A memorial service for Colin Barber will be held at Lakeside Club, Wimbledon at 3 p.m. on September 10th - any members who would like to attend will be welcome.  The service will be informal and conducted by a Humanist. 

Many old friends came to the David Lloyd Leisure Centre in Heston to join Harri Gibbon in celebrating his 90^th birthday. Harri is not only a long serving member of the 45 Club but he is a well known GB international player and much loved by many competitive veteran tennis players of all ages.  Though he doesn’t play anymore himself he still comes and watches the national championships in Dudley, Bournemouth and Aorangi Park and many other tournaments. He is also known as a keen and very competent gardener and by the time his dahlias are ready in September he always makes the effort to brighten up the desk of the Tournament Secretary at the Woking Veterans Tournament by giving her a beautiful bunch. Sir Mervyn Brown reflected the thoughts of everyone present at the party when he spoke about Harri’s playing background and how well he is liked by everybody. The management of the David Lloyd Leisure Centre honoured Harri by naming a court after him. How appropriate! We wish Harri many happy returns and we hope to continue to see him at our events.

 Henk Nijeboer

Organiser: Di Gellender. Reporter: Peter Pearce

 ROCKING CHAIR WON BY NARROWEST OF VICTORIES

The annual match against the Danish Tennis Veterans was played on the grass courts at Purley during Wimbledon.  The match consists of same sex doubles on the first day and mixed doubles on the second day.  The match was unusally close and produced a very exciting interaction.  For the full report open the PDF.

The Danish Match Purley 2009

This tournament is one of the years highlights.  It is held to honour the memory of Clive Bernstein, the founding father of the 45 CLub.  There are 2 tournaments - a seniors event for those over 60 and a juniors event for those under 60.  The tournament was held at the Queen's Club on a day that started off very wet, but which fortunately cleared up to allow completion.  The juniors event was won by Bob Harrower and Hazel Lindfield and the Seniors event was won by Merete Collins and David Lloyd.  For the full report, click the link:

  The Clive Bernstein Tournament July 27th at Queens

The day started out with sunshine but rain was forecast later so Sheila cleverly organised some more courts.  Everything was running smoothly until an elderly gentleman (not a 45 Club member) playing doubles collapsed with a heart attack.  Luckily for him, playing on the next court were the Friedmanns who were there in seconds with Judy Slaney, a GP, who through the use of the defib managed to successfully resucitate him.  His lucky day!

Peter and Bridget then carried on to win their three games in the morning. Their luck ran out in the final when they lost to Ivanka Riley & Peter Dunning in an excellent match involving some great tennis. Unluckily the weather broke during the final and all got rather wet, but we finished in plenty of time so the meal was brought forward.  The consolation was won by the canny pair of Ann & David Thomas who beat a new member and her guest Jane Manners & Derek Rowel in a close fought battle eventually winning 6-4.

Sheila organised a very successful tournament followed by a lovely meal. Winchester is a very nice venue and the management is keen for us to return next year.

Ray Jones organised the tournament which is always very popular.  The courts are artificial grass/Astroturf and the quality of the tennis was high.  One of the great features of Great Baddow Tennis club is that the audience sits on a raised bank with a great view down the length of the 3 show courts.

The Championship final was won by Paul Lansley and Mave Blewett who defeated Alec Davidson and Phyl Bentham in a very competitive match.

Mixed Doubles
Organiser: Enid Tomlinson
Reporter: Jeff Willis

Despite the tornado that hit north London the previous evening the late start of 12.00 meant that all participants were ready and waiting to play what turned out to be a very strong, 24-pair tournament.

It was nice to see the return of Pam Campbell after 20 months absence due to injury. There were also some welcome new members and thanks go to Brian Brown for standing in at short notice.

My partner, Pat Smith, and I managed to scrape into second place in our box, despite her turning an ankle early on (very unusually). This was at the expense of Bob Harrower and Margaret Horner who in their own words “had an off day”. In fact the prize of a corkscrew summed up his day (said Bob).

