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A packed house enjoyed some fine music on Friday 27th January - thanks to everyone for supporting it, a great night was had by all!

NEW PAVING UNDERWAY!
31st January 2012

New block paving starts at Halton after many years of broken Tarmac and puddles , we have saved enough money to block pave our side entrance to the clubhouse!

EVERYBALL INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY, GRADE 3 CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
22nd January 2012

Halton were delighted to stage this event for the second time over the Christmas holidays. The event was fully subscribed with unfortunately many being turned away, especially in the orange event.

The tournament ran from 27 December up to New Years Eve, the events for both boys and girls  were for all ages from under 8's to under 14's. 188 players entered, with 324 matches, 664 sets and a staggering 3395 games being played!

The roll of honour was:-

Mini Red (8 & Under)  - Winner Joshua Hoey;  Runner Up Josh Bright
Mini Orange Boys (9 & Under) - Winner Max Basing;  Runner Up Hugh Craig
Mini Orange Girls (9 & Under)  - Winner Minelli Cooray; Runner Up Sophia Underwood
Green Boys (10 & Under)  - Winner Ben Smith;  Runner Up Matthew Blood
Green Girls (10 & Under) -  Winner Scarlett Hutchinson; Runner Up Hannah Krasner
12 & Under Boys - Winner Sebastian Harris;  Runner Up Oscar Glenister
12 & Under Girls - Winner Destinee Martins;  Runner Up Asha Badiani
14 & Under Boys - Winner Alexis Canter;  Runner Up Alex Juniper
14 & Under Girls - Winner Georgina Axon; Runner Up Hannah Ferrett

Halton's Head Coach James Morgan commented “It was a terrific week, it was really satisfying to see so many matches played of such a high quality and standard of behaviour. We had some very long days and it would not have been possible to put on such an event without such good help from Sarah Tricks our referee, Sam Start and also our army of helpers! A big note of thanks to our members for their support during the week too.

Under 12 Boys winner Sebastian Harris and Runner Up Oscar Glenister, who both train at Halton's Everyball International Academy

SCHOOLS FESTIVAL AT HALTON TENNIS CENTRE
19th January 2012

Halton Tennis Centre hosted a primary schools tennis festival on Saturday 14 January, with pupils competing from Aston Clinton School, Haresfoot School (Berkhamsted) Halton and Weston Turville.

The Halton coaching team have been running after school clubs in several local primary schools in the area and the festival was a chance for the children to put into practice all they had learnt over the last few months.  There were 6 teams (all named after well-known tennis brands) with 27 children competing on the indoor courts at Halton, displaying some great team spirit – the players encouraging each other and cheering on their teams.

All the teams competed against each other and the players won points for their team for each match won.  The runners-up were Team Wilson from Haresfoot School – Alex Kessell-Holland, Polly Hall, Louis Priggen, Clementine Waterhouse, Elizabeth Lapthorne and the winners were Team Adidas from Aston Clinton – Matthew Hoinbille, Jake Houghton, Oliver Wallis, Tom Pendlebury and Oliver Richards.  Special medals were also awarded to Suzy Hewson (Sportsmanship award); Jake Houghton (Performer of the day) and Lily Bridgeman (Worker of the day).

The afternoon was a great success, summed up by one of the parents:  “It was a really good event today, especially for the children who haven't done matches before - they all went away full of confidence.....Thank you, as always, to all at Halton who made it happen, it was much appreciated by children and parents.”

James Morgan, Head coach at Halton Tennis Club and the Everyball International Academy, added, ‘We had a fantastic day, it was great to see so many children and their families from the local area. The idea behind the festival was to build on the momentum generated within the school and to introduce the pupils to competition.

The schools will proudly display their position on the leader board at their school and will return to Halton after Easter to take part again.
Any school interested in entering a team for the next festival for pupils in years 3-6 are encouraged to call James on 01296 623453.

MINI TENNIS CHRISTMAS PARTY - HALTON STYLE!
18th December 2011

Click here to read the story at everyball.net

LATEST RESULTS FROM HALTON TENNIS
28th November 2011

There are have been several matches played by Halton teams over the last two weeks.  In the Bucks Veterans League Division 3 Mixed 2 had a very convincing win against Richings Park.  The team of Graeme Mackie/Ellen North and Colin Read/Claire Roberts won 8-0.  Mixed 3 were also successful in their match against Farnham Common 1 when Gerry Walsh/Sarah Tricks and Simon Jennings/Karen Fisher won 7-1.  Mens 2 also had a convincing win over Great Missenden 2 – the team of Peter Taylor/David Barnett and David Herring/Peter Strong won 6-2.   Both Mens 1 and Mens 3 lost to teams from Gerrards Cross Dukes Wood with similar scores.  In Division 1 Neil Twogood/Ralph Holliday and Andrew Brockington/Thomas Parsons lost 1-7 and in Division 4 Mens 3 had a similar score when the team of John Steel/Gerry Walsh and Kevin Clausner/Clive Brazier also lost 1-7.   In Division Ladies 5 fought hard against Wolverton 1 but despite some very close games the team (Mariko Francombe/Anne Cobley and Jenny Knott/Sam Wilson) lost 1-7.

In the Aylesbury & District League Division 3 Ladies 3 came up against a very strong Long Crendon 1st team and the Halton ladies (Kaye Lillycrop/Linda Bottrill & Jenny Finnegan/Andrea Hamilton) lost ½-7½. 

ADULT & CHILD TOURNAMENT AT HALTON
10th October 2011

35 pairs of all ages teamed up at Halton Tennis Centre to compete in an Adult & Child Tournament on Saturday.  In the youngest age group (8 & Under) played with a Mini Red ball, there were some very close matches with the father and son pairing of Steve and William Mottram winning the group.  In the Mini Orange group (9 & Under) two father and son pairs led the group, with Mark & Joshua Bright finishing runners-up to the winners James & Joel Good.

In the yellow ball competition the leading pairs in each group progressed through to the semi-final: Caroline & JJ Clark beat John & Helen Steel 10-4; Peter & Annabel Westermann beat Rufus & Ethan Jackson 10-4.  In the play-off for 3rd place Rufus & Ethan beat John & Helen 10-6.  The Final saw some great rallies but Caroline & JJ had the edge over Peter & Annabel and won 10-4.

Halton Tennis Centre is running a tennis & multi-activity camp during the half-term holiday, from 24-27 October for all ages from 2½ to 17 years old.

HALTON SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS COUNTY TITLE
3rd October 2011

Halton's Senior Mixed team successfully defended their title in the Bucks Senior Mixed Knockout Finals in glorious weather at Stoke Park Club on Sunday 2 October.

The team of Tor Pisani/Chris Evans and Emily Quin/Ian Cast defeated Penn & Tylers Green 8-0, winning the title for an impressive 10th successive year.

Sunday was a busy day for Halton Tennis Centre – the club ran its End of Summer Season tournament, with several breaks for refreshments in the unseasonal hot weather.  The format was American Mixed Doubles, with players changing partners every round.  The 4 players with the highest points played a Final at the end of the morning when Ralph Holliday & Alice Chambers defeated Peter Down & Mary O'Sullivan.

In the afternoon Mens 1 played Chesham 1879 in the final match of the summer season in the Premier Division of the Bucks Shield.  The team of Peter Thorne/Danny West, Alex Barnes/James Morgan and Gavin McKinlay/Jack Mordey won 8-1.

Mens 3 won their first match of the Winter season against Widmer End 2 in Division 5 with the team of Mark Trojacek/Stuart Blagg and Colin Read/Edward Hitchin.

Halton Everyball International & Aegon Junior International Tournaments 2011 at Halton Tennis Centre
1st September 2011

The Boys TE U16’s final was an all British affair between no 1 seed Julian Cash (Sussex,TE ranking 24 and runner up last year) and qualifier Cameron Hawkins (Kent). This time Julian went a step further winning convincingly 6-2 6-0. The boys doubles however was won by the German/Bulgarian pair of Joey Johannes Hillebrand and Kaloyan Mihalyov beating by a walkover the Maltese brothers Bernard & Matthew Cassar Torregiani in the final.

The Girl’s TE U16’s final was again an all British battle between Hertfordshire's Anna Popescu (no 8 seed & Wildcard) and Hannah Brett (no4 seed) with Anna Popescu's more aggressive play, edging her through to a 6-1 6-2 victory. The girls doubles was between British pair Alice Patch (Halton) & Cecily Wuenscher and German/Russian pair of Nika Hein and Anastasia Prokhodimova with the British pair eventually winning a feisty match 6-2 4-6 10-5.

Following her Tennis Europe success Anna Popescu from Berkhamsted's Elite Academy featured in 2 more singles finals. In the Everyball International Grade 3 U14’s singles Anna beat Chloe Halliday (Surrey) in a  very tight match 4-6 6-4 10-7.   She followed this up by completing a clean sweep when she won the U18’s girls singles final, beating Halton's Alice Patch  6-2 6-4.

The rest of the age-group finals were dominated by players from Halton Tennis Centre.  The U8’s  event was won by Joel James winning  his round robin group by 1 point! Halton's Joshua Bright was runner-up.

The U9’s boys was won by Angus Whittam (Halton) beating William Daniel (Truro LTC Cornwall) 7-3 7-4 in the final.

The U9’s girls was won by Lara Hill (Halton) beating  Natalya Ogunwale (Gosling Tennis Centre, Hertfordshire) 4-7 7-4 11-9 in a hard fought contest.
The U10’s boys was won by Daniel Martin (Hertfordshire &Letchworth Tennis Club) beating Daniel Dean (Buckinghamshire and Halton) 4-0 4-1.

The U10’s girls was played between Britney De Silva (Gosling Tennis Centre & Middlesex) & Indu Ragunather (Buckinghamshire & Halton) with Indu coming out on top in a hard fought battle winning 2-4 4-1 10-7.

The U12’s boy’s final was another thriller with Roberto Preka no2 seed (Islington Tennis Centre & Middlesex) beating Jack Molloy no1 seed (Halton & Buckinghamshire) in an epic final 6-2 4-6 16-14 .  The boys doubles was won by Jake Williams & Alex Chan (both Halton players) winning both matches in the group event.

