Tennis in Surrey Magazine 2016

promotion
The ITF Woking Open Seniors
Tournament continues to Grow
The ITF sanctioned Woking
tournament was played from 14
to 18 September 2016 and proved
once again to be very popular. It
has now been running for 17 years
consecutively. The well-looked-after
Woking Lawn Tennis & Croquet
Club in Hook Heath continues to
attract players from all over Britain
as well as from abroad. The Club’s
new artificial clay courts were ready
just prior to the event and there are
now 6 clay courts in addition to the
hard courts.
Finals’ day was appropriately
the high point of the tournament
with a number of hard-fought
high quality matches, mostly three
setters, which entertained the
crowd immensely.
The men’s 35 singles event was
won by Robert Smith for the second
year running after the no.1 seed
Sheriff el Essaily from Egypt had
lost to Brian Condren from Ireland.
In the men’s 40 Chris Smith beat
David King in a close match who
had earlier disposed of the no.1 seed
Stephen Jones.
In the men’s 45 Ian Udal having
first beaten no. 2 seed John
Loosemore got the better of the no.
3 seed Guy Sellek in the final by 7-6
in the third set. Mark Rowe in the
50s had a similarly tough match
to win against Alistair Alexander
(6-4 in the 3rd), whom he had also
beaten the year before. In the 55s
Nigel Mann beat no. 3 seed Neil
Driver in the semis by 6-4 in the
3rd before retaining his title by
defeating Peter Occleshaw 6-3 in the
3rd. Regular participant and two
time winner Godfrey Evans had a
tough three set match against Arun
Vethakken in the semis of the 60s
before reversing his loss of last year
and taking three sets to beat Jasper
Cooper who had ousted Tony King
earlier.
One of the most exciting finals
took place in the men’s 65 where
title holder Rennie Johnston came
back from a set and 5-0 down as
well as match point down at 5-6 to
win the match in three gruelling
sets. David Brazier, winner in 2014,
defeated Bev Wilson in the 70s and
Graham Downes won the 75s by 7-5
in the 3rd.
The winners of the women’s
singles events dominated their
respective age groups which
suffered somewhat from relatively
low entries. Maia Dunn won the 35s
for the third year running, Isabelle
Tyrrell retained het title in the 45s,
Alison Taylor won the 50s, Susie
Reid the 55s and Susan Willoughby
the 60s.
The tournament was generously
supported by the accountancy firm
of P.G.Fry & Company. Referee Peter
Grimsdale assisted by wife Angela
and by Pauline Udal ensured a
smooth running of the tournament.
The players enjoyed their
tournament and the finalists were
pleased with the prize money. Next
year the event will be held from 13
to 17 September 2017 and subject to
entry numbers it will be attempted
to play all matches on the clay
courts.
All the results are on the ITF
Seniors website and photos can be
found on Facebook/wltcc.
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