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Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
Tournament Reports and Gossip
Saturday 24 July - Finals Day
The Men's Singles Final was contested, as usual, between Mark Stapleton and Cedric de la Chaise. Cedric has won the
tournament for the last 6 years in a row, and as a result the crowd tended to root for Mark. The final this year was very
high quality tennis and much appreciated by an enthusiastic crowd.
Matters were pretty tight until 3-3, with most games going to a number of deuces but the server managing to come through without a
break. Mark's strategy tended to be to hit an approach shot down the middle and come in behind it, leaving Cedric to hit passing
shots if he could, and mostly Cedric was on form and did so. But at 3-3 on Cedric's serve Mark had one or two break points and managed
to convert one of them for a 4-3 lead, holding his own serve to get to 5-3. To everyone's surprise Mark then broke again to take the first set 6-3.
This put Mark serving first in the second set. We all fully expected Cedric to apply greater pressure and for Mark to be forced to
concede this second set as this is the way things have gone in previous years. Matters went to plan for Cedric, breaking Mark at 1-1 and holding himself for a 3-2 lead. Mark then held his own
serve to take it to 3-2 on Cedric's serve. On this game Mark hit some good returns down the centre and came in. Cedric hit good passing shots, but missed
a couple which enabled Mark to break back, also holding his own serve for 3-4 on Cedric's next
serve.
On this game Mark changed his tactics to hit his approach shots to Cedric's backhand, within 1 or 2 feet of the
side line, and on the poor West Heath bounce this year Cedric was struggling to hit
decent passes. On the ensuing break point Mark called a baseline ball from Cedric out, but Vince Sudbery calling the line
was unsighted, and Kevin Ryan ordered that the point be replayed. Cedric proceeded to win the point, but double faulted
on his next service point to give Mark another chance. Mark hit this ball out but earned a third break point, only to
get a bad bounce from the service court and dumping the ball in the net. But Mark got a fourth break point which Cedric saved with a fantastic
drop shot. The quality of the tennis remained very high throughout. It is a shame the same could not be
said for the bounces this year. On the next 2 points Mark peppered Cedric's backhand and won both to break.
When serving for the match Mark was 30-15 up, but there was a very high and unexpected bounce which caused Cedric to dump
the return into the net. With 2 tournament points Mark then displayed some very good net play to close it out 6-3 6-3.
And thus West Heath has a different Men's Singles champion for the first time in 7 years.
The quality of the tennis remained very high throughout. It is a shame the same could not be
said for the bounces this year. On the next 2 points Mark peppered Cedric's backhand and won both to break. Cedric later
attributed his defeat to the fact that he had not been able to hit good length against Mark, which had given Mark the
opportunity to hit take advantage of the grass-court bounces by hitting approach shots and coming in.
In the Ladies' Singles Final Lesley South
was competing with Ros Norkett. Although this is the first appearance in the final for Ros, Lesley has
won the tournament twice before, in 1999 and 2002, before dropping out of West Heath to take over the catering at the
Globe. In the first set Lesley broke first, but Ros broke back to take it to a tie break, in which Ros proceded to take
the first 4 points, and was 5-2 ahead when Lesley came into her own to take 5 straight points in a row to win the set 7-67-5.
In the second set Lesley broke at 3 all and held for a 5-3 lead, breaking again to take the match 7-67-5 6-3.
The fashion nowadays is for the ladies to have their photos taken only before they play and mess up
their hair. Whoever took the pre-match photo has not yet sent it to me, so here is a
picture of Sally Tornow, the umpire, looking very businesslike.
In the Mens Doubles Final Cedric de la Chaise partnered with Paul O'Flynn while Joris Fletcher is unavailable through injury, and they
were challenged, as usual by Sultan Gangji and Mark Stapleton. In the first set Paul served very well, assisted by some excellent kills
from Cedric at the net. However, Sultan was struggling to hold his serve early on and got broken a couple of times, but the pair made up for it by breaking the
 number 1 seeds towards the end of the set, which resulted in a tie-break. Again, in this Sultan struggled, resulting in Cedric and Paul taking the
first set. In the second set the number one seeds seemed to lose it a little, allowing Mark and Sultan back in to level the match with a 2-6 set.
In the champions tie break Sultan's serve was again challenged and the top seeds closed it out for a comprehensive [10-5] victory.
On exiting the court, it was, of course, Paul who got the resounding cheer from the spectators as he mostly gave a good performance
despite supposedly being outgunned by the other players, and thereby rescuing Cedric's tournament challenge.
