Easter Bank Holiday Monday 1st Apr saw a full turnout of 24 players for the Peter Cox Fun Handicap Tennis Tournament. The winners were Sarah Skidmore & Grahame Bennett (pictured below with the trophy). More photos and full results at the link.
For the 3rd year running, we held a Spring Tennis Tournament at DTSC and this year we were kindly sponsored by the Dorset LTA. This tournament comprised unseeded Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles, with drawn for partners. Pictured below are the Tournament Champions. Full results and more photos are at the link. The full draw is here.
A fun tournament in a Fast4 Format to celebrate the start of the New Year. Pictured below are the Champions Joy Hennessy and Mike Williams. A write up including more photos is at the link.
A great tournament, which finished in glorious Autumn sunshine on Sun 15th Oct.`The courts were packed with action and the clubhouse was packed with spectators sampling the delicious lunch prepared by Ros Clark, Jill Maple and a host of cake bakers - many thanks to all. Congratulations to everyone who took part and well done to all of our Champions and Plate Winners. Pictured below is Ellery Ford - triple champion in the Men's Singles, Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles, receiving the Rod Skidmore Cup for winning the most Main Draw events. The full draw is here and a write up including more photos is at the link. An article from the Dorset Echo is at this link.
Another fun tournament on August Bank Holiday. Another full house with 24 entrants and a very competitive, fun day. The eventual winner were Julie Nash and Mike Williams, pictured below. A write up, results and more photos are at the link.
A fun day of tennis in the sunshine - we had the maximum of 24 entrants and the eventual winners, Sarah Skidmore and Stephen Hockaday are pictured below. A write up, results and more photos are at the link.
To celebrate the Coronation of our new King, we held a Coronation Cup Tie-Break Tennis Tournament at DTSC. Picture below is the overall winner Sally Dinham-Scott being crowned by Club & Tennis Chair Al Clark. More details and photos are at the link. A write up from the Dorset Echo is at this link.
For the 2nd year running, we held a Spring Tennis Tournament at DTSC. This comprised unseeded Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles, with drawn for partners. Pictured below are the Tournament Champions. Full results and more photos are at the link. The full draw is here.
A great turnout and a fun day on Monday 2nd January for our first fun tournament of the year. Pictured below are Champions Chris Porter (left) and Laura Dodington (right) receiving their trophies from Club Chair Al Clark (centre). Full results and more photos are at the link.
A very exciting tournament, with the highest turnout we’ve had in recent years. Our main tournament sponsor was once again Pengillys and we are very grateful for their support. Finals day on Sunday 16th October was a great success, with lovely sunny, autumnal weather and light winds at the start of the day, but fairly heavy rain for the end of the final match of the day. It was great to see the courts full of our top tennis players and the club packed with spectators. Pictured below are the 2022 Singles Champions, Milly Sidaway and Ellery Ford. More photos and a write up of the tournament are at this link. The full draw is here.
A fun day of tennis and socialising in the sunshine for the Peter Cox Tournament held on Bank Holiday Monday 29th August 2022. Pictured below are the Champions, Dugald Lockhart & Alister Millar. A full write up and more photos are at the link.
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The first time this tournament has been held since 2019 due to Covid restrictions. Pictured is the Under 18 Girls Champion, Rebecca Stein. Full results and more photos are at the link and a write up in the Dorset Echo is at this link.
We had a great day’s sport and social with World Team Tennis at DTSC for the 2nd time. We had 2 closely fought matches and the Casterbridge Chargers and the Poundbury Pounders came out as the winners. Many thanks to the very generous sponsorship by Pengillys which enabled us to provide some fun prizes and a delicious lunch. The Casterbridge Chargers are pictured below. More photos and results are at the link.
A great fun day of tennis and socialising in the sunshine was held on Easter Monday 18th April 2022. Pictured below are the Champions, Andrea Chambers & Mike Williams. A full write up and more photos are at the link.