The U12’s girls final was played between No. 1 seed Amelia Campbell (Langley Tennis Club) and Vaishali Jorge (Middlesex) with Amelia winning 6-3 6-1. The girls doubles final was won by Britney De Silva (Gosling Tennis Centre & Middlesex) & Mandi Furaji (Middlesex) beating Halton's Lauren Armstrong  & Poppy King  6-2 6-2.

The boys U14’s finals was between the top 2 seeds from Hertfordshire when Benjamin Wood (no1 seed) beat Charles Broom (no2 seed) 6-1 6-4. The boys doubles was an all-Halton affair when Thomas Schmidt & Oliver Levi beat Jack Clark & Oscar Glenister 6-0 6-1.

The U18’s boy’s singles was between Adam Chan (Halton) and Aleksandr Ernepesov (no1 seed) with Ernespesov confirming his status and winning 7-6 6-1. The boys doubles was won by James Gammell & Gavin McKinlay (Halton ) who beat Jack Mordey (Halton) & Harry Mabbit (Bedfordshire) 7-5 6-1.

In conclusion, it was once again a very enjoyable week, full of quality tennis and memorable matches. Tournament Director, Phil Hill expressed his gratitude to all the volunteers, staff, officials, referees, parents and in particular the players for making this a successful tournament in its 2nd year and looked forward to making the event even more of a success next year.

CHAIRMAN'S CUP AT HALTON TENNIS CLUB
15th August 2011

Halton Tennis Club held its annual Summer tournament – The Chairman's Cup – on Sunday.  There was a good turnout for the tournament with 36 players entering. The format was an American-style mixed doubles event with players changing partners after every round and accumulating points during the morning, with the four top scorers going through to the final. The final was played in a friendly but very competitive spirit between Marc Trojacek/Flo Glenister and John Steel/Dharshi Maheswaran.  Marc and Flo just had the edge over their opponents and emerged the winners and were presented with the Chairman's Cup by the Club Chairman, John Walker. Profits from the entry fees are being donated to one of Halton's chosen charities – Bucks Mind.

BOYS 12 AND UNDER TEAM TRIUMPHS AT AEGON TEAM TENNIS FINALS
8th August 2011

Halton 12 and under boys team were crowned national champions last month at the National tennis centre in Roehampton, after confirming their status as top seeds at the Aegon Team Tennis Finals.

Halton qualified through the initial stages of the competition beating clubs in the South-West group from Oxstalls, St Peter's Tennis Academy, Coombe Dingle and David Lloyd Bristol along the way.  

This unbeaten run then continued at the finals in Roehampton where they faced Hallamshire in the semi-final, winning 4-1 and then beating David Lloyd Raynes Park in the final by the same margin. 

The team of Barney Smith, Michael Shaw, Sam Gough, Jack Molloy, Alex Chan, Oscar Glenister, Sebastian Harris and Jake Williams all played their part towards the title.  Team captain James Morgan commented 'This is a tremendous achievement for Halton Tennis Centre and our team of boys.  They have represented themselves admirably through the whole campaign and showed great fight and team spirit along the way.

Left to right: Michael Shaw, Jake Williams, Alex Chan,Jack Molloy, Oscar Glenister and Sam Gough with team captain James Morgan

In the Bucks Shield Division  6  Halton's Ladies 5th team have had mixed results over the last 2 weeks.  They lost to Chesham 1879 2nd team in a closely fought contest, but were more successful when they played Penn & Tylers Green 2nd team with the team of Dharshi Maheswaran/Liz Horler,   Caroline Clark/Mary O'Sullivan, Claire Rogan/Caroline Craddock when the result was a 6-3 win for Halton.

Ladies 2 played Stoke Poges 1st team in Division 2  and after some close matches the result was a 4½-4½  draw.  The team was Christina Sjoberg/Bridget Andreas, Claire Roberts/Ellen North and Wendy Shute/Camilla Hayward.

Halton Tennis Centre are running tennis and multi-activity camps throughout the summer holidays for all ages from 2½ to 18 for the junior camps and new for this year we are running Adult Tennis Camps.

IVY COOPER MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT AT HALTON
10th July 2011

Halton Tennis Centre hosted and ran the inaugural tournament this month in memory of Halton tennis member  Ivy Cooper who died last year.   20 ladies played an American-style tournament with players changing partners after each round and the winner of the most points – Bridget Andreas – was awarded the Ivy Cooper Memorial Cup.

Ivy Cooper won her first Bucks County title in 1963 and over the next 40 years she accumulated 40 club and 35 Bucks titles – originally a member of Aylesbury Tennis Club and latterly based at Halton where she enjoyed the luxury of being able to play on the indoor courts.  Ivy led Bucks ladies to victory in the inaugural Over 50 inter-county competition in 1988 and competed in all the evolving national age-groups up to Over 75, shortly before her death.  Ivy was also selected three times for Great Britain's team at World Championships and featured in 17 national veterans' finals.

At the request of Ivy's husband, Doug, the tournament also supported the Lymphona Association and Lyndsey McGrath, the tournament organiser, is delighted to be sending £200 to the charity.

