Page 36 - OO_2018

www TENNIS
By Lance Ashworth (G 82)
We had gathered a mighty squad of 20 players for the Multisports Weekend before we got caught by the ‘Beast from the East’, leaving the courts buried under a lot of snow. It is easy to see the benefits of a bubble over the tennis courts and we remain hopeful that something might still come of our support for this.
This meant that the first match of the season was the D’Abernon Cup. After their initial outing last year, Will Taylor (G 15) and Oscar Marshall (S 15) returned eager to improve on the previous year’s result. We opted to play at the newly- refurbished, super-fast indoor courts at Stoke Park on 14th April. Valuable support was offered by our roving reporter, Arthur Marment (D 77), and Ed Ibrahim (Lx 00), recovering from a shoulder injury.
First up were Bradfield, who unfortunately were on a hot streak and despite hitting three of the best winners you will ever see, Will and Oscar lost a tight first game. Subsequent games were competitive, but Bradfield (who have the chap who runs the Public Schools Old Boys LTA) shaded it 6-0!
Next, we won on a walkover as Marlborough scratched (they would have been out of their depth anyway, as no decent schools were founded after 1800!).
The third match was against Harrow, who had accidentally driven to St George’s, Weybridge (the other cup venue). Consequently, they were a bit rushed in the warm-up. However, they were very decent players and one had a serve which was dead flat and 105mph plus! It was nip and tuck, but Will and Oscar won the big points emphatically and ran out 5-1
winners.
Then came Stowe, who played a slightly slower game, but
were very savvy and were an accident waiting to happen – as Harrow found out in the following match. The guile of their hitting allied to some changes of pace would have outdone a lesser pair, but we held our nerve to win 4-2.
Finally, we faced Westminster. They had a pedigree pair and ran out winners. It was heavy traffic all the way through, but despite leading in the final game (played as a tiebreak in this format), Will and Oscar were unable to find a way through and lost 6-0.
So, Bradfield and Westminster went through to the semi- finals and were well deserved winners on the day (soberingly, neither of these schools have got to the final in recent times, so goodness knows how good the winners are!).
Oscar and Will were a very creditable third, our best result ever, and were complimented by everyone on their play and on-court manner. They were also the youngest by a long way and, like the pro game, the stars are more in their late 20s and early 30s, which bodes well for the future.
The following Saturday, 21st April, the combined OO and staff team’s match against the School took place, having abandoned the attempts to engage the Grocers. Jason Burgess (LS 83) made his debut for the OOs. We had hoped to give Jacky Yu (C 08) his debut too, but unfortunately, he had to pull out. So, accompanying Jason were Arthur Marment, Ed Ibrahim, Al Goldingham (Ldr 99) and me. We were joined by Spencer Coates (the Master in Charge of Tennis at the School) and Lucas Bezerra (the Yale fellow). Being one short, we borrowed Tom Farmer from the School to make up the team of eight.
Teams for the combined OO and staff match against the School in April
SPORT
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