In Spring 2022, we added a new event to the calendar, a Spring Tennis Tournament. This comprised unseeded Men’s and Women’s Doubles, with drawn for partners, alongside a resurrected Over 45s, Barbara Martin Mixed Doubles, which we hadn’t held since 2015. A report of the tournament is at the link. The full draw and results are at this link. Pictured below are theWomen's Doubles Finalists (from left to right) - Runner-up - Ann Williams, Champions Sue Warren & Sarah Skidmore and Runner-up Claire Thomasson.
A great turnout and a fun day on Monday 3rd January for our first fun tournament of the year. Pictured below are (from left) Champions Julie Nash & Mike Williams and Runners-up Sarah Skidmore & Ann Williams. Full results and more photos are at the link. A write-up from the Dorset Echo is at this link.
Hot on the heels of the delayed 2020 Annual Tennis Championships, we held the 2021 Championships between August and Finals Day on Saturday 16th October. Pictured below are the Mixed Doubles Finalists, from left Runners up Millie Sidaway and Ellery Ford and Defending Champions, Sarah Skidmore and Ethan Robinson. Full results and photos are at the link. A write up from the Dorset Echo is at the link. The full draw is here.
Bank Holiday Monday 30th August saw a great turnout for the Peter Cox Fun Handicap Tennis Tournament. After a very competitive and fun day, the eventual winners were Keith Mason (defending his title from May 2019) and Chris Porter who were too strong and consistent for Mike Williams and Mike Henderson on the other side of the net. Full results and photos are at the link. Pictured below: Champions Keith Mason (left) & Chris Porter (right)
The DTSC 2020 Annual Tennis Championships were held during 2020 and 2021 around the various lockdowns for Covid-19. The finals were eventually completed over 2 days in May and June 2021. Pictured below are the joint winners of the Rod Skidmore Cup, Sarah Skidmore (Ladies' Singles and Mixed Doubles Champion) and Kevin Willemse (Men's Singles and Men's Doubles Champion). Full results and photos are at the link. A write up from the Dorset Echo, 11th Aug 2021 is at the link. The full draw is here.
The DTSC 2019 Annual Tennis Championships saw a great day of action on Sunday 6th October in challenging sunny and windy conditions. The 2019 Championships were kindly sponsored by Pengillys who generously donated all the prizes. Pictured below left is Keith Mason, Chair of the Tennis Committee, presenting Kevin Willemse (right) with the Men's Singles Trophy. Full results and photos are at the link.
A very successful Junior Tennis Tournament was held in half term week in May 2019. The outstanding star of the week was 13 year old Ethan Robinson, pictured below (right) with 16 & under runner up, Eddie Keegan. Ethan won both the boys 16 & under singles and the boys 14 & under singles, with the loss of only 1 game in total. Full results and more photos are at the link.
There was a great turnout on Bank Holiday Monday 6th May for this fun event organised by Al Clark. We had 23 entrants and the eventual winners were Alister Millar and Keith Mason who beat Mike Williams and Sue Rippingale 6-4 in the final. More photos are at the link.
The 2018 Championships were the first to be held on our new artificial clay courts and the finals were actually held on 5th Jan 2019, due to the work resurfacing the courts in Oct - Dec 2018. Pictured below is Joe Chambers, 2018 Champion in Men's Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles being presented with the Rod Skidmore Trophy by Keith Mason, Tennis Chairman, as the winner of the most events in the main draw. Full details and results at the link. The write-up from the Dorset Echo Wed 9th Jan 2019 is at the link.
The sun shone on our newly resurfaced courts on 1st Jan 2019 as we rang in the New Year with a fun tournament very kindly organised by Mike Williams. After the tournament, we enjoyed a festive, shared lunch as everyone emptied out their fridges before they started their New Year Resolutions!! Pictured below are all the participants - the winners were Joy Hennessy and Harry Offer. After the tennis, many of the members hadn't tried dragging the new artificial clay courts, so that provided plenty of amusement.
The sun shone (for a change) on Bank Holiday Monday 28th May and our Head Tennis Coach Sarah Skidmore organised a great Peter Cox tennis tournament. Good fun was had by all the 18 entrants and it was very hot on court (again unusual for our May Bank Holiday tournament).
The Champions were Keith Mason & Lorraine Slowther who beat Mike Williams & Val Welch in the final. More photos are at the link.
