Report For 26/11/08

Division One
James The Conqueror
Cheltenham 'B' played Winchcombe Cavaliers in a match that saw junior Dominic James win his first maximum of the season that included a magnificent win over Choi Sze To. This excellent hatrick of wins, supported by his team mate Nick Smale, who won two and then combined with Dominic to win the doubles, secured an excellent 6-4 win for Cheltenham. The Cavaliers points were won by Choi Sze To, who won two with team mates Craig Norledge and Darrell Wiltshire contributing one each.

Guy Greening
Division One Secretary

Division Two
Lakeside Have A Ball At Tewkesbury
Cleeve Saracens B picked up an excellent away win over Cheltenham C. It was looking unlikely as Anand Keshav continued his excellent run of form, winning all three of his matches in straight sets for Cheltenham. However, Tony Iles and Mark Nally both won twice for Cleeve Saracens B and Jim Tyrrell picked up one win to send the result of the match to the deciding doubles. Martin Smith picked up his first win of the season for Cheltenham C, but mention must be made of the extremely unlucky Dave Green, who lost all his singles games in the deciding fifth set. Indeed, he lost 13-11 in the fifth to Tyrrell, having been 2-0 up, and lost 13-11 in the fifth to Iles having been 2-0 down. He was also involved in a tight contest with Nally. Iles and Nally proceeded to claim the doubles in three tight sets (12-10, 11-9, 12-10) against Green and Keshav to claim an impressive victory.

Lakeside C enjoyed a clear 8-2 win over Cheltenham D. Maximums for Barrie Pope and Paul Singh and a brace for Chris White did the damage for the home team. White was involved in a titanic battle with Alan Harvey, winning in five sets, 7-11, 14-12, 12-10, 14-16, 11-9. Matt Mulcahy picked up Cheltenham D’s only point in the singles, condemning White to a straight sets defeat, and he then went on to combine well with Harvey to win the doubles in three.

Cleeve Saracens A earned a 6-4 away win at Tewkesbury A, thanks in large to a brilliant straight sets maximum from the currently undefeated Den Wadley. Tewkesbury A battled hard, and both Alan Cook and Rob Amphlett won two matches each. Very unusually, 9 out of the 10 points available on the night were won in straight sets, including the deciding doubles, as Ross Greening and Wadley combined to defeat Cook and Ali Lockley. The only contest that went to more than three games, predictably went to a very close fifth. Terry Sims emerged victorious against Lockley, coming back from 2-0 down to win 11-9 in the fifth set. 

Lakeside D thrashed Tewkesbury B 9-1, thanks to maximums from Chris Ball and Trevor Oliver, and a brace from Julie Taylor. John Goodchild picked up Tewkesbury B’s only point with a five-set victory over Taylor.

Winchcombe Wizards raced to an 8-2 win over CCS A. Keith Ferguson was in magical form once more, winning all of his games in straight sets. Nick Davidson and Chris Lane won twice each to set up the victory. However, Dave Hart played superbly for CCS A, again proving that he is one of the best players in the division. He dispatched Davidson in four games and in a close game with Lane, emerged victorious in the fifth set having been 2-1 down. Davidson and Ferguson continued their impressive combination in the doubles, winning comfortably.

Lakeside B will be pleased with a comprehensive 7-3 away win against Winchcombe Warriors. Andy East was in excellent form, winning all of his games, and Andy Richards and Ken Smith won twice each. Richard Bishop and Mike Vick picked up one win each for the Warriors. However, some of the matches were very close, such as Vick’s five-set win over Richards (11-9, 5-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-8), Smith’s five-set win over Vick (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 17-19, 11-8) and Richards’ five-set win over Bishop (7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9). Bishop and Vick eased to victory in the doubles to pick up a further point for the Warriors.

Simon Lockley
Division Two Secretary

Division Three
Bird Flies For Cheltenham
Old Saracens continue to head Division 3, but Tirley Tigers are just behind with a precious game in hand. Old Saracens were made to fight hard for a 6-4 victory over Cheltenham E, for whom James Bird won all three.

Tirley meanwhile completed a 9-1 success over Civil Service B, Pete Humble retaining his unbeaten record, supported by Tony Saxton who also won all of his sets.

James Bird continued his good form for Cheltenham E with another maximum, this time in an 8-2 victory over Cheltenham G. Carey Maisey and Andy Smith helped out with two wins each, whilst Jon Laramy secured the two points for the Cheltenham side.

For the second time this season, Cheltenham G fought out a draw with Cleeve Eagles. This was a close affair in which no player succeeded in winning all three games, and where the winning score for an individual game exceeded eleven in no less than fourteen instances. Predictably the doubles went to five games, and 5-5 was a fair result.

Derek Brown
Division Three Secretary