Ben Bartram, the 14 year old wheelchair tennis player from Norwich has had a successful summer, travelling to tournaments in the Netherlands and Belgium as well as the British wheelchair open in Nottingham.
In the junior world rankings out this week Ben has moved up to number 6 in the world. He also enjoyed some success in his first international men’s tournament, winning the B draw event.
On Sunday 11th August Wells TTC held it’s annual Mary Bircham doubles tournament and BBQ. Mary now deceased was an early member of the club and a driving force behind it’s development. All together 16 members entered and played a round robin in two groups. There followed semi-finals and a final the winners being Phil Glanfield and John O’Malley (a new member). The runners up Lynn Pigney and Cameron Raven.
The BBQ was enjoyed by other members and families, there was just one rain break but the wind played havoc.
Despite some incredibly close matches in both the Mens and Ladies events, Norfolk teams will be competing in lower divisions next year.
The Mens team were returning to Southsea, Portsmouth for the first time since 2003, when they were in Division 6! This year, Group 2 would prove too strong for a team in transition.
The Ladies were also in Division 2, being played in Manchester. Like the Men, they were also fielding a young squad with no fewer than 4 players still involved with junior tennis.
On Day 1, the Men suffered a 3-6 defeat to East of Scotland. In years gone by this would have been a devastating defeat but the Scots ended up gaining promotion by the end of the week. The Ladies pulled off a dramatic win against Cheshire, 5-4 with Amy Partridge ad Maddie Brooks winning all three of there matches. At 4-4, the decisive match was won by Sam Noble and Emily Barrett to clinch victory.
On Day 2 the Men put in a much better performance against Cheshire. The match score was 3-3 going into the last round, which unfortunately ended 4-5. The Ladies would suffer the same fate. In extremely hot conditions they were unable to continue the momentum of the first day and despite 2 wins for Maddie and Amy, lost 2-7 to Hampshire.
The Men were digging deep on wednesday with relegation fears started to increase. Again the guys were on the losing end of a 4-5 defeat, this time to Cambridgeshire. A 3-6 defeat to Leicestershire also meant that the Ladies were chasing one more victory to avoid relegation.
On Day 4 the Men faced Derbyshire and the Ladies were up against Lancashire. Maddie and Amy were again undefeated and leading from the front, as were Tom Fisher and Will Davies who won all three rubbers during the day. This would not be enough however, with both teams losing 4-5!
As a result the Men were relegated but the Ladies could stay up by beating Kent on the friday. It wasnt to be however with the team losing 4-5 once again. It was a really close affair for the Ladies who ended up being relegated by 1 rubber overall!
Congratulations and thank you to all of the following team members who played some superb tennis throughout the week: Sam Noble, Amy Partridge, Maddie Brooks, Emily Barrett, Rosie Pooley, Frances Evans, Eleanor Widdows, Alix Jermey, Will Foster, Johnnie Wynne, Dan Wynne, Alex Mcnaughton, Richard Bloomfield, Kris Jenkins, Will Davies, Nicky Crawley, Tom Fisher and Alex Watkinson.
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Cromer Tennis Club, Titan Tennis Academy and Tennis Edge joined forces once again in aid of Cancer Research UK to bring a day packed full of junior tennis on Sunday 7th July 2019.
The weather was superb, the BBQ was on point and the level of tennis on show was exceptional. Titan Tennis brought 22 of its players from across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to Cromer to battle against an evenly matched Norfolk side.
From Under 9 up to Under 12s, the junior players competed on the fine grass courts of Cromer Tennis Club. Families turned up in their car loads to watch and support the players. The bar was open and the cakes and BBQ food were the perfect addition to a great family day out.
We had some very close battles with some matches going to sudden death tie breaks, players picked up ratings wins and above all had a thoroughly fun day.
Topspin Tennis were also in attendance, setting up their pop up shop and racket demo, they were joined by one of the UK’s Yonex Representative’s, bringing with him a jumbo sized Yonex racket which was a big hit with the youngest players!
Most importantly the day raised valuable funds for Cancer Research UK, all entry fees have been donated, along with Cromer Tennis Club kindly donating the proceeds from the BBQ to the charity also, raising over £500, which, combined with last year is a cumulative total of almost £2,000 raised. A fantastic achievement and everyone can’t wait to do it all again next year!