Joint winners of the Rod Skidmore Cup - Joe Chambers, Sarah Skidmore & Alex Baker
The sun shone on Sunday 5th November for final’s day and for the second year in a row, the juniors dominated Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club’s annual Tennis Championships.
In the Men’s Singles, 16-year-old Joe Chambers successfully defended his title, by beating 15-year-old Matt Smith in straight sets. Chambers had come through a tough semi-final against the 2015 Champion, Hal Cazalet and proved too strong for Smith.
The only non-teenager to take home a title in the main events was veteran Sarah Skidmore, the DTSC Head Tennis Coach. She won the Ladies’ Singles in straight sets, by defeating 19-year-old defending champion Kayleigh Budge and the Mixed Doubles, teaming up with 17-year-old Alex Baker to defend their title for the third year in a row. Sarah Skidmore first won the Ladies’ Singles in 1992 and has now won it 17 times, a remarkable achievement. The Mixed Doubles was a very closely fought match with Baker and Skidmore taking the first set convincingly before the teenage pairing of Joe Chambers and Kayleigh Budge fought back to win a close second set. The deciding set tie-break however was mostly one-way traffic with the defending champions running out clear winners.
The Men’s & Ladies’ Doubles were also won by teenage pairings. Men’s Singles Champion Joe Chambers teamed up with Alex Baker to overcome Mark Green and Andrew Irwin in straights sets, but the Ladies’ Doubles was a real battle. Eventually Kayleigh Budge and her 15-year-old partner Emily Noel came through a very tight match to defeat Sarah Skidmore and her 16-year-old partner Rosie Simes. It looked like a third title for Skidmore after she and Simes dominated the first set, but then Budge and Noel completely turned it around and won the second set convincingly. It could have gone either way in the deciding tie-break, but Budge and Noel came through to win the title.
Sarah Skidmore, Joe Chambers and Alex Baker all won two titles in the main events, meaning they shared the coveted Rod Skidmore Cup. This Cup is awarded to the winner of the most events in the main draw and is presented in memory of a much missed club member and club chairman, Rod Skidmore, a Royal Naval pilot who lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2002.
Consolation events were held in all events apart from the Ladies’ Singles (due to low entry numbers) and full results are listed below.
Full Results:
Men's Singles:
Joe Chambers defeated Matthew Smith 6-4 6-3
Ladies' Singles:
Sarah Skidmore defeated Kayleigh Budge 6-0 6-3
Men's Doubles:
Alex Baker & Joe Chambers defeated Mark Green & Andrew Irwin 6-1 6-3
Ladies' Doubles:
Kayleigh Budge & Emily Noel defeated Rosie Simes & Sarah Skidmore 3-6 6-1 10-6
Mixed Doubles:
Alex Baker & Sarah Skidmore defeated Kayleigh Budge & Joe Chambers 6-1 3-6 10-4
Men's Singles Consolation:
Greg Charles defeated Alister Millar 7-5 6-3
Men's Doubles Consolation:
Derek Hanby & Tim Toogood defeated Martin Kimberley & Alister Millar 7-5 6-1
Ladies' Doubles Consolation
Sue Ramsbottom & Ann Williams defeated Liv Milles & Jo Sloley 7-6 4-6 10-3
Mixed Doubles Consolation:
Al & Ros Clark defeated Grahame Bennett & Jenny Warrack 6-0 7-5
Who picked a Bank Holiday Monday in May for a fun tennis tournament? Good fun was had by all the 15 entrants, despite the rain interruption. The main point was to have fun and we did as we shared a great pot luck lunch and boosted the bar profits whilst waiting for the weather to clear. We also raised £90 for the Dorchester Opportunity Group with a Charity Raffle organised by Paul Nathanson.
The winners (leaders when the rain stopped play after a complicated Al Clark Tie-Break scenario) pictured below were Paul Nathanson (left) and Grahame Bennett (right) being presented with the trophy and prizes by organiser Al Clark. More photos are at the link.
A gallery of photos from Finals Day is at the following link
The Juniors dominated Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club’s Annual Tennis Club Championships, with victories in both the Men's and Ladies' Singles.