Both Halton's Mens and Ladies 1st teams have qualified for the Regional Play-Offs in the National Division of the Aegon Team Tennis competition.  Halton's Mens team played Team Bath last weekend when the wet conditions forced the match indoors on Halton's artificial clay courts – the match was crucial for both teams as whoever won the match was certain of a place in the play-offs.   Halton's No. 1 player Ahmed El Menshawy had a tough first set against Sid Hazarika but proved to be the most consistent player and won 7-5 6-2; Pete Thorne at No. 2 slot played a solid match to win 6-3 6-4 against Max England.  Alex Barnes/ Stuart Pugh won their first set in their doubles match against Richard Abbott/Seb Rey but lost their way in the second set and were forced into a deciding match tiebreak which they lost 8-10.  With the match poised at 2-1 to Halton the team needed to win 2 more matches to secure the tie.  In the singles Owen Richards, playing at No. 4 had a very close match against Seb Rey but lost 4-6 4-6; Thorne/El Menshawy dominated their doubles match against Hazarika/England winning 6-2 6-1.  This meant that Stu Pugh had to win his singles match against Richard Abbott to stop the match being decided by a tie-break shoot-out.  Pugh won the first set comfortably 6-2 but Abbott came back in the second set and was leading 5-2 before Pugh started clawing his way back into the set and came through to win 7-5.  This gave Halton a 4-2 win and Runners-up place in the South-West Group.

Halton's Ladies had their match postponed until this weekend when rain stopped play last week.  They were up against a weakened team from Gerrards Cross Bull Lane and came away comfortable winners.  In the singles round Jemima Hayward had a close first set against Laura Jones but ran away with the second set and won 6-3 6-1; Emily Quin  beat Jo Kilbourn 6-4 6-1 and both Kathryn Sharples and Claudia Marsala won their matches without the loss of a game.  Halton were just as dominant in the doubles round with Jemima/Claudia winning 6-0 6-1 and Emily/Kathryn winning 6-3 6-0.  They now look forward to playing David Lloyd Raynes Park in the Regional Play-offs on 2 July, when the Mens team will be up against Bromley LTC.

In the Bucks Shield Division 2 Ladies 2 had a convincing win against Wooburn Park when the team of Christina Sjoberg/Trudie Drake, Claire Roberts/Amanda Thompson and Bridget Andreas/Debbie Jenkins won 7½-1½.

HALTON'S TOP TEAMS KEEP ON TRACK
5th June 2011

Halton's Mens and Ladies 1st teams had mixed results in the National Division of the  Aegon Team Tennis competition at the weekend but both teams still have a chance of making it through to the regional play-offs.  Halton's Ladies team played at home against Esporta Gloucester and completely dominated the match.  Esporta Gloucester were one player down and therefore had to concede one singles and one doubles match which gave Halton a head start and the home team went on to win all their matches with the loss of only a handful of games.  In the singles round Jemima Hayward beat Sophie Brazell 6-1 6-0; Alex Clark beat Hannah Redmond 6-0 6-0 and Kathryn Sharples beat Angie Scott 6-1 6-0.  Jemima then teamed up with Lereesa Easterbrook to win the doubles 6-2 6-0, giving an 8-0 win to Halton.

The Mens team travelled to Taunton and came across a very strong team – strengthened by the return of 2 US College players.  In the singles round Halton's sole win came from their No. 1 player Ahmed El Menshawy who had a marathon match against Alistair Felton winning 6-7 7-6 7-6, with the rest of the team – Peter Thorne, Stuart Pugh and Tom Miller losing in straight sets.  Halton needed to win both doubles matches to keep the match alive, but unfortunately even though El Menshawy/Thorne won in 3 tight sets, Pugh/Miller lost in 2 very close sets, resulting in a 4-2 win for Taunton.  Both of Halton's teams need to win their last group match next week to qualify for the regional play-offs.

In the Bucks Shield, Mens 5 (Kevin Clausner/Sean Strong, Andrew Nurse/John Steel, Martin Dewey/David Smith) beat Mens 6 (Matthew King/Simon Loose, Ben Brownlee/Robert Kramer, Howard Dolan/Steve Whant) by 6-3.  Ladies 4 also had a good win recently in a Division 5 match against Gerrards Cross Bull Lane 4 – the team of Sarah Tricks/Mariko Francombe, Flo Glenister/Kathy Hill and Sam Wilson/Linda Bottrill won 5½-3½.

HALTON MEN BATTLE THROUGH TO WIN
9th May 2011

Both Halton's Mens teams had to battle through very tight situations to win their matches in the Aegon Team Tennis competition this weekend.  Mens 1, who are in the National Open division, were up against Winchester 1.  In the singles round Haltons 1st and 2nd players Ahmed El Menshawy and Peter Thorne both won in straight sets; Mike James at No. 3 position had 2 very close sets against Karim Aouichaoui but lost 4-6 6-7 and Stuart Pugh lost 1-6 3-6.  With the match tied at 2-2 the doubles round was vital - James teamed up with Alex Barnes and despite some very close games lost 6-7 4-6 but Menshawy/Thorne won very comfortably 6-1 6-3 – so the match was still tied, requiring a tiebreak shoot-out to get a result – 2 singles and 1 doubles.  Menshawy and James came out to play the singles and both won, securing the win for Halton without the need to play the doubles.