In the Ladies Doubles FinalLesley South and Liz Goodfellow were challenging Jane Boyle and
Ludmilla Stapleton. The tale of the match was firstly of Jane and Milly's matching black Nike tops, which
definitely gave them the edge in the fashion and team appearance stakes, and secondly that of Jane's variety of placement and Ludmilla's powerful volleys rather exposed some inconsistency in Lesley and Liz, and the eventual result was a win by Jane and Milly
of 6-3 6-2.
In the resumption of the Mixed Doubles Final Ludmilla and Mark Stapleton were already up a set 7-6 from the
previous meeting before the courts got too slippery and it got too dark. The resumpton was equally close and went to a tie break, which was also won
by the Stapletons.
At the Presentation of Trophies the special guest presenter was Alan Rogers who was West Heath LTC chairman
from 1991 to 1999. Interestingly, later this year Moira Duncan (1999 to 2010) will become the longest standing chairman of West Heath LTC, beating the
previous record of 11 years held by Mr Horley (1936-47), although the latter's stewardship included the 2nd World War years 1941-5 during which the club was
effectively mothballed. Here are some photos from this year's presentations.
For the Evening BBQ Yanni and his family came along with some very
professional-looking BBQ equipment. Members provided rice and salads to accompany the
BBQ and there wa a good selection of excellent puddings to top it all off.
We all ate reasonably early for a change. Sultan insisted on making
two speeches as he deemed his first not to be long enough. Anne-Marie Williams declared
herself well satisfied that she had avoided an excess of alcohol this year unlike 2009 when she left
decidedly wobbly. And it was well after midnight when few remained when this photo of two fashionably-dressed ladies
was taken.
And so, dear reader, this brings us to the end of the web coverage of the 2010 West Heath
Tournament. I hope you had a super time playing your matches and were not too disappointed in the
results, that you have been suitably informed and entertained throughout the fortnight by the web coverage, and
that most of you
are still speaking to me. For my part I have enjoyed reporting and playing gossip
columnist, and look forward to a
relaxed first summer of retirement, which will now include time for physics revision in preparation for starting
my PhD in solid-state physics (Condensed Matter Theory) on a topic something like "Voltage Breakdown in Thin Dielectric
Layers" in October. Such matters could be an important part of Green
technology (honest!). Hopefully next year's West Heath Tournament will live up to the expectations created
by this one, and the grass courts will start the season in much better shape than we experienced this year due to
resignation of the groundsman at a particularly critical time in the growing season. If anyone would like to help with coverage of the 2011 Tournament please
let me know (do not all shout at once).
Yours,
Peter
Thursday 22 July - Today the Gourmet dinner was Chicken Mediterranean and was cooked by Brian Coffey, while
Marjan Denis provided Tiramisu for pudding. The chicken was so good that various people were trying to prise the recipe out of
Brian, but he was not letting on.
Taking the two Mens Singles semi-finals together, the challengers both put up a brave fight of it, but were outgunned. Admittedly conditions
were a bit dodgy, it having rained earlier, and the courts were a bit slippery.. When he could get to the
ball, Jonathan Bell hit some excellent forehands against Cedric de la Chaise, and Dan Braverman, perhaps not know for his sartorial elegance on
court, though normally distinguishable by his straw hat, also hit some good shots against Mark Stapleton. The eventual scores were 6-0 6-1 and 6-1 6-0 respectively, so it is clear that this year
the top two seeds were in a class of their own.
The main question everyone asked about the Mixed Doubles final was why on earth didn't someone insist the ladies start their
warm up after the first set result of the two Mens Singles semi-finals was known. This would have avoided the delay of a 20 minute
knock-up before play commenced. A very tight first set was won 7-6 by Mark and Ludmilla Stapleton, playing against Cedric
de la Chaise and Jane Boyle. But as a result of the delay in starting play the match then had to stop as it was too dark and too slippery. The match will be completed on Finals Day.
And lastly, what were those two handsome men doing at West Heath on the first Sunday of the tournament? All is now revealed.
Apparently there was a burst water main and the flow from our reservoir had to be increased, so they took it in turns to wind the
large handle to open the valve to restore full water pressure to the affected area.
 And what is in the vast concrete construction that adorns our seating area. Well the real answer is not a lot, as can be seen below.
Here's a question that most of you might be able to guess the answer to. Who wrote the following? (Hint - it was a while ago)
Wednesday 21 July - Today the Gourmet Fish Pie was cooked by Rachael Gangji and by common consent was delicious. Marjan Denis was spotted eating an extra portion well after the puddings had been served.
In the first Ladies Singles semi-final, Lesley South found herself playing against Jane Boyle - the same
opponent against whom she started her West Heath Ladies Singles tournament career. Lesley was also
sporting a big red patch and swollen ankle as a result of the notoriously vicious West Heath mosquitos. For her part Jane Boyle was feeling a
bit out of sorts, to the extent that she declined the fish pie later on. This was after a comment overheard at the weekend from one
West Heath lady that Jane's preparation for a tournement singles match was typically to have another slice of cake and cup of tea. Anyway
back to the point. Both Jane and Lesley have very similar tennis styles, consisting of accurate and awkward placement when returning a ball, provided that they can
reach it in the first place. On this particular occasion Lesley seemed to be a little more mobile than Jane, and Jane did not seem to
be able to pull out the power shots required to thwart Lesley in a sufficiently consistent manner. The net effect of all this is that Lesley
took the first set 6-4 and then proceded to take the second 6-2 for a shock defeat of the top seed.
In the second Ladies Singles semi-final Moira Duncan took on Ros Norkett. Ros took the first set 6-4, and
we were all expecting an easy victory for Ros in the second set. However, Moira was playing at a very
consistently high level, and started to make very few errors. Moira was 3-1 up and had
points for 4-1, but Ros got a a lucky net cord to take this game and restricted the
damage to a single break. Moira held serve for 4-2 up, and we were all expecting her to take the set eventually. But at this point Ros
stepped up her game and forced some errors from Moira, although in one game there were a number of deuces. Moira could not get
any more games out of Ros, who started hitting longer and more powerful shots, and the eventual result of the second set was a 6-4 victory to Ros for a 6-4 6-4 win.
Earlier The number one Mens Doubles seeds Cedric de la Chaise and Paul O'Flynn played and despatched Sanjiv and Dhananjay Talwar 6-0 6-1.
In the other Mens Doubles match Jonathan Bell and Maciek Janowski were challenging Mark Stapleton and Sultan Gangji. Jonathan has already dumped Sultan out of the Mens Singles, of course, so the match might have had an added edge.
The "West Heath bounce" conditions favoured those with the stronger serve and the general flavour of the match was that Sultan , Mark and Maciek tended to hold their serves, but Jonathan struggled, and the net effect was a 6-3 6-2 victory for Sultan and Mark.
One match that was played yestrday but which went unreported was that Cedric de la Chaise adn Jane Boyle beat David Glover and Sue Ehr.in the Mixed Doubles., though I do not know the score.
Tuesday 19 July - Today the tournament was hotting up nicely with some excellent and entertaining
matches.
Tonight's scrumptious Thai Gourmet Dinner was cooked by Lesley South with Moira Duncan providing
mixed fruit puddings. Lesley would like it to be known that when she joined West Heath 20 odd years ago she ended up playing Jane Boyle in
a Ladies Singles match. Clearly nothing much has changed and this semi-regular annual event will be re-enacted again tomorrow
night for the entertainment of all the Wednesday Gourmet diners. Lesley has rejoined West Heath after a break catering for
the Globe, and is a two-times West Heath champion (1999 and 2002). Perhaps she will now forgive me for not taking a picture of her
gorgeous food before it all got eaten. See picture of Rachael Gangji above and our local engaged lovebirds below clearly enjoying it.
By the way, Moira would like to apologise to Vandana Talwar and her mother for telling me that the food last night was Gujarati, when in
fact it was Punjabi.
 Vandana and Dhananjay Talwar acquitted themselves well against Mark and Ludmilla Stapleton in one Mixed Doubles
quarter final. Dhananjay seems to be improving match by match, and Vandana is becoming a very steady
player. But the number two seeds gained the upper hand in both sets and won 6-2 6-4.
The other Mixed Doubles quarter final played tonight was an altogether much tighter affair. Moira
Duncan and Maciek Janowski were matched against the number 3 seeds, Sultan Gangji and Ros Norkett. Moira is
a very consistent player, and Maciek has beautiful serve and volley technique. But Sultan and Ros took the first set 6-3
to gain the upper hand. In the second set Moira and Maciek pulled out all the stops, and were rewarded with a 6-3 set
to level the match. Then came the champions tie-break (first to 10 provided that they are winning by 2 points). Maciek
thought he had won it at 7-5 up. Later Maciek and Moira played strongly to earn a match point on Maciek's serve, but
Maciek's double-faulted, though he took his second service point to earn the pair
another match point. But despite an opportunity for a winner down the centre of the court, the challengers failed to convert
and the seeds took this and the next 2 points to squeak through the match 6-3 3-6 [12-10].
For that half of the draw the ensuing Mixed Doubles semi-final followed on, Sultan and Ros taking on Mark and Ludmilla. This was
equally close. Mark and Milly took the first set 6-2. In the second set there was some excellent play by Sultan and Ros. Particularly
noteworth was Ros's play at the net, and this resulted in the pair taking the second set 6-3 to force the Champions Tie Break. This started
as a very even affair, reaching 3 all, then 4 all, but after this it was increasingly clear that Mark and Milly were holding their nerve
well and pressing strongly, When it came to Mark's turn to serve he delivered two unreturnable bullets, and Sultan and Ros got no more points for a
10-4 score to the number 2 seeds Mark and Milly.
Monday 19 July - Today the excellent Punjabi Gourmet Dinner was cooked by Vandana Talwar and her
mum. The main course was a selection of mild curries with rice, and there were two delicious puddings to
choose from.
In one ladies doubles Semi Final Moira Duncan and Sally Tornow challenged the number one seeds Jane Boyle and Ludmilla
Stapleton. Moira and Sally played well but still lost 6-3 6-2 to the number one seeds.
In the other ladies doubles Semi Final Anne-Marie Williams and Julia Abbott took on the veteran pair of Lesley South and Liz Goodfellow. It
is great to see Lesley and Liz back in harness, and they played consistently well, as you would expect. However, Anne-Marie and Julia also put on
a very good performance and took some very spectacular points, but afterwards Anne-Marie commented that she had not played as well as her partner though
Julia said that her own play of the critical points had not been as good as it might have been. To the surprise of the
watchful audience the score ended up 6-2 6-3, which we all thought was nowhere near representative of the tennis we had
just watched.
Sultan Gangji has been grinding out semi-final appearances almost since the year dot, and generally knows how to get there
somehow, so no-one gave good odds on Jonathan Bell beating him in the men's quarter final despite Sultan's increasingly dodgy hip. But the
first set was a very tight affair which ultimately went to a tie break, which Jonathan took to go one up. The second set was similarly close and reached 5 all, but Sultan managed to
get the edge in the last two games to take it 7-5. Clearly the momentum had swung and all Sultan had to do was wrap up the
third set. Unfortunately for Sultan, no-one had told Jonathan this so he still believed he could win it, and proceded to run
down all Sultan's placed shots down the lines, delivering the occasional down the line drop shot or drive which Sultan just could
not reach this side of a hip operation. The net of all this was that the murmur went around the crowd at 5-2 to Jonathan that
an upset might be on the cards, and this was confirmed when, on Sultan's serve at match point down Jonathan went on to
win the point to earn himself a semi-final against Mark Stapleton later in the week.
Sunday 18 July - For the middle Sunday of the tournament only one tournament match was played today.
Jane Boyle, the number one seed and multiple tournament winner, was challenged by Julia Abbott. Julia got
off to a cracking start by taking the first 3 games, but Jane overhauled her to get to 5 all. Julia's tactics were to
hit deep or angled shots and come in. A lot of the time this worked well, but she did fail to pick up a
lot of pattern of Jane's returns short to the backhand, and could have had a lot more cheap points by hitting short
down the lines (i.e. not crosscourt or straight to Jane). Jane took the last 2 games of the set for 7-5. The
second set was similar in that Julia got off to a flying start, but got overhauled by Jane again for another 7-5 set to give
victory to Jane 7-5 7-5.
Saturday 17 July - A few matches were played today, but due to the number of walkovers this was fewer than normal.
Cedric de la Chaise seemed to feature in most of the matches today. In the first of these he defeated Simon Nelson. I do not have the score..
In the mixed Cedric was playing with Jane Boyle against Nikhil and Mallika Sood. This proved to be a very tight
match as the top seeds only won 7-5 6-4. Clearly Mallika is in a class of her own now, but Nikhil must
have also played a good game to get this close.
In the mens doubles Cedric was partnered by Paul O'Flynn who brought boundless enthusiasm into their encounter with
Dan Braverman and Peter Davies. Though Paul's serve was threatened on at least a couple of occasions he
held his nerve, and the only games which the opposition got were on Dan's serve.
Though defeated in the doubles, Dan Braverman was the number 5 seed in the singles and had a cracking match against Jeff Fine in the singles. Dan
lost the first set 6-2, but proceeded to take the next two sets 6-3 6-4 for a fine victory against the number 4 seed.
At last Julia Abbott and Ann Marie Williams managed to schedue their first round singles
match. This was a real ding dong battle Julia took the first set 7-5, but Anne Marie responded
with a spirited comeback to win the second set 6-4 and equalise the match. In the third set Julia once
more got the bit between her teeth and took the match by winning it 6-2. One cannot help wondering
what the outcome would have been if Anne Marie by her own admission had not been to the pub with friends the
night before and let them persuade her to drink something like 3 or 4 pints, which she claimed made not the
slightest bit of difference to the tennis today!!
In the ladies doubles Lesley South and Liz Goodfellow, the number 2 seeds, appeared to have an easy conclusion to the match ahead after taking the first set against Vandana and Anahita Talware 6-0. However, the Talwars had other ideas and the second set was a titanic struggle which the seeds only just managed to win 7-6. Well done Vandana and Anahita.