In the Men's Singles, 15 year old Joe Chambers added to his boys 16 and boys 18 titles by defeating former champion Guy O’Neill in straight sets. Despite Guy’s superior power and aggression, Joe was able to remain consistent, and kept the ball in play more often than Guy did. Showing an extremely mature standard of play for his years, he was able to move Guy around, and nullify the booming serves that kept raining down on him. A few weeks earlier Joe won the Boy's under 18 singles defeating Alex Baker, and the Boy's 16 & under title by beating Charlie Barnett.
The Ladies' Singles was a repeat of the girls 18 & under final. 18 year old Kayleigh Budge was too strong for 14 year old Emily Noel. Kayleigh has won the girls 18s singles for the last 5 years, so it was a natural progression for her to go on to win the Ladies' Singles. Both girls are now regulars in the Ladies team.
The Men's Singles consolation was also won by a junior. 16 year old Alex Baker recovered from his first round narrow defeat to James Tindall, to progress to the final of the consolation and beat the very experienced campaigner, and dogged retriever, Derek Hanby.
The juniors were unable to break through in the Men's Doubles when Joe & Alex teamed up to take on the reigning champions Guy O’Neill & Paul Scott. Having played well in their opening rounds the boys couldn’t quite get the momentum to win the first set, narrowly losing it 7-5. The second set slipped away from them despite some fiercely competitive rallies, and good volleying.
The Club’s Temporary Head Coach Sarah Skidmore couldn’t instil enough confidence in her 14 year old partner Emily Noel to defend the title they won last year. Ros Clark & Sally Dinham-Scott were able to isolate Emily and stop Sarah from dominating the match. They won the trophy easily with consistent play and some good put aways.
The Mixed Doubles final was the last event of the day and produced the most competitive match. Singles champions Kayleigh & Joe teamed up against title holders Alex Baker and veteran Sarah Skidmore. Kayleigh & Joe had the edge in the first set, with some good doubles play taking it by 7 games to 5. Alex & Sarah forged a good lead in the second set only for Joe & Kayleigh to fight back. The lead changed several times towards the end of the set but Alex & Sarah just managed to hang on and take the second set on a tie break. This meant a champions tie-break to finalise the match. Sarah & Alex held on to win the match by 10 points to 8. A fiercely competitive match played in good spirits with plenty of humour.
Consolation events weren’t contested in the Ladies' Singles and Doubles events due to low numbers, but the Men's Doubles consolation was won by Keith Mason and Mike Williams and the Mixed Doubles consolation by Keith & Ann Mason.
The Junior Tournament was held a few weeks prior to the senior event. Alongside Joe and Kayleigh, winners in the other age groups were Charlie Barnett beating Matthew Smith to win the boys 14 & under singles. Ethan Robinson was unstoppable in the 12 & unders, beating Eddie Keegan in the final. Ben Sanders beat Noah Smith in the 10 & unders and the 9 & unders were won by Josh Jackson. Only 3 girls wanted to play in the main girls singles event, so tennis was combined with pizza in a friendly doubles tournament, played in by 24 of the older girls receiving coaching at Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club.
Results:
Men's Singles - Joe Chambers beat Guy O’Neill 6-3 6-3
Ladies' Singles - Kayleigh Budge beat Emily Noel 6-1 6-2
Men's Doubles - Guy O’Neill & Paul Scott beat Alex Baker & Joe Chambers 7-5 6-3
Ladies' Doubles - Ros Clark & Sally Dinham-Scott beat Emily Noel & Sarah Skidmore 6-1 6-2
Mixed Doubles - Alex Baker & Sarah Skidmore beat Joe Chambers & Kayleigh Budge 5-7 6-7 10-8
Men's Singles Consolation - Alex Baker beat Derek Hanby 6-3 6-4
Men's Doubles Consolation - Keith Mason & Mike Williams beat Al Clark & Adam Lawrence 6-3 6-3
Mixed Doubles Consolation - Keith & Ann Mason beat Guy O’Neill & Verity Bamlett 6-4 7-6
Boys 18 & Under Singles - Joe Chambers beat Alex Baker 4-1 4-2
Girls 18 & Under Singles - Kayleigh Budge beat Emily Noel 4-1 4-2
Boys 16 & under Singles - Joe Chambers beat Charlie Barnett 4-0 4-0
Boys 14 & under Singles - Charlie Barnett beat Matthew Smith 4-1 4-2
Boys 12 & under Singles - Ethan Robinson beat Eddie Keegan 4-0 4-1
Mixed 10 & under Singles - Ben Sanders beat Noah Smith 1-4 4-1 11-9
Mixed 9 & under Singles Josh Jackson beat Ben Edwards 7-3 7-3
Annual Club Championship 2015
Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club held their annual internal Club Tennis Championships during September, with Finals Day taking place on the 4th October, just before Autumn started. The finals were completed in perfect weather conditions, allowing for quality tennis to be played.
