Well, the tournament is now all done and dusted. Several close finals today including a 9-7 win for Hussein in men's  singles, a similar score line for Charlotte in the ladies and a tie break win in the mixed for Ben and Rosey.

Congrats to the four juniors who contested the ladies' doubles - and to eventual winners Lilia and Anna (Carisbrooke).  Other main draw winners were Dan and Andy in the men's doubles.

Reverse draw winners included Martin/Paul (men's doubles), Rizwan (Roundhill) (men's/singles), Louise "I don't do singles" Mehmet (ladies) and Jacquie and Alexander in the mixed.

Think everyone agreed it has been a successful week. Numbers were up on last year (77 v 63) and we were pleased to welcome a number of players from other clubs. Well organised by Gary with back up support from all our helpers in the kitchen, on the bar and with general organisation. Thanks to everyone, including all the loyal supporters who come down to watch, drink  and eat cake !

Everything rounded off today with pizza in the clubhouse and a hunt for the 2 sets of bar keys ! (Found!!).

Now onto the league season........

Thursday player of the night was Sue L - played 3, won 3.

Well done to Riz --- keeping the Roundhill flag flying & into a final on Saturday.

The crowd also witnessed Eddie Smith's final competitive match (for 6 months anyway). He goes under the knife at the weekend & hopes to come out with a new hip.

Paul Facer is into 2 finals & here is a photo of him gallantly sporting the Oadby Adidas Polo shirt (only £25).

Saturday finals will see the usual suspects - Minskis, Khans, Poultneys, Greenwoods, Howses, Zarinses , Irelands, Nobles, Van Der Byls, along with some other fresh faces Boukikovs, Lesters, Pandeys, Galevas, Stephensons, Facers, Sarangs, Shentons, Mehmets, Kings & O' Connors.

Finals are all arranged for 3 hours on Saturday afternoon, rather than spread out over a longer time period.

At the end of  tournament play we are hoping to serve some food (pizza ?)  and the bar will be open. 

This replaces coming back for an evening gathering - so we hope everyone playing/watching will stay for an end of tournament get together.

Wednesday night saw a long reverse draw singles match with John Z fighting back against Anthony  to win on a tie break.  This event always  seems to result in some of  our  tournaments' longest matches  (usually involving George and Bob !).

In other matches Ben beat Dan 9-7 in a closely fought semi final. Dan then teamed up with Louise to beat the new pairing of Kevin and Caroline in a mixed doubles quarter final. Dan now meets Ben (and Rosie) again in the semi of this event. Can Louise pull him through once again ?

Off court, the table tennis tournament is hotting up - though the organiser says a couple of matches need to be played tonight if we are to get through all the matches. Check the draw to see  if you need to play please.

Moroccan chicken/couscous went down well and had sold out by the end of the evening.

Tonight we are keeping food simple with jacket potatoes/range of fillings.

Finals are all arranged for 3 hours on Saturday afternoon, rather than spread out over a longer time period. At the end of  tournament play we are hoping to serve some food (pizza ?)  and the bar will be open. This replaces coming back for an evening gathering - so we hope everyone playing/watching will stay for an end of tournament get together.

Tuesday evening saw men's top seeds winning through in their singles matches. In the ladies' doubles the two junior pairs won through to the final, well done to Aditi/Charlotte and Lilia/Anna G (Carisbrooke).

Closest match of the evening saw George beat Mark F 9-7 in the reverse draw men's singles.

Also nice to see representatives from Roundhill & Victoria still making an impact.

Off court, the lasagne was well received (thanks Ali). In the table tennis tournament Dan beat Oli N 21-18 - though apparently the last 3 points were won by lucky net cords ! The evening ended with an excited crowd watching football on TV  and enjoying post tennis drinks.

Moroccan chicken is on the menu tonight so hope to see you later.

Sue

Thanks to the Sheards for planting out the big pots of Spring flowers

For info - I didn't write the post for Day 3. Any complaints -  suggest they are forwarded to our Vet of the Year ! By the way, please make sure you have actually won 9 games before going to the net and shaking hands Simon !!

Those who were still at the club at 9.45pm last night witnessed  Louise trying (?)  to emulate Jennifer G in DD  with Vet of the Year as Patrick S. They didn't quite manage the lift but are practising madly I hear for a post tournament dance display !

Sue

Day 3 - Monday.


Managed to get through tonights schedule despite the rain.. Thanks to everyone who played & danced.

Please double check your match times for the next few days.

http://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=938F0011-1D8A-4BBB-8A4C-D7F1C2DE70BB

Highlights of night - Alex Brown mauled by Leicestershire Vet of the Year 2013, closely followed by  Steve Colver & Jon Stone winning the toss against the highly fancied number 1 doubles pairing.


-----------------------------------TABLE TENNIS NEWS---------------------------

For all those who have entered the Table Tennis competition please click on the link below to find draw details. Matches to be played asap.

https://tournaments.sportlabs.com/tennis/#/tournament/083b340e-38c3-4be5-8987-1f57210be452

Please see Ben Minski for details

Gary

All very good today, according to our Tournament Director. Congrats to Kevin for his win over Phil H in a tie break and to youngsters Lilia and Anna G for their win over Pippa and Caroline.

Very busy in the kitchen all day. It was also great to see so many down for the Wimbledon draw and a total of 61 took part in total. A full list of winners will be e mailed out tonight to all those who took part.

Withers have been at the club today and have been busy with sales. Sue "Stella" Ireland has now got kit for every match of the league season,we gather , after purchases today. Thanks to Steve for covering in the kitchen while she tried a range of kit on. Simon L continues to find lost property a source of his kit !

Gary has been able to do the scheduling for the whole tournament now and so check matches and provisionals carefully - http://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=938F0011-1D8A-4BBB-8A4C-D7F1C2DE70BB

Menu for the week is -
Monday - chilli
Tuesday - lasagne
Wednesday - Moroccan chicken (a new  dish on our tourney menu !!)

We will aim to do 18-20 portions of each,  but we can't take any pre orders I'm afraid. We will always have cakes/snacks available as back up.

Ali C is injured (playing table tennis) but we are assured it won't affect her lasagne preparation.

Play resumes tomorrow at 6pm with Dan  i/c of on court arrangements.