ladies, first pair Amanda Ruck and Beaula Page continued their perennial partnership, notching enough wins to keep the team in contention, but they were given insufficient support. A 3-1 win was needed in their last match against Weald on 23 March to avoid relegation from Division L3. Ruck and Page won twice, and the pair of Hannah Gandy and Karen Walker raised hopes when they won the first set of their second–string match, but they eventually went down in the third set tie-break.
There was, however, compensation for The Green as their team won Division 1 of the year-long Wealden League, consisting of 19 mixed doubles teams representing clubs from East Sussex and Kent spread across three divisions. Cross-in-Hand were runners-up.
Amherst mixed doubles captain Sarah Chapman was sidelined throughout the year due to a knee injury, and the club’s first team finished fourth out of eight in Division 1. It will, however, be joined there for the 2024-25 year by the second team, captained by Steve Kirby, which finished second in Division 2.
Both the new Wealden League and the summer club doubles season start from this month, the latter now sponsored by Baboolat in place of TDS Ultra.
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