Full results:
Men’s Singles - Hal Cazalet beat Damo Stacey 6-1 6-4
Ladies’ Singles - Sarah Skidmore beat Yvonne Henderson 6-3 6-0
Men’s Doubles - Guy O’Neil & Paul Scott beat Derek Hanby & Tim Toogood 6-1 6-4
Ladies’ Doubles - Sarah Skidmore & Emily Noel beat Yvonne Henderson & Kayleigh Budge 7-5 6-2
Mixed Doubles - Sarah Skidmore & Alex Baker beat Yvonne Henderson & Adam Lawrence 6-3 6-3
Mixed Doubles Veterans - Sarah Skidmore & Adam Lawrence beat Jenny Warrack & Tim Button 6-1 6-2
Consolation Events:
Men’s Singles Consolation - Matthew Smith beat Grahame Bennett 6-2 6-3
Ladies’ Singles Consolation - Felicity Quick beat Elspeth Gracie 2-2 (retired)
Men’s Doubles Consolation - Keith Mason & Marc Watton beat Tom Bradbury and Will Morgan 6-0 6-3
Ladies’ Doubles Consolation - Ann Mason & Alison Beaven beat Jenny Warrack & Sue Rippingale 6-2 6-0
Mixed Doubles Consolation - Elspeth & Alex Gracie beat Ann & Keith Mason 6-3 6-3
Mixed Doubles Veterans Consolation - Alison Beaven & Marc Watton beat Ann & Keith Mason 6-1 6-1
A full report of final's day is at this link
A gallery of photos of finals day is at this link
DTSC held it's annual Junior Club Tennis Championships during the half term week. A total of 62 children took part with ages ranging from 7 to 18 years old, playing in their own age category, with some playing in 2 age groups. The standard of tennis was very good and both competitive and friendly at the same time. A full write-up is at this link.
Peter Cox Fun Handicap Tournament May 2015
A very successful (and fun) Peter Cox Tournament was held on Bank Holiday Monday May 4th. The winners were Grahame Bennett (centre) and Mike Williams (right) seen below receiving their trophy and prizes from Tennis Chairman, Mike Henderson.
Once again we were very lucky with the weather and the sun shone on DTSC for the Annual Club Championships. As a trial to encourage more participation from members, the Club Coaches did not participate in the Championships and there are therefore some new names on the trophies.
The Men's Singles was won by Guy O’Neill who bludgeoned his way to the final with the loss of very few games. This continued in the final where he proved too strong for Guy Simmons, winning 6-0 6-3.
Ladies' Singles - Yvonne Henderson out manoeuvred and out played a resilient Elspeth Gracie winning 6-3 6-3.
Men's Doubles - superior play by the newly crowned Men's singles champion and his boss, the timeless Paul Scott, meant that they beat the regular pairing of Tim Toogood and John Hobbs, to secure the title having been runners-up last year.
Ladies' Doubles - a disappointing entry of only 4 pairs, saw the experienced Yvonne Henderson and Sally Diinham-Scott beat the junior pairing of 16 year old Kayleigh Budge, the current junior champion and 15 year old Ellie Chambers. The youngsters were very nervous in the first set winning only one game, but re-grouped and came back fighting in the second set to worry the more experienced pair, who eventually took the set 6-3.
Mixed Doubles - scratch pairing of Yvonne Henderson and Adam Lawrence beat the regular pairing of Tim Toogood and Sue Ramsbottom in a very closely fought match 6-4 7-5.