Friday 16 July - I have missed a few days, but there is only one match to report this evening.
Having defeated Vandana Talwar in the previous round of the singles, 11 year-old Margaux Valarche now took
on Ros Norkett. Clearly Ros is a much stronger player, and this showed in the score as Ros won 6-2 6-0. However, Margaux
acquitted herself well on the service returns and Ros had to step up to the mark on her own serves to win these games.
Sunday 11 July - There was a real buzz about the club today with a lot of tournament matches played.
In the mens singles:-
It looks like Simon Nelson beat Mark Webb, but only after a bit of a scare in the first set, which Mark
won 6-3. Thereafter Simon found his range (as I remember him doing against me a few years ago) and took
the next two sets relatively easily for a 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory.
Jeff Fine seems to have had no problems against Nikhil Sood in the first set of their singles match, taking
it 6-0. But then Nikhil must have played himself in as the second set was much closer, but
still won by Jeff for a match score of 6-0 6-4.
Dan Braverman had little problem against Dhananjay Talwar, beating him 6-1 6-1. My guess is that Dhananjay hit some good
shots but was too erratic to threaten Dan's consistent game. I certainly hope so as Dan is partnering me in the doubles.
Apart from the tennis one highlight of the day was the tea made by the Talwars - Vandana, Sanjit, Anahita and
Dhananjay. This was well received by all, especially the honey coated lattice.
In the ladies singles:-
The surprise of the day would have been the heavy defeat of Lesley South by Elena Valarche 6-1 6-3. Lesley thought Elena
ran around all over the court very effectively and hit some good shots. But Elena and and her family are off to Sicily next Saturday for her daugher's wedding - Daria (pronounced "Dasha") is marrying
Rob just before Finals Day which the Valarche family will miss. So the official result was a victory for Lesley South 1-6 3-5 (retired).
As usual this web site will be available to carry all the latest scores direct to Sicily and the rest of the world.
Margaux Valarche also won her match against Vandana Talwar 7-5 6-3. Margaux felt she played consistently and strongly enough
to deserve the victory.
In the only mens doubles match to be played Jonathan Bell and Maciek Jaowski beat Vice Sudbery and Charles
Rubinstein 6-0 6-1.
In the ladies doubles:-
Jane Boyle and Ludmilla Stapleton, the first seeds, beat Ros Norkett and Carine Valarche 6-2 6-4. Ros and Carine acquitted
themselves well in the second set particularly, though some unforced erros crept in which made it more difficult against the seeds extra power.
Jennifer and Sue Ehr, the third seeds, beat Julia Abbott and Anne-Marie Williams 6-0 6-2. The problem for Julia and Anne-Marie was
to find a solution to Jen's power first serve, consistency and pace, and to the slow but very curvy leftie serve of Sue. This task proved
too difficult in the end.
In a match enjoyed by all parties Vandan and Anahita Talwar beat Cindy and Erin Trish 6-4 6-2. Erin is
Cindy's daughter and temporary member and is over from the US to experience England including the joys of
grass-court tennis tournaments!
In the mixed:-
Bill Thom and Liz Goodfellow beat Jonathan Bell and Susan Grossman. The seasoned veteran campaigners were
not likely to make too many unforced errors and could probably gain the ascendancy by sheer placement and consistency.
Moira Duncan and Maciek Janowski beat Jeff Fine and Carine Valarche 7-5 7-6. Maciek provided
the winning edge in a very tight match.
Darren Lee and Ute Csiser-Bernhardt beat Charles Rubinstein and Margaux Valarche in a thrilling 6-2 2-6 [10-4] (champions
tie break) victory. Better make the most of it, Darren and Ute. You won't beat Margaux next year.....
And finally here is a teaser for you. What are these two handsome guys doing at West Heath? Find out in the next thrilling installment of
West Heath gossip.
Saturday 10 July - Three new matches were inserted into the Mens and Mixed draws
today, so be a little careful in assuming that you know what the draw is - best to check first! Two of these involve a new member Phil whose surname I do not yet know. He is replacing Laurent Deckers in the mixed as Laurent is injured.
Sanjiv Talwar beat Vince Sudbery 6-3 6-4
Mark Stapleton beat Charles Rubinstein 6-1 6-1. In my opinion Charles did well to get 2 games. In the process Charles managed to
break a string - surely due to the weight of Charles own shot rather than trying to return Mark's serve.....
The broken string might have led Jonathan Bell & Maciek Janowski to suspect a bit of
gamesmanship on Charles' part at the start of their doubles match against him and Vince
Sudbery (or so Charles thought). Charles when went through a very short knock up and the 1st game before noticing that he was
playing with broken strings. Jonathan & Maciek beat Vince and Charles 6-0, 6-1. Charles thought he played poorly. Maybe he
was disheartened after the drubbing at the hands of Mark.