• The final results were:
  Group 1 Anne Williams & Brian Roberts beat Lesley List & Tony Baron 6-1
• Group 2 Pat Reeves & Peter Dunning beat Gill Dickey & David Lloyd 6-5
• Group 3 Ann & David Thomas beat Jackie Watt & Alistair Heaphy 6-4
• Group 4 Margaret Horner & Bob Harrower beat Jill Vaughan & John Moody 6-5
  
  

A good meal followed at the Ramada Jarvis hotel, with Xmas hats, poppers and crackers almost outshining Terry Hammond’s waistcoat and tie. Thanks once again to Enid for organising/timing to perfection (how does she do it?)

Last word from Bob – the corkscrew will be very handy as it is near Christmas (and nobody was going to beat Anne and Brian anyway).

Mixed Doubles

Organiser: Peter Friedmann
Reporter: Madeline Lawson

It was a wild, wet and windy day and the organiser, Peter Friedmann, had to re-plan everything as two of the courts where flooded (yes they were indoors). It was commented that one or 2 players looked as if they were wearing swimming costumes.

Needless to say he did this very capably and we all did our best to do as we were requested.

There were four first rounds playing against three other couples and the winners of these were:

• Penny Wyatt & Bob Gasston
• Sally George & Peter Dunning
• Julie Metz & Martin Hooff
• Ivanka Riley & David Treadwell

Jan Combes and Alistair Heaphy reached the Consolation final along with Gill Martin and Tim Henley. In a tightly contested match, Jan and Alistair came out the winners – well done.

The Championship final pitted Penny Wyatt and Bob Gasston against Ivanka Riley and David Treadwell – congratulations to Ivanka and David on an exciting win.

A very social evening followed, with lots of laughter, very ably helped along by two non-players, Mike Lynch and Harri Gibbon

Mixed Doubles
Organiser: Anna Clark
Reporter: Jack Vincent

As we arrived at Ealing the skies were overcast, which meant that play started on the artificial grass, with the hope of transferring to grass if the sun came out.

owever, this was not to be and rain interrupted play on numerous occasions, such that the last games of the morning session did not finish until 2.45 pm. The compensation was the excellent buffet lunch provided by Anna Clark, whose organisational skills throughout the day made this such an enjoyable tournament, ably aided by her husband, Hugh.

The afternoon format was changed to the Richmond system with winners of the morning groups being put into a top group with second, thirds and fourths being grouped together.

The change of format meant that the winners of each group would not be known until all had played. This provided everyone with some exciting games to play in and also watch. The top group was won by Penny Wyatt & Ray Jones who came from 0-3 down to beat Julie Metz & Martin Hooff, 6-4, after some memorable rallies. The second group was won by Gill Dickey and Bob Gasston, the third group by Merete Collins and Richard Wood and fourth group by Ann and David Thomas.

The sun did shine in the late afternoon to send us on our way, after a great day’s tennis, with many then setting off to the nearby Chinese restaurant.

We arrived and were welcomed into the plush surroundings of the Moor Park Golf & Tennis Club in rather sultry weather that appeared to be threatening thunderstorms any moment. 17 couples (one last minute drop-out unfortunately) were organised into 3 leagues for the morning’s play. Dinah was cheerfully chivying everyone along to get started in case of rain but she needn’t have worried. Not only were 6 courts available but also the rain kept off so the competition proceeded at a pace and it was unusual for anyone to sit out between rounds longer than 20 minutes. By mid day all the clouds had disappeared and the participants were basking (well sweating really) in hot sunshine.

So what of the tennis? Judging by the scoreboard there were plenty of evenly matched games although the pairing of Anne Williams and Brian Roberts appeared particularly strong as was borne out later in the day. From a personal perspective the reporter and his partner, Audrey Pollard, had an excellent morning winning 4 of their 5 matches and even defeating the top seeds in the group, Merete and Ray. It appeared that our tactics of alternate “softball” and “hardball” allied to some stratospheric lobbing rewarded us well! A sandwich lunch was provided in the mansion’s bar with its magnificently ornate ceiling. As one entrant observed: “there are not many places where you can get a view like this if you have had one too many!” Judging by his consumption of Pimms at lunch Alan Warman was obviously interested in checking this out!

So onto the afternoon which turned out to be a day of two halves for Audrey and myself. The sun was hot and many were eyeing the grass courts in front of us as a more comfortable alternative to the Astroturf or hard courts that were used earlier. We duly succumbed to this temptation and regretted this almost immediately. Although the lush grass proved a superb shock absorber for the limbs it also extended this property to tennis balls such that in the instance of a ball being allowed to bounce, it duly carried on along its course at a height of only 1 cm or so above the surface! Well that was our excuse anyway although our opponents Lesley and Brian didn’t seem to have such a problem. Our conviction that we would do better on Astroturf was immediately disproved as we received a thorough beating at the hands of Alan Warman & Linda Rennie who in the process won Group 2. Thus we were duly put in our place having risen above it earlier in the day – but at least we had the morning to remember!

Overall winners were Anne Williams and Brian Roberts, who were looking like favorites for the title all day, with Merete and Ray as runners up. To mention all the group winners would take too much space but Dinah does deserve a special mention and thanks for her excellent organization and refereeing. Unfortunately this was her last year running this tournament – so, any volunteers for next year?

Prizes duly awarded the contestants retired to the Coy Carp in Harefield for a well-deserved meal and further reflection on the day’s events.

Oxshott is a new venue and a very pretty one, but all we could see when we started was grey and rain.  Endless heavy drizzle which we played through most of the time, but when it got too heavy we joined Pam Campbell, our esteemed organizer,  huddled under a canopy.  A salad lunch was served in the clubhouse, when all we really wanted was steaming bowls of hot soup!

And then a miracle.  The wind got up, blew away the rain and the canopy, literally – a moment of high drama – and the sun came out.  By this time there had been two casualties.  John Cole, when questioned about his injury, muttered, !I’m just too old.”  He was replaced by David Tomlinson who just happened to be passing, and Sue Gregory was replaced by Zyreida Denning, an Oxshott member.

The final results were:  Anne Williams and Ian Johnson beat Lettie Gingell and David Tomlinson 6-2 in the Consolation final, and in the Championship group, Betty Maitland and Bob Gasston beat Penny Wyatt and Bob Harrower.  I won’t mention the score as it was somewhat one sided.  Let’s just say Betty and Bob played a blinder and – well, I blame the wind!!

After all that, hot showers were definitely in order, but owing to a temporary glitch with the boiler, they were cold – very invigorating!  However, a delicious dinner was served in the very cosy clubhouse followed by birthday cake.  Yes it was Bob Gasston’s birthday and he won the tournament!

P.S.  I spotted Pam tripping over as she left the club, no doubt celebrating the successful completion of a very well organized tournament.

Penny Wyatt

Mixed
Organiser:Enid Tomlinson
Reporter:Graham Rayner

It was a hot (very hot!) beautiful June day. The twittering of birds was interrupted only by the gentle hummm of traffic noise from the nearby road and the rhythmic pshhhhhht from a compressor behind the fence. Of course, there was the occasional (we’re being kind - it was frequent!) loud and usually desperate call of “YOURS” to be heard, mainly from the male variety of tennis player participating in the tournament.

The day, organised by Enid with her usual style and grace, proceeded without a hitch, interspersed with muffins, sandwiches and fruit and concluded with a meal at the local Toby Carvery. The only setback occurring to poor John Moody, who injured himself during the morning session and was replaced, by Roger Davis in the afternoon session, after a couple of phone calls from the resourceful Enid.

Before the start of the day there were 3 substitutes, Geoff Lucken for Roy Rogers, who played with Frances Payne, Kris Newbery for Glynis Lambert, who played with Jeff Willis, and Ray Jones for Richard Wood, who played with Ged Youlden. Despite none of the pairs having played together previously all won their respective groups in the morning.

The Richmond system was used and in the morning groups there were some very close games, and one group only had two games separating the 1st and 3rd placed pairs. In the afternoon groups there were again some very close games.

The tournament was won by Ray Jones and Ged Youlden (just!) all four pairs in the afternoon 1st group finishing within 2 games of each other. The other winners were Penny Wyatt and Alan Warman, Sandy Philp and Harry Mills and Merete Collins and Roger Davis in the 2nd, 3rd & 4th groups respectively.

The day was a scorcher (with the exception of the post tournament showers - which were icy – and didn’t the men make a fuss!), enjoyed by all and our thanks to Buckhurst Hill Tennis Club for hosting it, Enid for organising it and the last minute substitutes for making up the numbers!

Mixed
Organiser:Jeff Willis
Reporter:Tricia Fenech

As the sun rose over the sleepy, beautiful town of Berkhamsted and the narrow boat owners stirred on the Grand Union Canal, realisation hit them - The 45-Club were hitting town today.

And what a day it was to hit town. The sun shone down on the idyllic setting of Berkhamsted Tennis Club making it the perfect day to play tennis.

Firstly, let me welcome all the new members that played that day, namely Bob Byrnes, Wendy Evans and Wendy and Costas Maramenides - actually Wendy and Costas have been members of The 45-Club for 10 Years but it took them a while to get round to entering a tournament together and according to Wendy, in true married couple style, it'll be another ten years before the next one together! However, they were both in great spirits off the court and might even have drunk a few spirits as well. I had a Pimms - just to be sociable you understand.

But what about the tennis I hear you ask. Well a few hiccups before the start of the tournament meant that the organiser, Jeff Willis, was forced to play, but thanks to Anne Williams stepping into the breach everything went smoothly. We played the Richmond system with four groups in the morning. In Group C, not only was there a three way tie, but each pair had beaten each other. How would Anne deal with this? She handled it with total professionalism, of course. Her rulebook came out and quickly the problem was eradicated. The rest of the day’s tennis was less problematic but highly competitive and enjoyable as the good weather does seem to bring the best out in everyone’s game. The victors on the day were:

Group A:
Winners:
Mike Thurlow & Isabel Holmes -

Runners-up:
Bob Harrower & Gill Logan

Group B:
Winners:
Mike Mower & Pascaline Frame

Rrunners-up:
David &Anne Thomas

Group C:
Winners:
Paul & Tricia Fenech

Group D:
Winners:
Bob Byrnes & Wendy Evans

Twenty-three stayed for the evening meal hosted in the club house, where, as usual, the banter was flowing, as was the wine. Terry Hammond told a few jokes but we still kept smiling. The whole day went off so smoothly that we had finished our puddings by 8pm. Those with longer journeys set off whilst a few of us stayed and watched a bit more tennis from the patio, whilst enjoying a drink in the evening sun.

As the sun set over the Chiltern Hills and Terry drove nearer to Wolverhampton, peace once again fell over Berkhamsted - 'til next year anyway.

Many thanks again to the organisers, Jeff Willis and Anne Williams. Thanks also to our host Berkhamsted Tennis and Squash Club for such delightful courts, surroundings, and weather, it all went to make a perfect day.

Holiday/ITF Tournament Grade 2
Organiser:David Tomlinson
Reporter:Ray Jones

This being my fifth visit in six years to the Hotel Mare e Pineta in Cervia suggests that I must quite like the place. Often the main enjoyment of a holiday is the sheer fact that everything is new and needs to be investigated but, despite the familiarity of the surroundings this proved to be possibly my most enjoyable stay here.

It all started out in the same way with the gathering, for most of us anyway, at Stansted Airport. There’s something reassuring and exciting about meeting up with all the ‘old faces’ plus a few new ones as you wander round the terminal and that holiday feeling starts to kick in. Soon we are all scrambling for our competitively priced Easyjet seats and in no time at all we are touching down, uneventfully thank goodness, on Italian soil. This year we’ve arrived in Rimini, apparently our normal port of call in Bologna is in the process of resurfacing the runway, a blessing in disguise.
Rimini is a much smaller airport, positioned close to the town. On disembarking we are obliged to board an airport bus to take us the 25 yards to the terminal – just in case we are mown down by a passing aircraft or maybe the distance just looked beyond us. Our coach, definitely an upmarket version from previous years, awaits us for the much shorter than usual journey to our hotel, or should I say hotels, as a number of our party have opted for alternatives in the surrounding area.

Having settled in to our surroundings, the next morning (Sunday) a trip to the local club courts gives us all a chance to get to know the ‘new faces’ and revisit our skills on the red clay courts.

The tournament itself is an ITF Grade 2 event and, therefore, of a very good standard, which generally means that few of our group, about 35 in number this year, have any great aspirations of getting to the finals. Personally I’m pleased to get through a round of singles, which I managed for only the second time this year – that’s two in a row, so maybe I am improving.

That said, Felicity Thomas was highly fancied in the 60+ age group. In the first round Felicity met an experienced opponent, but after taking a closely fought first set and racing to 5-2 in the second (with her opponent looking a trifle lame) I wandered off to the beach café for some much needed refreshments, confident that victory was in the bag. News filtering through at a later stage that Felicity had lost was dumbfounding.
Jill Dyer did keep the home flag flying to reach the final of the Ladies 65+ Singles, where she lost to Maria Andolsato 6-3, 4-6, 5-7. Then Jill and Felicity teamed up for the final of the Ladies Doubles 60+ but went down 2-6, 6-2, 3-6 to Farinelli and Monami.

However, all was not lost for the Brits when, on the last day, an all British final took to the courts in the Mixed Doubles 120+. In almost a repeat of the same final 12 months before, Ian Johnson, this time partnered by Jill Dyer instead of Anne Williams, overcame David Tomlinson and Felicity Thomas, in a two set thriller, 6-4, 7-6.
With this being almost the last final played, when it came to the presentation of cups last year Ian and Anne were presented with cups for the men’s doubles, but decided that keeping them was the easiest option. This year Ian and Jill managed to get the right trophies.

Apart from the tennis the food and standards of the hotel were excellent, with the only disappointment being that the weather did not allows us to have breakfast on the terrace.

Our evenings, which can sometimes become a little predictable in the hotel, took on a new level of interest as we ventured out into the town. Particularly at weekends the downtown area is alive with the Italian youth set (18-30), so we fitted in well, all smartly dressed and apparently well-behaved, enjoying the local night life. This was a side of the town that you just would not know was there in the daytime.

Once again the organisation by our captain David Tomlinson was impeccable.

This was my first visit to the impressive Next Generation Tennis Centre at Dartford. Easy to find, although harder to access, this centre has eight bright orange courts and excellent lighting.

The organiser, Mike Montgomery, did the welcoming bit, (pulling my name out of the hat) and explained that he had nine players pulling out at the last moment and thanked all the late replacements. Little did he know that this would help to make it one of the most closely fought and interesting tournaments. Getting off to a prompt start, the morning session was soon behind schedule with so many tie-breaks and close games. One group had three pairs finishing on 15 points and the unlucky Enid and David Tomlinson finishing fourth on 14.

The afternoon session was not to be any different with a further eight tie-break sets, and Mike, struggling to keep to his time schedule, introduced the ‘no changing ends rule’. This proved to be successful and the final produced some great tennis with Anne Williams and guest partner, Brian Roberts, coming out on top 6-2 against Julie Metz and Richard Clarke. Brian is no stranger to many of us and I am sure Anne will persuade him to join The 45-Club and become a regular competitor.

The Consolation final was won by the excellent Janet Broster and your reporter, winning in yet another tie-break set against Lesley List and Brian Brown.

Thanks go to Mike Montgomery for organising a difficult tournament so well (you can now take a rest for a year).

P.S. Mike and Pascaline asked me to mention that they did as well as anyone against the eventual winners.

‘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.

Pretty hot stuff

The previous day was the hottest in London’s history (95.5° F); the London Eye closed (pods too hot); the M25 melted.

It did not deter 12 aspiring Peters and their Wendys (combined 120+ years minimum, but still in Never Never Land!).

We were accorded the honour of playing on the Bank of England’s exclusive match courts – albeit they were somewhat worn – no doubt suffering the after effects of the Wimbledon Qualifiers some weeks earlier.

Each set was a duel in the sun – each pair played 6 sets – no-one wilted there were no drop-outs – all competed and completed the course – in many respects one might say there were no losers but, for the record, the top 6 (in reverse order) were:

6.Janet Broster and Harry Schiller
5.Joy and Peter Dally
4.Sylvia Steward and Peter Finlay
3.Pam and Len Campbell
2.Anne Williams and John Draper
1.Mary Pretty and myself (Mike Cottee)

Mary played so well that she and anyone could have won – it was my very good fortune to be her partner and end a delightful day’s tennis as this year’s Peter Pan (tick tock tick tock tick!)
It would be tempting to cast David Page as Captain Hook but he ran the show gently and perfectly (it was anything but a pantomime). His resilience and good humour are amazing and an example to us all.

Mary and I each received our trophy from the other David (Tomlinson) whose name, with Enid’s, precedes ours on the cups. We are honoured indeed to follow in their footsteps.

Bridget & Peter Friedmann (60+) with Felicity Bernstien and David Tomlinson & Julie Metz, (45+)

Although a regular event, this was the first year in which these tournaments had been played for the Clive Bernstein Trophies, which have been donated in memory of our late Chairman. Appropriately Felicity Bernstein was on hand to present the trophies to their first ever winners.

The Young Ones (45+)

For many of us it is always difficult to travel to The Queen’s Club, but this time the Congestion Charge had made it more so. However, a group from Essex overcame this problem by travelling in a taxi, thus avoiding any charges – Jed Youlden’s husband happens to be a London cabbie.

We played on excellent clay courts but all had to contend with a strong crosswind which caused all kinds of problems. It was a great leveller and, of course, there were some surprise results.

Andy Reeve and Rosemary Spence came top of their group in the morning with maximum points. Julie Metz and David Tomlinson, Gill Logan and Ashley Compton-Dando, and Alison Hockey and Harry Mills did likewise in their groups.

Following an excellent sandwich lunch, the afternoon matches were keenly contested. The Consolation final was a repeat of a morning match but with a different winner. Janeen Quenton and Gerry Blick beat Penny Kent and Ralph Sibley.

The Championship final was won by our captain, David Tomlinson, and his partner Julie Metz who beat Alison Hockey and Harry Mills. Harry complained afterwards of Alison “being too quick and too good and taking all his balls”.

The Wise Ones (60+)

Congratulations to Merete for arranging superb blue skies and sunshine when all around were clouds and showers. The ‘Seniors Event’ produced some excellent tennis, particularly by the winners, Bridget and Peter Friedmann, whose real test came in their semi-final against Pam and Len Campbell where they won 6-5 after saving a match point.

We were returning to a 45-Club event after a five year absence and were impressed by the fine standard and great atmosphere but, nevertheless, keenly competitive air of the event.

Our thanks go to Enid Tomlinson for her usual firm refereeing and time-keeping.
It was wonderful to meet up with old foes and enjoy the company of many newcomers. In particular it was good to see Jimmy James, Peter Forda and Austin Smith among others keeping up their strong support of such events.

Results were as follows:

1st Place playoff:
Bridget and Peter Friedmann beat Sylvia Steward and Peter Finlay

2nd Place playoff:
Joy and Peter Dally beat Anne Williams and John Draper, 6-5

3rd Place playoff:
Gill Ayres and Terry Walker beat Margaret Birchmore and Norman Witham, 6-1

The day was rounded off when 50 participants enjoyed a magnificent dinner served in the wonderful environment of the President’s room.

On a day reminiscent of the previous year, nobody envisaged that any tennis would be played at Frinton. Heavy rain poured down all morning as the waiting throng of disappointed 45ers supped coffee and waited for the inevitable decision to give up and go home.

Amazingly, at around midday, the rain finally abated and it turned into a fantastic day. With disbelief we were told that the courts would be playable within the hour and the whole place suddenly came to life.

The tournament was in its second year, and proves very useful grass court practice for those competing in the ITF Veterans tournament that begins on the following day. This time round twenty pairs competed so a slightly different format from the usual Lansdown system was used, with four boxes of five pairs leading to knock out matches between pairs who had ended up with similar positionings in their respective boxes.

After playing the first round on hard courts, Frinton L.T.C. allowed us to use extra grass courts and so all the matches were duly played.

Jeff Willis, still recovering from his back operation, looked after the order of play and the afternoon ran smoothly, with many close matches.

The results of the various sections were:

1st Place Final:
Gill Logan & Bob Harrowerbt Belinda Grant & Ashley Compton-Dando

2nd Place Final:
Wendy Scalinger & Ray Jonesbt Sally Walker & Neil Baker

3rd Place Final:
Gill Ayres & Peter Dunningbt Ann Nimmo & Doug Feaver

4th Place Final:
Pascaline Frame & Mike Mowerbt Pat Reeves & Gerard Boujassy

5th Place Final:
Angela & Paul Dranebt Pat Williams & Alan Roberts

The Bar-B-Que which was laid on afterwards was thoroughly enjoyed by all.