Mixed Veteran's Doubles for the Barbara Martin Cup. Derek Hanby played some solid tennis and with the tenacious Elspeth Gracie they proved too consistent for Paul Scott, and Sally Dinham-Scott, who was struggling with her fitness. A very close match 6-2 5-7 10-5.
Consolation events proved interesting with some new stars in the making.
13 year old Joe Chambers proved too consistent for new member Damo Stacey to win the Men's Singles Consolation 6-2 6-2. Joe then teamed up with 14 year old Alex Baker in the Men's Doubles Consolation to beat Damo again, this time playing with an experienced doubles player, and another new member, Keith Mason. The youngsters came out the blocks fighting surprising the older players by winning the first set 6-0. A change in tactics saw the second set quickly turned round with the youngsters losing 6-1. They then maturely changed their tactics and in a closely fought and tense tie break Alex & Joe held on to win it by 10 points to 8.
Ladies' Singles Consolation was a very tight match between experienced June Hanby and newcomer Chrissy Mayers who was playing only her second singles match ever having started playing 2 years ago! Chrissy's determination and fitness saw her out rally June 6-4 6-3.
Chrissy and her husband lost the Mixed Doubles Consolation final to another husband and wife combination, Ann Williams and Keith Mason who won 6-0 6-3.
Mixed Vets Consolation final saw Tim Toogood and Sue Ramsbottom win 6-2 6-2 against a hastily re-hashed pairing of Alison Beaven and Richard Gracie, as Alison’s original partner ,Alan Bernard, was suddenly unavailable.
The Ladies Doubles Consolation was played a week late, for various reasons, and Jenny Warrack & Sue Rippingale, used superior tactics to overcome June Hanby & Ann Williams 6-3 6-0.
Yvonne Henderson won the Rod Skidmore Memorial Trophy, for winning the most events in the main competitions by winning the Ladies' Singles and Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Prizes were presented by Tennis Chairman, Mike Henderson.
More photos of the 2014 Annual Championships
Wimbledon came to DTSC over the weekend of 5th & 6th July, when the annual Junior Club Championships took place. The events kicked off with a very well supported “red” of 8 & under tournament. 10 players aged 7 and 8 years old took part and played some very competitive matches. Each player played 5 matches apart from the finalists who had one extra. All the games were played fairly and umpired by older players from the coaching programme. The final was a closely contended match by two boys from the same coaching group at the Club, and the same class at Sunninghill School. James Greig came out triumphant by beating Nathan Sloley by 10 points to 6. Annabel Cobb was the only girl and came a very credible 3rd place.
The 9 & under tournament was contended by 5 boys, 4 of whom were area winners in the summers Aegon team challenge. Again the tennis was of a high standard, and 8 year old Ethan Robinson proved to be the Club Champion by winning all his matches in the round robin tournament without dropping a set.
The 10 & under boys tournament was very competitive with some very close matches. Ed Keegan proved to have the stamina to win 3 tough matches and become the 10 & unders champion, beating Billy Noel in the final. Tommy Gale won the consolation event.
The entry numbers in the Boys 12 & unders was disappointingly low due to the children having so many other opportunities, that they don’t all have time to fit everything in. Despite the low numbers the tennis was of a high standard and the final was a good display of high quality tennis. Charlie Barnett used his vast experience from competing in many matches over the last year, and outplayed Joe Albon to take the title away from Joe, who won last years final between the same two players. Charlie won 6-2 6-0, but the score didn’t reflect how tight the match was.
The final match in the Boys 14 & under was a tremendous battle played between 13 year old Alex Baker and 12 year old Ellery Ford. The rallies were incredibly long, covering all corners of the court, with the boys scampering, terrier like, in all directions. Both very steady players, who place the ball well, and don’t give up on a ball. Somehow, Alex’s patience held, and he fought off the tenacious Ellery to win 6-2 7-6. Ed Shackleton and Hayden Taylor played the consolation final with Ed coming out on top.
The largest girls entry for many a year enabled there to be two girls events. The Girls A title went to 15 year old Kayleigh Budge for the 3rd year running. She saw off spirited competition from 12 year olds Jenna Bennett and Emily Noel, to win convincingly, but will have to watch out as these two girls, together with 11 year old Gabby Bennett are improving fast, and will be pushing her closer next year.
