Herne Bay Lawn Tennis Club

The club held its Annual Longest Day Tournament last week in which 12 mixed pairs competed. The pairs were initially divided into 3 groups of 4 and the winners of each group plus the best runners-up progressed to the semi-finals. The groups finished with several players tied on the same number of games and the semi-finalists had to be decide by the toss of a coin in some cases. The 1st semi was Martin Beckley/Liz Harvey against Graham and Dani Miles and the 2nd was between Ian Cooke/Sarah Pout and Debbie Holden/Peter Grimwood. Cooke and Pout won the most games in the 2nd semi and the 1st resulted in a tie with all 4 players winning 4 games. The finalists were decided by a tie-break to 5 points and the Miles’ pair won. In the final Cooke and Dani Miles both won 5 games and were the overall winners.

The annual Mixed American tournament will be held on Tuesday 29th June starting at 6pm promptly. Everyone is invited to enter this enjoyable tournament at a cost of £3 each.

The sale of club polo shirts to adult members has proved very successful and raised over £160 towards club funds. The shirts will now be offered to junior members with a logo on the back of the shirt as well as on the front.

As from Saturday 12th June the Junior coaching session will be extended so that it will run from 9am to 12 noon. These changes are to accommodate the increasing numbers of children attending the sessions and means that there will now be 3 different age groups.

9am -10am Age 5 – 8 years
10am -11am Age 8 – 11 years
11am -12noon Age 11+

The Finals of the 1st ever Maidstone Open Tennis Tournament were held at LA Fitness, Maidstone on Sunday and Herne Bay had representatives in 3 finals. The veteran mixed doubles final was an all Herne Bay affair with Martin Beckley/Gill Dickey playing Keith Clark/Anne Gibbs. The match was played under a bubble in very hot conditions and after exchanging service breaks Clark and Gibbs clinched the 1st set 6-4 and then immediately went a break behind in the 2nd set. They were unable to recover the break and lost the 2nd set 6-2. In the final set the tension started to show and the standard of play dropped but Clark and Gibbs had the stronger nerves and eventually won 6-3 to take the title. Beckley then went on to team up with Graham Miles in the mens veteran’s doubles against Simon Gent and Keith Gill from Tunbridge Wells. The match was played outdoors and Beckley/Miles won a close 1st set 7-5 then dropped the 2nd 6-3. At the start of the 3rd set Gill had to retire with a pulled calf muscle making Beckley/Miles the champions. The other final involving a Bay player was the ladies doubles but this could not be played because one of the opposition was stuck in Madeira – Gibbs and Sally Holmes will have to play this at a later date.

The Finals of the newly created Maidstone Open Tournament will take place at LA Fitness, Maidstone on Sunday 18th April with a number of Herne Bay players involved. Anne Gibbs and Sally Holmes will be in the ladies doubles final, Graham Miles and Martin Beckley in the mens 45 doubles and then Beckley will team up with Gill Dickey against Gibbs and Keith Clark for an all Herne Bay mixed over 45 doubles final.

Two Herne Bay tennis were playing away in divisional finals, the mixed 1st team and the ladies veterans 2nd team. The mixed team travelled to Sydenham to play their 1st team in a repeat of last year’s division 1 final. The 1st round was very close with Peter Elsden/Anne Gibbs just being edged out 7-6, 6-4 by the opposition’s youngsters and Martin Beckley/Gill Dickey losing 3 and 3 to the 2nd pair. In the 2nd round Elsden and Gibbs thrashed the Sydenham 2nd pair 2 and 0 but Beckley and Dickey lost 4 and 1 to their 1st pair giving Sydenham a 3-1 win. In the other final, the 2nd ladies veterans played in the division 4 final at Bromley Wendover and won by a set. Sue Toye/Debbie Holden and Christine Hanson/Diana High both won their rubbers against the Wendover 2nd pair and lost to their 1st pair, but Toye and Holden managed to take a set from them which clinched the match and title.

Two team have reached the divisional finals of the Kent League competitions. Mixed one are in the Winter division 1 final for the 4th consecutive time and will travel to Sydenham on Sunday 11th April to play their 1st team in a repeat of last year’s final. The 2nd ladies veterans team have also reached the final, this time of division 4 and this will be played on Saturday 10th April. Their opposition is not known at the moment.

The opening of the club for the summer season will be on Saturday 3rd April from 1pm. All members and visitors are invited to come along to play tennis and have afternoon tea.

The Kent Closed Winter finals were held at Bromley Newstead on Sunday and Herne Bay had representatives in the mens over 45, 60 and 65 doubles and the men’s over 60 and 65 singles. Peter Elsden partnered Dominic Wood to win the over 45’s 7-5, 6-4, Keith and Gary won 6-0, 6-3 in the over 60’s and then Gary partnered Chris Whittingham (Margate) to win the over 65’s. In the singles events Keith won 6-2, 6-3 but Gary lost in straight sets.