There was a similar scenario when Mens 2 played Gerrards Cross Bull Lane in the County division 1 of the competition.  After the singles round the score was also 2-2 with Chris Evans and Alan Hutcherson winning in straight sets and Nic Voillier and Andy McGrath losing their singles matches.  Again, after the doubles the score remained tied, requiring a tiebreak shoot-out to get a result.  The match went to the wire – Alan Hutcherson won 10-5, Chris Evans lost in a close tiebreak, so that Voillier/McGrath had to go out and play the deciding match, which they duly won 10-8 and meant that Halton won the match overall.  Ladies 1 were unfortunate to come up against a very strong team when they travelled to Taunton in the National Division of the Ladies Aegon Team Tennis competition.  The team of Jemima Hayward, Emily Quin, Claudia Marsala and Ilona Jones lost 5-1. 

In the Bucks Shield Division  5 Halton's Ladies 4th team narrowly lost to Chesham Bois 3rd team 5-4, with the team of Karen Fisher/Sarah Tricks, Trisha Hartley/Flo Glenister and Kaye Lillycrop/Alice Chambers.  Halton's Mens 3rd and 4th team had to play each other in their first match of the season, which the 3rd team won 7½-1½ – the teams were Craig Rose/Chris I'Anson, Ralph Holliday/Neil Block, Ian Prior/Paul Henry (3rd's) and Andrew Brockington/Colin Read, Peter Taylor/David Andrew and Tom Parkin/Luke Williams.

Several of Halton's junior players excelled in tournaments last week. At Rickmansworth Grade 3 Daniel Dean beat Patrick Evans 4-1 4-2 in the Boys 10 & Under Singles; No. 1 seed Michael Shaw won the Boys 12 & Under singles, beating No. 2 seed Salil Navapurkar in straight sets.  Two Halton girls featured in the 16 & Under Singles Final, with Victoria Pisani beating Holly Hutchinson 6-3 7-6; Gavin McKinlay won the 18 & Under title and Tom Miller the Senior title.  In the Boys 18 & Under doubles final James Blane & Jack Mordey beat the No. 1 seeds Mark Barnes & Luke Willis, winning 10-8 in the third set tiebreak.

At Sutton Grade 2 junior tournament, Claudia Marsala reached the Girls 18 & Under final but lost to Emily Dunne 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Halton's Ladies 1st team proved too strong for the opposition when they played Team Bath in the National division of the Aegon Team Tennis competion. The team welcomed back Lereesa Easterbrook to the team (on Easter vacation from Nottingham University) where she played at No. 2 position in the singles round, beating India Sanders 1-6 6-1 6-4; Jemima Hayward (No. 1), Alex Clark and Celia Bristow all won in straight sets.  Having already secured a win, Halton consolidated in the doubles round with Jemima/Celia winning 6-3 6-0 and Lereesa teaming up with Helen Adams to win 6-2 6-1 – resulting in a resounding 6-0 win for Halton.  Mens 1 also had a good win when they played Bristol on Sunday.  In the singles round  Ahmed El Menshawy, Owen Richards and Tom Miller won, with Pete Thorne losing at No. 2 spot.  The team went into the doubles round needing to win one match to secure the tie –  Alex Barnes came in to play with Miller and Thorne/El Menshawy played at No. 1 spot – both pairs went to one-set all but won in their deciding tiebreaks – with the result that Halton won 5-1 overall.

HALTON'S TEAMS OFF TO A FLYING START
4th April 2011

The 2011 Aegon Team Tennis competition got off to a flying start for several of Halton's teams this weekend.  The competition is run throughout the summer for all ages from 8 & under to Adult, at county, regional and national levels.  Halton have entered teams at all ages and levels and this week Mens 1 marked their return to the top tier – National Open – by winning North Oxford 1 with only the loss of one set.  In the singles round Halton were made to fight but managed to secure all 4 matches – Ahmed El Menshawy at No. 1 beat Jack Rooney 6-2 6-1, Peter Thorne had a marathon tie-break to take the first set against Joe Cartledge but then raced through the second set to win 7-6 6-3, and Alex Barnes and Tom Miller had fairly comfortable wins, beating Jay Sexton and Thomas Bowden respectively 6-4 6-4.  Halton completed a clean sweep by winning both doubles matches, securing a 6-0 win.  Ladies 1 had a tougher encounter when they travelled to Bournemouth to play West Hants in their National Open match.  Jemima Hayward at No. 1 fought back from losing the first set 5-7 to take the next two sets 6-4 6-3 against  higher-ranked Anna White, but the rest of the team were less fortunate, with Helen Adams, Claudia Marsala and Ilona Jones all losing their singles matches in straight sets.  In the doubles round Jemima and Claudia took a set off the West Hants first pair of Anna White/Jane Bingham but lost 10-6 in the deciding tiebreak and Helen and Ilona lost in straight sets, resulting in a 1-5 loss.  Mens 2nd team travelled to Great Missenden to play their first match in County Division 1. The team went 3-1 up after the singles round, with Chris Evans at No. 1 beating Neil Johnson 6-4 6-4, Gavin McKinlay beating Alex Hartley 3-6 6-3 10-5, and Matt Rogan beating Phil Howes 6-1 6-3 and Andy McGrath losing to James Harley 1-6 5-7. In the doubles round Evans/Rogan had an extremely close match against Johnson/Harley, losing in the 3rd set tiebreak but McKinlay/McGrath beat Harley/Howes 6-2 6-1, securing a 4-2 win for Halton.

Halton's Juniors dominated their matches in the Premier Division.  Boys 12 & Under team travelled to play David Lloyd Bristol on Saturday and won the match with the loss of only 11 games.  In the singles round both Barnaby Smith (at No. 1) and Michael Shaw (at No. 2) beat Edward Gardner and Ciaron Newsman respectively 6-0 6-0, Sam Gough at No. 3 beat Edward Shattock 6-2 6-1 and Jack Molloy won 6-2 6-2 against Fraser Brown.  The boys were just as dominant in the doubles round with Barnaby & Michael winning 6-2 6-1 and Sam & Jack 6-0 6-2 – giving Halton a resounding 6-0 win.  Boys 14 & Under also played David Lloyd Bristol – at home on Sunday – and were just as dynamic.  In the singles round Thomas Schmidt beat Kristian Newsman 6-2 6-2, Jack Clark beat Edward Gardner 6-2 6-4, Harrison Roe beat Ciaron Newman 6-0 6-2 and Ben Willis beat Fraser Brown 6-3 6-2, and the Halton boys followed this up by winning both doubles in straight sets, again giving Halton a 6-0 win.

This weekend Halton's Boys 18 & 16 & Under and Girls 16 & Under teams came up against tough opposition in the Premier Division of the Aegon Team Tennis competiition.  The Boys team played Team Bath on Saturday.  The opposition were all ranked higher than the Halton team and despite some close matches, the team of James Gammell, Jack Mordey, Gavin McKinlay and James Blane lost 8-0.  The Girls team played Exmouth on Sunday and the match went to the wire - Halton's 1st and 2nd players Alex Clark and Alice Patch won their singles matches, with Holly Hutchinson and Laura Hope losing.  After the doubles round, the match stood at 3-3, and the result had to be decided with a final tie-break - Alex and Holly stepped up to the plate but lost in a very tight tiebreak and the match went to Exmouth.  In contrast Halton's Boys 16 & Under team totally dominated their match against Esporta Gloucestershire with the team of Adam Chan, Alex Fage, Luke Williams and Calum McKinlay winning 6-0, with the loss of only a handful of games.

Halton's teams have enjoyed mixed fortunes over the last week.  In the Bucks Veterans League, Ladies 3 had some close sets against Penn & Tylers Green 2 but were unable to convert their chances and the team of Stacey Taylor/Mariko Francombe and Flo Glenister/Sam McCaffrey lost 0-8. In the Vets Super League Ralph Holliday/Pam Knight and Tony Jeffryes/Camilla Hayward secured a 4-4 draw against Widmer End.  Ladies 1 also had a 4-4 draw against Gerrards Cross, Dukes Wood.  The home team of Wendy Shute/Pam Knight and Vicki Walker/Camilla Hayward  went into a 3-1 lead in the first round, but the opposition came back strongly in the second round to secure the draw.  Mens 1 (John Hinchliff, Neil Twogood, Ralph Holliday, Paul Henry) were up against very tough opposition when they played Gerrards Cross Bull Lane 1 and lost the match.  Ladies 2 travelled to Farnham Common where the match was again very close but the team of Gill Roe/Ellen North and Rachel Palmer/Janis O'Connor just lost 5-3. 

In the Aylesbury & District League Ladies 2 travelled to Berkhamsted and won by a very convincing margin against their second team – the team was Claire Roberts/Francesca Weill and Debbie Jenkins/Bridget Andreas.  Ladies 1 were less successful when the team of Helen Adams/Claudia Marsala and Sarah Butcher/Christina Sjoberg lost to Berkhamsted 1 at home. Ladies 3 had a very tight match against Chesham Bois but were able to secure a 5-3 win with the team of Amanda Thompson/Rachel Palmer and Gill Roe/Vicki Walker.  Mens 2 played at home against Haddenham 1 – again the match was very tight and ended in a 4-4 draw – Halton's team was Ian Prior/Craig Rose and Ralph Holliday/Paul Henry.

In the Singles League the mother and daughter pairing of Becki and Sarah Tricks beat Penn & Tylers Green.  In the singles round Becki won 6-2 6-0 and Sarah lost 3-6 2-6.  The doubles round was extremely tight but the Halton pair emerged as the winners 5-7 6-3 10-8. 

A (WET) DAY AWAY FROM THE COURTS
23rd March 2011

Halton's full-time players had a day out away from the tennis court and gym last week.  Jake Williams, Alex Clarke, Katy Dunne, Tor Pisani and Dan Lewis  were subjected to a rather wet day out on the Thames at Danesfield RAF Watersports Centre near Marlow last week.

Although it rained all day they kept on smiling - Arranged by Tom Wood, this is the first in a series of activities designed to challenge the Performance players. Mike James and Tom also went along for the ride and despite Tor's best efforts, remained dryer than the rest!

PICTURES OF THE NEW DOME!
23rd March 2011

Here are some pics of our new dome being folded ready for shipping from Canada. It's on it's way and you'll be playing in it soon!

HALTON PLAYERS SECURE PROMOTION FOR BUCKS
14th March 2011

Buckinghamshire's Girls 18 & Under team travelled to Graves Tennis Centre in Sheffield to compete in Division 3A of the Aegon Winter County Cup.  6 out of the 8 players in the team are based at Halton Tennis Centre -  Alex Clark, Claudia Marsala, Victoria Pisani, Ruby Brady, Alice Patch, and Annabel Westermann.  On Day 1 the team were up against Cheshire -  in the singles round Abbie Reynolds and Claudia Marsala lost in very tight matches, but Alice won comfortably 6-0 6-2 at No. 5,  Victoria won 6-4 7-6 and Alex won 6-2 6-3 at No. 1.  The comeback of the day was from Hollie Davies – at 5-4 40-0 down, she came back to win 6-7 7-5 6-3.  This put Bucks 4-2 up going into the doubles round and Cheshire needing to win all 3 doubles matches to win the match.  A determined Cheshire 3rd pair beat Alice/Ruby 6-2 6-3 and their No. 1 pair beat Claudia/Alex in a very tight match 6-4 6-3.  Despite a comeback from Cheshire in the second set the Bucks pair of Hollie/Victoria won the rubber 6-4 7-5 which meant Bucks had won 5-4.

Day 2 saw Bucks up against Northumberland who had lost the previous day to Derbyshire.  Northumberland's No. 1 and 2 players were very strong but didn't have the same depth of team as the Bucks team and the girls needed to exploit that.  The team got off to a great start with Abbie and Alice both winning in 3 sets at No. 6 and 5 respectively.  Tor Pisani won comfortably 6-2 6-2, with Claudia also winning in a very tight match, coming back from losing the first set to win 3-6 6-3 6-3.  Bucks No. 1 and 2 players Alex and Hollie both lost to Northumberland's top players, so again Bucks went into the doubles round leading 4-2.  After a few changes to the doubles pairings, Bucks No. 3 pair of Ruby/Annabel lost 6-2 6-4 and Alex/Hollie lost to Northumberland's No. 1 pair 6-3 6-1.  This meant that the tie was to be decided in the last doubles match which Claudia/Tor won comfortably 6-1 6-2 – another 5-4 win for Bucks.

Day 3 Bucks were in a straight play-off for promotion to Group 2 against Derbyshire.  In the singles round the Bucks continued with their consistency and went 4-2 up, with Hollie and Alex winning in 2 sets and both Alice and Claudia winning 2 very tight 3-set matches.  Bucks only needed to win one doubles to secure promotion – Alice/Annabel lost 7-6 6-1, but Alex/Hollie were too strong for their opposition and won 6-1 6-2 and Claudia/Tor reinforced Bucks winning form by winning 6-2 5-7 11-9.  This meant Bucks won 6-3 and had secured promotion to Division 2 next year.

POSITIVE RESULTS FOR HALTON'S TEAMS
24th January 2011

Several of Halton's teams had positive results over the weekend.  In the Aylesbury & District League, Ladies 1 travelled to Thame on Sunday when the team of Emily Quin/Allegra Miles and Ilona Jones/Trudie Drake won by a convincing 8-0.  Ladies 2 were also successful when they played Long Crendon at home – Wendy Shute/Camilla Hayward and Ellen North/Janis O'Connor only dropped one set to win 7-1.  Mens 1st and 2nd teams also won their matches over the weekend.  Mens 1 travelled to Chesham Bois when they proved too strong for the opposition and the team of Chris Evans, Matt Rogan, Andy McGrath and Gavin McKinlay won 8-0.  Mens 2 had a very tight match against Tring – with the score standing at 3½-3½, the final set of the match was crucial but Halton just had the edge and the team of Ian Prior/Rufus Jackson and Ralph Holliday/Paul Henry won the match by 4½-3½.

In the Bucks Veterans League Ladies 4 had a close match against Iver Heath with the team of Caroline Clark/Linda Bottrill and Stephanie Langley/Sally Felton winning 5-3.

EVERYBALL INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY GRADE 3 JUNIOR TOURNAMENT HELD AT HALTON TENNIS CENTRE
31st December 2010

Halton Tennis Centre hosted the first Everyball International Academy Grade 3 Junior Tournament for age groups 14 & Under down to 8 & Under to be held between Christmas and New Year.  Although some people may have been put off travelling due to the snowy conditions leading up to the tournament, there was an excellent entry of 181 players, some coming from considerable distances including Aberdeen, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire and including some highly-ranked players in the various age groups.

