Author: Gillian Sanderson

Congratulations to our Mens Essex team! Having dropped to Division 2 of the Essex Open Doubles League after last summer, the team is straight back up to Division 1 for 2025! The team have taken top spot in their division having been unbeaten this summer, in fact losing only one rubber in the process! Vey well done to all the players involved – Dan Sanderson (captain), Greg Huggett, Arron Chandler, Jonathan Oates, Stefan Protic, Tom Reader, Dan Thrale and Oli Mason.

A great afternoon’s tennis in the sunshine! Thanks Steve for organising the End of Season American Tournament. And there were two new winners of the trophies! The Beresford Marshall Memorial Trophy went to the winning man, David Joseph, whilst the Deb Saund Memorial Trophy for the winning lady went to Suzy Bassett. Congratulations to both!

An excellent evening at the club for the presentation of trophies to this year’s club tournament winners and to officially switch on our new floodlights on courts 1&2. Club President Bob Guthrie presented the trophies and, in addition, all winners were given a mug with the photograph taken on finals day of competitors in their event. Club Captain Steve chose to award the Player of the Year trophy to Gill Sanderson. After the presentation, our Head Coach Oli Mason was given the task of cutting the ribbon to mark the successful completion of the installation of the new floodlights which will significantly help with the continued expansion of the club’s coaching programme. Thanks were expressed to Mark Taylor for all his hard work managing the installation project. And finally, many thanks to everyone who came along to support the event.

Great to see a good number of WLTC members competing on finals day of the Leigh & Westcliff Summer Tournaments.  There was an all Westcliff Lawn affair in the Senior Mixed Doubles event when Duncan and Sarah Ball took on Adam and Sarah Jolley, with Duncan and Sarah coming out on top.  Success also for Chrissie and Sarah Jolley with a straight sets win in the final of the Senior Ladies Doubles event. Adam and Tom were victorious in the Mens Doubles Plate event, whilst Darren and Duncan faced tough opposition in the final of the Senior Mens Doubles and had to settle for the runners up spot. Bad luck also to Sue Sergeant who lost in the Ladies Singles event. Finally, commiserations to Alison and Suzy who sadly didn’t get on court. They were due to play against each other in the Senior Ladies Singles Plate final and together in the Senior Ladies Doubles Plate final, but due to injury, Suzy was unfortunately unable to play either match. Well done to all our players!

A lovely evening for tennis and the return of the midweek mixed doubles tournament thanks to Tom offering to organise. Twenty people joined in, playing six rounds of 10 point tiebreaks, each one with a different partner. Suzy kindly recorded the scores so that Tom could step in at the last minute to make up numbers on court. Well done to the top point scorers, Jane from the ladies and Peter & Mark jointly from the men. And finally thanks to Angela for opening the bar afterwards. A very enjoyable evening!

Excellent day’s tennis at the club when our club tournament finals were played. Well done to everyone who reached finals and congratulations to all the winners! In the open singles events, defending champions Dan Thrale and Chrissie Christou both retained their titles whilst in the Mixed Doubles, Arron Chandler & Chrissie Christou  won the event for the first time.  Special mention for Duncan Taylor who reached four finals and so was on court all day, winning two out of his four matches!  Many thanks to Steve for organising the tournaments and finals day, also thanks to Sarah O’Sullivan and Mark Eldridge for all their hard work providing refreshments throughout the day, and great to see so many spectators at the club too.

 2024/25 term dates for Junior Squads   Ahead of time for the super organised parents already asking about the next term dates, please note the proposed term dates for the next school year plus holiday camp dates.  And yes, Christmas seems a long way off, but make note of our junior Christmas party date of Friday 20th December

Lovely evening at the club when Ashley cooked paella for us all! Over thirty members, family and friends waited with bated breath while issues with the gas for Ashley’s paella burner were resolved! Well worth the wait as the paella was delicious! Many thanks Ashley for all your hard work! Dessert went down well too – naranjas a la canela with some homemade ice-cream – thanks to Jane, Linda & Gill. Thanks also to Angela & Karen for keeping the drinks flowing from the bar and to those who helped clear up.

Success on the Penzance Open Tournament finals day for club member Sue Sergeant with partner Julie Chappell from St Agnes in the Ladies 55+ Doubles event. Well done Sue! And a lovely surprise for Hazel when tournament organiser Dave Forrest presented her with the Stephen Dennis trophy which is awarded each year to the tournament competitor who best demonstrates the true spirit of sportsmanship. A very well deserved award indeed after many years of competing in the Penzance Open! And well done to Steve refereeing the Penzance Open for the 28th time, as always making a tough job look so easy!