The girls B tournament was played by girls who have never played competitive tennis before. They played abbreviated scoring and the improvement they showed as they were playing was impressive. Nuala Arthy won all 3 of her matches to claim the winners trophy.
14s Finalists & their coaches: Kevin Willemse & runner-up Ellery Ford and winner Alex Baker & Sarah Skidmore.
Kayleigh Budge, Girls A winner (left) and Emily Noel finalist.
Left to Right: Charlie Barnett, 12s Winner, Joe Albon, 12s Runner-up, Ellery Ford, 14s Runner-up and Alex Baker 14s Winner.
Red Tournament Runner-up (left) Nathan Sloley shakes hands with Winner James Greig. Above right - some of the 10 Red Tournament Entrants.
The forecast wasn't good, but in the end the weather on Easter Monday was glorious. A slightly smaller entry than normal of 13 (perhaps the forecast put them off) had a great, fun day of tennis. The silverware was won by Al Clark (again) and Grahame Bennett who fought off a tough challenge from Ros Clark & Tim Gallego in the final eventually winning 6-2.
Semi Finals:
Ros Clark & Tim Gallego beat Felicia Pegg & Val Welch 6-3
Al Clark & Grahame Bennett beat Chris Porter & Alison Bevan 6-2
Final:
Al Clark & Grahame Bennett beat Ros Clark & Tim Gallego 6-2
More photos are at this link
Despite wild and windy weather 15 hardy players turned out on a Sunday morning and in the true spirit of the Peter Cox tournament had a good deal of fun, even when brushing the puddles off the court to play the semis and finals after lunch! Huge gusts of wind made for hilarious play and interesting shots but in the end it was Mike Williams (who has become a regular name on the trophy) and Al Clark who took the prizes from deserving finalists Stella Hollis and Tim Toogood in a very close final (6-4)
Entrants below
October 2013 trophy winners Mike Williams (again!) and Al Clark (below)
Fantastic day at DTSC for the Annual Tennis Championships - the weather was perfect - the low sun was a bit difficult for some shots, but we definitely won't complain that the sun shone all day
Full Results:Men's Singles - Ben Skidmore beat Pete Notley 6-1 6-4, Men's Doubles - Tim Button & Kevin Willemse beat Guy O'Neill & Paul Scott 6-0 6-2, Ladies' Singles - Sarah Skidmore beat Katharine Butler 6-3 6-0, Ladies' Doubles - Sarah Skidmore & Rachael Troughton beat Sally Dinham-Scott & Ros Clark 6-3 6-4, Mixed Doubles - Sarah & Ben Skidmore beat Sally Dinham-Scott & Paul Scott 6-3 6-0 and in the Mixed Vets - Sarah Skidmore & Tim Button beat Sally Dinham-Scott & Paul Scott 6-1 6-2
In the Plate consolation events: Men's Singles - Sam Thomson beat Chris Porter 6-2 7-5, Men's Doubles - Derek Hanby & Mike Williams beat Connor Ryan & James Tindal 6-0 6-0, Ladies' Singles - Felicity Quick beat June Hanby 7-6 (2) 6-2, Ladies' Doubles - June Hanby & Jenny Warrack w/o Gill Bowden & Sam Toogood, Mixed Doubles - Sue Ramsbottom & Tim Toogood beat June & Derek Hanby 7-5 6-2 and in the Mixed Vets - Sue Ramsbottom & Tim Toogood beat Jenny Warrack & Adam Lawrence 7-6 (4) 6-2
Sarah Skidmore holds the Rod Skidmore Memorial trophy for entrants who win the most number of main events. Sarah won the ladies singles, ladies doubles, mixed doubles with Ben Skidmore and the mixed vets, Barbara Martin trophy with Tim button.
We held a WTT trial on 27th May 2013. A write up and photos are at the link.
Finalists Al Clark and Derek Handby, winners Chris Porter and Mike Williams. A write up is at this link.
