Jane’s Joyriders Win Captains Cup

Our Captains Cup took place this month in a mixed doubles format of four teams of four players. Our tennis captains do a great job running their teams in the Bedfordshire league matches through the summer and winter seasons. The Captains Cup is the perfect opportunity to thank current and past captains by inviting them to play in this fun event. To make up the required 16 places, the remaining places are then offered to players who participate in the Club Towers teams.

The 16 players were split into 4 teams of 4, and then drawn into two semi-finals. The winners of each semi-final then played against each other in a final, while the two losing teams played in a 3^rd/4^th place play-off. The semi-final between Kathy’s Conquerors (KC) and Jane’s Joyriders (JJ) was very close with the first two rubbers tied on sets and games, and so the second round of rubbers would prove crucial. Both rubbers were narrowly won by 4 games to 3 by Jane’s team, but if just one of those games had been won by Kathy’s team it would have been a tie. Jane’s team (JJ) advanced to the final.

Tom’s Terrors got into their stride quickly in the other semi-final against Glenn’s Go-Getters – winning three of the four rubbers – and so the stage was set for the final between Jane’s Joyriders and Tom’s Terrors. This proved to be the closest match of the day. Sarah and Tom (TT) beat Lili and Simon (JJ) 5-4 in the first rubber while Jane and Ian (JJ) beat Amanda and James (TT) 5-4 in the second rubber. Tied on sets and games at the halfway point. In the second stage of rubbers Sarah and Tom beat Jane and Ian 5-4, while Lili and Simon beat Amanda and James 5-4 in the other rubber, resulting in a total dead heat on sets and games. The two teams then went into a huddle to decide which of their two pairs would play the deciding tie-break. In Jane’s team Lili and Simon were nominated to play against Sarah and Tom. Unsurprisingly this tense tie-break also went to the wire, which Lili and Simon clinched 7-5.

A great afternoon of tennis was rounded off with a drink at the bar. Congratulations to all the players on the day and thanks again to our captains for your great work in running our Club teams..

Winners (JJ) –  Jane’s Joyriders (Jane Jafarifar, Lili Granger, Simon Young and Ian Grove)

Runners-Up (TT)  –  Tom’s Terrors (Tom Hall, Sarah Hogan, Amanda Greenland and James Ortiz)

3^rd Place (KC) –  Kathy’s Conquerors (Kathy Wallis, Julia Richardson, Kevin Smith and Sri Sreedhara)

4^th Place (GGG) – Glenn’s Go-Getters (Glenn Rudd, Lynne Hawkins, Cem Cakir and Juliet Johnson)

We have more great tennis events planned this year with a Start-Rite tournament on 25^th April, the Strawberry & Pimm’s on 26^th June and the start of the Club Championships in June. We also have Play Your Way to Wimbledon (PYWTW) underway in round robin groups too. In September we will run another doubles tournament on a Saturday, and our ever popular and fun Christmas Jumper event will be in early December. Don’t forget our year-round box leagues too. Look out for details on how to enter on the noticeboard in the Racquets corridor and in our regular newsletters.