It looks like Mark Stapleton went on to beat Paul O'Flynn. It was something like 6-0 6-1, but I did not write it down when Paul told me.
 Margaux and Elena Valarche beat Susan Grossman and Ute Csiser-Bernhardt 6-1 6-3. Margaux and
Elena are certainly a consistent pair and difficult to beat, though Susan thought her side could have done
better. I think that the four of them would make a good synchronised kissing team (see photo on right).
Apparently Margaux (11) is desperate to play with her mother, but Carine Valarche (13) is desperate not to.
Vandana and Dhananjay Talwar beat Sally Tornow and Richard Nightingale. Apparently there were few normal rallies. Dhananjay
served hard, but not always accurately, and hit good groundstrokes. Late at night in the club house Sally and Richard were to
be found consoling themselves with the remains of a bottle of wine.....
More fun and excitement to be had on the morrow!
Some of the women of West Heath will stop at nothing to chat up males who play reasonable tennis to secure
themselves a decent partner for this year's or even next year's West Heath tournament. Here is a typical example.
If you do not recognise the handsome man in the photo then think Jelena Jankovic.
Friday 9 July - The matches are now under way. Four were played today.
Tuesday 6 July - The 2010 West Heath Club Tournament draw is now on this web page and in the Clubhouse. The tournament will start on Thursday 8 July and first
round matches must be completed by Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 July. If you are in the
men's singles and are not seeded then check carefully
to see if you have to play a Round 0 (preliminary round) match before the first weekend of
the tournament. Joint referees are Sultan Gangji, Jane Boyle and
Marjan Denis, so please
let them know if you have any questions or issues.
The cost is £3 for one event, and £5 for 2 or 3 events. Please pay Jane Boyle, Moira Duncan or
Marjan Denis. As always, semi finals
will be played during our Gourmet Dinners week, from Monday 19 to Thursday 22
July. Sign up for the Gourmet Dinners on the sheets in the
clubhouse. Finals day is Saturday 24 July.
The tournament rules are in the clubhouse but can also be found here. The
aim is to publish results on the web site each night along with the occasional match report!
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles: Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies, Gossip, Rules
 |
Men's Open Singles
Holder : Mark Stapleton
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round1
Sat 10 July |
Round 2
Sun 11 July |
Round 3
Sun 18July |
Semi-finals
Thurs 22 |
Final
Sat 24
|
Winner |
| |
Cedric de la Chaise (1)
|
Cedric de la Chaise
6-1 6-0
|
Cedric de la Chaise
6-1 6-3 |
Cedric de la Chaise
6-0 6-1
|
Mark Stapleton
6-3 6-3
|
| |
| Sanjiv Talwar |
Sanjiv Talwar
6-3 6-4 |
| Vince Sudbery |
| Laurent Deckers |
Mark Webb
6-2 1-1 (retired)
|
Simon Nelson
3-6 6-0 6-3
|
| Mark Webb |
| Simon Nelson (5) |
Simon Nelson
w/o |
| Phil (new member) |
| |
Jeff Fine (4) |
Jeff Fine
6-0
6-4 |
Dan Braveman
2-6 6-3 6-4
|
| |
| |
Nikhil Sood |
| |
| |
Dhananjay Talwar |
Dan Braveman
6-1 6-1
|
| |
| |
Dan Braveman (5) |
| |
| |
Jonathan Bell |
Jonathan Bell
w/o
|
Jonathan Bell
7-6 5-7 6-2
|
Mark Stapleton
6-1 6-0
|
| |
| |
Paul Rubie |
| |
| |
Richard Nightingale |
Sultan Gangji
6-3 6-2
|
| |
| |
Sultan Gangji (3) |
| |
| |
Paul O'Flynn |
Paul O'Flynn
w/o
|
Mark Stapleton
|
| |
| |
Peter Davies |
| |
| |
Charles Rubinstein |
Mark Stapleton
6-1 6-2
|
| |
| |
Mark Stapleton (2) |
| |
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles: Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies, Gossip, Rules
|
|