The Annual Tennis Championship Finals were held on Sunday 30th September - we had a good turnout and most of the competitors are photographed below. The tournament was very generously supported by Brewin Dolphin and David Evans divisional director from Brewin Dolphin came along to watch the finals and present the prizes.
Full Results:
Men’s Singles - Ben Skidmore beat Clif Moreton 6-0 6-3
Ladies Singles - Sarah Skidmore beat Katherine Butler 6-0 6-1
Men’s Doubles - Ben Skidmore & Tim Button beat Alex Gordon & Sam McIntyre 6-1 6-4
Ladies Doubles - Sarah Skidmore & Sue Ramsbottom beat Ros Clark & Laura Dodington 7-5 6-2
Mixed Doubles - Sarah Skidmore & Tim Button beat Sophie Ramsbottom & Ben Skidmore 7-5 6-3
Men’s Singles Consolation - Tim Toogood beat Phil Bennett 6-3 6-4
Ladies Singles Consolation - Ros Clark beat Felicity Quick 4-6 6-4 10-7
Men’s Doubles Consolation - Adam Lawrence & Marc Watton beat Chris Porter & Tim Guppy 4-6 7-5 6-4
Mixed Doubles Consolation - Al & Ros Clark beat Elspeth & Alex Gracie 2-6 6-4 6-3
David Evans, from Brewin Dolphin presenting Sarah Skidmore with the Rod Skidmore Trophy, which is awarded to the player who wins the most events in the Championship - a closely fought battle between Sarah and her youngest son Ben this year!
At the link is a write up of Finals Day from the Dorset Echo.
Dorchester Junior Open (for full results click here)
The final day of the 2012 Dorchester Junior Open saw some of the best matches of the week. The early morning matches began with the 16 & under semi finals. Levi Gale continued his good form of the week, beating Ben Skidmore, and Kieron Morrissey set up his second final with a win over Henry Field.
In the 12 & under semi final, Tom Shipton of Christchurch was unable to deal with the power and consistency of Joshua Chereghvand from Sherborne, with Joshua coming through in a tough 3 setter. This, however, proved a good warm up as he then went on to defeat a battling Matthew Young in another good match to defy the seedings and give Joshua a good tournament win.
The pictures below show Matthew and Joshua from the 12 and under and George and Charlie from the 9 and under.
Weymouth’s Millen Hurrion had a good day starting with a semi-final win in the 14 & under boys beating his club mate Dominic Webb. He followed this up by beating a below par Henry Field in the final, before going on to beat George Morrissey in a very closely contested 16s consolation final.
Kieron Morrissey proved too strong an opponent for Levi Gale, giving Kieron the 16 & under Boys title, but, despite a determined effort, Dorchester’s Justin Smith proved a hurdle too far for Kieron, enabling Justin to take the 18 & under title.
There were also consolation prizes for Joshua Jones in the 12 & unders. In an all Dorchester final, Alex Fairman beat Tom Allen to take the 14 & under consolation. Millen Hurrion in the 16s and Alex Gordon in the 18s consolation completed the singles line up.
The Under 14 boys doubles featured 8 pairs, playing some good quality tennis, with 10 year olds up against stronger 14 year olds, with Alex Fairman and George Morrissey just managing to sneak through to take the trophies, disposing of Forrest Townsend and Tom Allen in an entertaining final.
The Morrissey brothers managed to complete their day with another trophy when Kieron combined with Isaac Verkaik to win the 18 & under doubles.
It was a very successful week with the weather not causing any problems at all. Players entered the tournament from as far afield as Kent and Northumberland, and much praise was received from travelling parents about the standard of organisation and friendliness of this tournament in its 8th year. Many thanks go to Tournament Referee, Chris Penny, tournament Organiser Sarah Skidmore, and the hard working team of parents and sibling providing a never ending supply of refreshments for the players and their supporters. Dorchester Tennis & Squash Club has, yet again, enhanced its reputation as a good tournament venue.
The 18 and under champion, Justin and runner up Kieron are shown below and Tommy Gale (Dorchester) runner up in the 8 and under mixed singles takes a serve.
2024 Squash and Racketball Club Championships...
will be held on Bank Holiday Easter Monday 1st April...