Boys 10 & Under finalists - Marley & Nathan

Halton Tennis Centre was well represented in the latter stages of all the age groups, notably Alexa Wilson won the 8 & Under girls; Daniel Dean (ranked 4 in the LTA  leaderboard) was runner-up in the 9 & Under boys; Imogen Scarles winner of the 10 & Under girls and Alex Fage won the 14 & Under boys event having displayed solid, disciplined tennis to come back from a set down in the semi-finals to win through to the final where he dominated the match to take the title from Ben Smith (White Horse Tennis Centre).

Girls 9 & Under finalists - Esther & Annali

In the 12 & Under boys event Halton dominated the event with all 4 semi-finalists coming from the home club.  Jack Molloy beat Jake Williams and Sam Gough beat Oscar Glenister to make it through to an all-Halton Final.  The match was of the highest quality with Sam and Jack both playing towards the top of their games with some enthralling points but No. 1 seed Sam proved stronger and won 7-5 6-2.

Daniel & Harry - 9 & under

The 14 & Under Girls singles final was won by Georgina Axon (Gosling Tennis Centre) who is ranked 3 nationally in the 12 & Under age group after she beat Chloe Halliday (Westside Tennis Centre).  The consolation final was competed between two Halton players – Holly Hutchinson beat Laura Hope.  Hampshire's Esther Adeshina (ranked 2 in the LTA leaderboard) won the 9 & Under girls event, beating Annali Olivelle (Woodford Wells).

Imogen & Sophie - 10 & under

Tournament Director and Head Coach at Halton, James Morgan commented “It was fantastic to have such a strong entry considering we were running the event over Christmas for the first time; the standard was very high with some incredible matches at all age groups. We are delighted with the success of it and look forward to running the event again in 2011.”

Sam & Jack - 12 & under

Mike James, Halton's Director of Tennis commented “Well done to all players taking part and thank you to the Royal Air Force for donating prizes to all the finalists as well as “5 Star Trophies” for supplying the trophies.  Thanks very much to Sarah Tricks (Referee), Camilla Hayward, James Morgan and their helpers for such a well organised event”.  Finally, a big “thank you” to Gill Roe and all the team at Halton Tennis Centre for their background support.

Alex & Ben - 14 & under

The full results are shown below:-

ADULT & CHILD TOURNAMENT AT HALTON IN THE SNOW
27th November 2011

50 players braved the snow and ice to play in the ever-popular Adult & Child Tournament at Halton on Saturday afternoon.  Thanks to Halton's 6 indoor courts the weather didn't affect play – pairs were put into boxes according to the ages of the children – from Mini Red/Orange for the Under 9's, Green-ball matches for the Under 10's and yellow-ball matches for the older juniors.  The format was 10-minute timed matches which added an extra edge to everyone's play.  In the Red/Orange group brothers Ethan and Will Rose came out on top – Ethan and his dad Craig were runners-up to older brother Will and his partner Paul Henry.  In the Green group father and daughter Mark and Anna Hosking won 4 out of 5 matches but were beaten by father and son Gary and James Fuller who were very consistent and won all their matches.  In the yellow-ball group competition there were two groups and after the round-robin matches the 2 semi-finals were contested between Peter and Annabel Westermann who beat Sean Strong and Bridget Andreas and  Rob and Thomas Pain who beat Olivia Ray and Andy Maclean.  In the Final, the format was a match tie break and was extremely close with some excellent rallies, but Rob and Thomas emerged as the winners.

Halton Tennis Centre is holding a free Mini Tennis Fun Taster Session this Saturday from 12 noon to 1.30pm for children aged 4-6 years old.  To book just email Mike at mike@everyball.net or ring 07958 008312.

Halton's Mixed 1 team successfully defended their title for the 9th consecutive year when they played Great Missenden in the Final of the Bucks Senior Mixed Knock-Out competition which took place at Stoke Park on Sunday. The team of Alan Hutcherson/Celia Bristow and Alex Barnes/Helen Hales won 6-2 and they were presented with the shield by Keith Dewick, Chairman of Bucks LTA.

In the Aylesbury & District League Division 1 Halton's Mens 1 proved too strong for Chesham Bois 2 and the team of Andy Maclean/Andy McGrath and Kirk Redford/Gavin Mckinlay won 8-0, despite Redford injuring his ankle in the final set. In Division 5 Mens 3 played Wingrave 1 at home  when Dave Herring/Alan Pickett and Gerry Walsh/Andrew Brockington had the edge to win 6-2. Ladies 3 had some extremely tight sets against Cublington 1 in Division 3 but the team of Gill Roe/Audrey Deane and Jo Euston-Moore/Emma Strong secured the vital points and won the match 6-2.

In the Bucks Vets League Division 1 Mens 1 had a tough match against a strong Aylesbury side and the team of Chris Duffin/Neil Block and Ralph Holliday/Paul Henry lost 8-0.  Mixed 1 also suffered a defeat when they lost 7-1 to Burnham.  The team was Mark Trojacek/Wendy Shute and Peter Strong/Gill Roe.  In Division 3 Mixed 2 rounded off the weekend's matches on a positive note when the team of Ralph Holliday/Claire Roberts and Colin Reed/Debbie Jenkins beat High Wycombe 2 by a convincing 7-1.