Ladies' Open Singles
Holder : Lesley South
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round 1
Sun 11 July
|
Round 2
Sun 18 July
|
Semi-final
Wed 21 July
|
Final
Sat 24 July
|
Winner |
|
Jane Boyle (1) | Jane Boyle
7-5 7-5 |
Lesley South
6-4 6-2
|
Lesley South
7-6 6-3
|
|
Anne Marie Williams
|
Julia Abbott
7-5 4-6 6-2
|
Julia Abbott
|
|
Elena Valarche (3) |
Lesley South
1-6 3-5 retd. |
|
|
Lesley South |
|
Margaux Valarche
|
Margaux Valarche
7-5 6-3
|
Ros Norkett
6-2 6-0
|
Ros Norkett
6-4 6-4
|
Vandana Talwar
|
|
Ros Norkett (4)
|
|
Moira Duncan
|
Moira Duncan
6-4 6-2
|
Moira Duncan
1-6
1-5 (retd) |
Carine Valarche
|
|
Jen Ehr (2) |
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
 |
Men's Open Doubles
Holders : Cedric de la Chaise & Paul O'Flynn
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd
set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
| |
Round 2
Sun 18 July
|
Semi-final
Wed 21 July
|
Final
Sat 24 July |
Winner |
|
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton
(1)
|
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton
6-1 6-0
|
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton
6-3 6-2
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Paul O'Flynn
7-6 2-6 [10-5] |
|
|
Darren Lee
Paul Rubie
|
|
|
Jonathan Bell
Maciek Janowski
(4)
|
Jonathan Bell
Maciek Janowski
6-0 6-1
|
|
|
Vince Sudbery
Charles Rubinstein
|
|
|
Sanjiv & Dhaninjay Talwar |
Sanjiv & Dhaninjay Talwar
w/o
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Paul O'Flynn
6-0 6-1
|
|
|
Dave Glover
Bill Thom
(3)
|
|
|
Peter Davies
Dan Braverman
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Paul O'Flynn
6-1 6-1
|
|
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Paul O'Flynn
(2) |
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
|
|
Ladies' Open Doubles
Holders : Jane Boyle &
Ludmilla Stapleton
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Sunday 11 July |
Round 1
Sun 18 July
|
Semi-final
Tue 20 July
|
Final
Sat 24 July
|
Winner |
|
|
Jane Boyle
Ludmilla Stapleton
(1)
|
Jane Boyle
Ludmilla Stapleton
6-2 6-4
|
Jane Boyle
Ludmilla Stapleton
6-3 6-2
| Jane Boyle
Ludmilla Stapleton
6-3 6-2
|
Ros Norkett
Carine Valarche
|
|
|
Moira Duncan
Sally Tornow
(4)
|
Moira Duncan
Sally Tornow
w/o
|
Margaux Valarche
Elena Valarche
|
Margaux Valarche
Elena Valarche
6-1 6-3 |
Susan Grossman
Ute Csiser-Bernhardt
|
|
Julia Abbott
Anne Marie Williams
|
Julia Abbott
Anne Marie Williams
0-6 2-5 (retd) |
Lesley South
Liz Goodfellow
6-2 6-3
|
Jen Ehr
Sue Ehr
(3)
|
Cindy Trish
Erin Trish
|
Vandana Talwar
Anahita Talwar
6-4 6-2
|
Lesley South
Liz Goodfellow
6-0 7-6
|
Vandana Talwar
Anahita Talwar
|
|
Lesley South
Liz Goodfellow
(2)
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
|
|
Open Mixed Doubles
Holders :
Ludmilla Stapleton & Mark Stapleton
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round 1
Sun 11 July |
Round 2
Thurs 15 July
|
Round 3
Sun 18 July
|
Semi-final
Tue 20 July
|
Final
Thu 22 July
|
Winner |
|
|
Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise(1)
|
Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise
7-5 6-4 |
Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise
|
Ludmilla &
Mark Stapleton
7-6 7-6
|
| |
|
| |
Julia Abbott
Vince Sudbery |
Nikhil & Mallika Sood
(?-? ?-?) |
Nikhil & Mallika Sood
6-3 6-2
|
Nikhil &
Mallika Sood
|
Bill Thom
Liz Goodfellow
|
Bill Thom
Liz Goodfellow
6-2 6-3
|
Jonathan Bell
Susan Grossman
|
|
David Glover
Sue Ehr
(4) | David Glover
Sue Ehr
6-4 6-1
|
David Glover
Sue Ehr
w/o |
| |
Mark Webb
Lesley South
|
| |
| |
Darren Lee
Ute Csiser-Bernhardt |
Darren Lee
Ute Csiser-Bernhardt
6-2 2-6 [10-4]
|
| |
|
Charles Rubinstein
Margaux Valarche
|
|
Phil (???)
Anne Marie Williams
|
Sanjit & Anahita Talwar
w/o
|
Moira Duncan
Maciek Janowski
6-1 6-0
| Ros Norkett
Sultan Gangji
6-3 3-6 [12-10]
|
Ludmilla &
Mark Stapleton
6-2 3-6 [10-4]
|
Sanjit & Anahita Talwar
|
Moira Duncan
Maciek Janowski
|
Moira Duncan
Maciek Janowski
7-5 7-6
|
Jeff Fine
Carine Valarche |
|
|
Ros Norkett
Sultan Gangji
(3)
|
|
|
|
Sally Tornow
Richard Nightingale | Vandana
Talwar
Dhananjay Talwar
6-3 6-4
| Vandana
Talwar
Dhananjay Talwar
w/o
| Ludmilla &
Mark Stapleton
6-2 6-4
|
Vandana
Talwar
Dhananjay Talwar
|
| |
Peter Davies
Elena Valarche
|
|
|
| |
|
Ludmilla & Mark Stapleton (2)
|
| |
|
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
Player
Biographies
Cedric de la Chaise
Strong right-hander who was
singles champion for six years in a row. However, in 2010, after yet
another singles battles between him and Mark Stapleton, Mark managed to break the trend and emerged as champion.
Sultan Gangji
While Sultan's eye is as good as ever, his
mobility on court reduces year on year and the hip operation must be
looming. Once again, an appearance
in the semis is the most that Sultan can hope for this year.
Mark Stapleton
Strong
right-hander. Mark is married to Ludmilla
whom he partners in the mixed doubles. Mark had his work cut out to
defeat Cedric de la Chaise in the 2010 men's singles final, but proved equal to the task to emerge as champion, despite my predicxtion at the start of the tournament!
Jane Boyle
Jane holds more West Heath
ladies singles titles than any other West Heath member, past or
present (1974, 1976 - 1981, 2000 and 2001), a record of which she
is justifiably proud. In 2010 Jane won the Ladies Doubles, partnering Ludmilla Stapleton, and was runner up in the Mixed Doubles, partnering Cedric de la Chaise. `
Lesley South
Lesley first won the Ladies Singles in 1999 and again in 2002.
For a few years she has not been a member of West Heath, and has been running the catering at
the Globe LTC. However, Lesley rejoined West Heath in 2010 and has proved to be consistent enough
to win the Ladies Singles title again in 2010 in a final against Ros Norkett.
Jennifer Ehr
Jennifer's tennis has come on in leaps and bounds in the
last few years and her serve ought
to be the envy of all the ladies and most of the men. Jennifer is capable of holding her nerve
in a tight spot and delivering the shots to beat an opponent. Although only seeded 2, my money is
on her to win the Ladies Singles
this year, or if not to give Jane Boyle a real run for her money in 3 sets.
Ros Norkett
Ros is Ladies first team captain and was the 2010 runner up in the Ladies
Singles. When on form she has a very good server and hits the
ground-strokes with pace, but can be inconsistent at time.
Marjan Denis
Marjan was the 2004 title holder,
beating Christine Thompson in the final. In 2006 she lost in 6-4 in the third against
Malika Sood, and in 2007 lost in straight sets to Christine Thompson, so the record says that a semi-final appearance is the best that Marjan can ope for again this year. She
currently plays her league tennis for Brampton (who put on some good quizzes in which Marjan has appeared
in the winning team at least three times that I know of).
Singles: Men's, Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
2007 Finals Day
Singles: Men's, Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
Tournament Rules
- The tournament officially begins on
Thursday 8 July and the Finals will be played on Saturday 24 July.
If rain prevents play the finals will be played on Sunday 25 July.
The draw will be in the club house and on the web site on
Tuesday 6 July to allow competitors to arrange matches during
the week. First round matches must be played before or
on Saturday 10 July.
- A chart of available court times is
drawn up and competitors are asked to book the courts they intend
to play on.
- The player(s) whose name(s) appear at
the top of the fixture is(are) responsible for challenging their
opponent(s).
- The Tournament is to be played on all
the courts, apart from the Semi-Finals and Finals which will be played on
grass, unless the weather does not permit. In the event
of disagreement between the opponents on the surface to be chosen,
this will be decided by the spin of a racquet.
- New balls will be available for the
Finals.
- All rounds are to be played within the
scheduled times indicated at the top of each draw sheet to allow
smooth progress. Extensions will only be permitted in
exceptional circumstances and with permission from the joint
referees.
- All singles matches will be best of 3
tie-break sets. The doubles events will have tie breaks in the first two sets but the 3rd set will be a match
tie-break (i.e. Champions tie-break where the team reaching 10 points with a
margin of 2 will win). The rules of the tie-break are displayed in the club house.
- All matches must be continuous and
appeal for bad light will be considered after 9 p.m.
- Please give your entry fee to Moira Duncan or Marjan Denis. The fee is £3 for
one event or £5 for two or more.
- Competitors are expected to volunteer to
be lines persons on Finals Day.
- The Mixed Doubles final will be scheduled for Thursday 23 July.
- The Joint Referees are Sultan Gangji, Jane Boyle and
Marjan Denis, whose decisions will remain final.
Sultan Gangji, Jane Boyle and Marjan Denis
|
|
|
