TENNIS: Men up, Ladies (mostly) down in Summer Doubles
There were mixed fortunes, as ever, for Hastings clubs in the Sussex doubles leagues over the summer, with both promotions and relegations decided by the narrowest of margins.
Amherst men’s captain Dylan Preece in full swing
In their final match in League M4 on 26 August, playing away at Saltdean, Amherst men’s team needed one out of four rubbers to match Southdown as prospective runners-up on 14 points for the season. Captain Dylan Preece partnered Harry Crane, recently returned to the club, while (in the absence of other stalwarts Mark Cunnington and Quentin Soucek) Ollie Bearcroft and Anthony Hickey were selected as second pair.
The Saltdean top pair defeated both Amherst pairs in straight sets, but Preece and Crane gained a comfortable victory in their match against their hosts’ second pair, while Bearcroft and Hickey won their opening set against them before losing the second and the subsequent third set tie-break. That made a 3-1 overall win for Saltdean, but the extra set gained was enough to hoist Amherst above Southdown in the league table (by the margin of 32 sets to 31 won over the course of the six-match season) and thus seal promotion.
In League M8E, the Amherst second team enjoyed a much more straightforward promotion, winning the division by a margin of five points. Jeff Gedge, Nigel Spencer Smith, Jack Watson, George Moon , Paul Ferrie and Hickey shared the honours.
Hard on their heels are The Green men, who won League M9E. Lee Hagan and Joe Toogood, whether as partners or in separate pairings, were most prominent.
By contrast Amherst women were relegated from League L2 and The Green women from L3 after close struggles.
It seemed probable that Amherst would avoid their fate when they gained a crucial point against Comptons in their last match, giving them seven points for the season, equal with Weald and two above Saltdean. These two teams still had to play each other in a final match on 26 August. Any result other than a 3-1 win for the latter could have seen Amherst finish above one or the other. But 3-1 to Saltdean it turned out, enabling each team to finish on eight points and send Amherst down.
In League L3 Beaula Page and Amanda Ruck resumed their formidable partnership as top pair for The Green after Ruck’s long injury absence. They scored eight wins in 12 rubbers over the season, but no productive second-string pair could be found to back them, and the team finished bottom of the division.
There’ll be only one division between them and Amherst’s second team next summer after the latter came out top of League L6, one point above Meads. Again there was a close finish on the last Sunday, 27 August, when Amherst were held to a 2-2 draw by Comptons fourth team while Meads were winning 3-1 at Arundel. Captain Jenny Naylor partnered Barbara Fentiman to win one rubber for Amherst, while Clare Hooton and Ginny Gregory gained the other after a third set tie-break.
The winter doubles season started last weekend. It runs through until the end of March with multiple teams from Amherst and The Green competing as usual. However, there will be a chance for players of the two clubs, and anyone else resident in the borough, to meet at close quarters next weekend (Saturday 30 September at The Green and Sunday 1 October at Amherst) when the Hastings Mixed Doubles championships are contested. There will be separate competitions for intermediate and advanced levels.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply