Paul Werner Trophy winners, Paul Denyer & Juliet Lunn

‘Mr Cool’ is hot stuff

Two groups of 6 pairs gathered at the Bank of England Sports Club to contest the Paul Werner Trophy on one of the hottest days of the year.

The players’ thanks are due to our organiser, David Page, for arranging to switch the event to the club’s match courts. This allowed those not playing to seek the shade afforded by the trees overlooking the courts and also to shorten the walk to the restaurant for much needed refreshments.

Having sorted out the off-court conditions, how did things turn out where it really counted, on the courts?
Although there were a few heat problems on the roads, play got off to a prompt start. In the early matches players seemed to be handling the heat but after lunch, when I am sure the temperature was over 100 degrees, several were visibly wilting and the tempo and quality o play suffered. However, after four rounds the two top seeds in each group were all unbeaten and had set up a fitting climax to this important event.

When not playing I watched quite a few other games and had picked out Paul Denyer as ‘Mr. Cool’. His smooth strokes and pacy serve ably backed up by efficient play from Juliette Lunn enabled them to win with a minimum of effort.

Indeed, they carried their form through to the final match of Group ‘A’ defeating the strong pairing of David Tomlinson and Felicity Thomas 6-4.

In Group ‘B’ Ashley Compton-Dando and Gill Logan were always in control against Bob Harrower, who was obviously wilting, and Penny Wyatt, winning 6-3.

A good final produced a win for Paul and Juliette, 6-3. David and Felicity won the third place play-off by the same score. The Paul Werner Trophies are magnificent and a good day was had by all. Afterwards a small group retired to a local Italian restaurant.