Regular weekly practices have continued to be held throughout the year at Swindon’s Delta Indoor Tennis Centre on Monday lunchtimes 12.00-2.00 and have been well-attended in both summer and winter months. This can give marginal home advantage in matches as our players are accustomed to the lighting and court surface.
Four teams were entered in the LTA Seniors Mens County Cup 2024 with Mike Powell continuing as Seniors Tennis Organiser, team captains Paul Williams (O60), Andy Smith (O65) & James Sinclair (O70) remaining in post and Robert Townsend taking over the O75s.
Wilts O60 – had 3 matches arranged in Division 3B, 1 at home & 2 away. 2 rubbers went to the 3rd set CTB in the opening match but we lost to Berks (H) 1-4 and then found Dorset (A) too strong, going down 0-5. Norfolk (A) had to be conceded at end of season. Gary Kemp, Andy Smith & Paul Williams shared the singles/doubles and Chris Allen, Nick Goddard & Craig Wensley the doubles. Wilts finished 4th of the 4 teams.
Wilts O65 – played 4 matches in Division 2A, 2 home & 2 away with greater success. Starting with a narrow loss to Herts by 3 games, 3 rubbers going to the 3rd set CTB, there were further defeats 1-4 to Devon & Sussex but a 4-1 win v Berks secured 3rd place. Singles/doubles were shared by Gavin Gibson, Gary Kemp, Julian Mitchell & Andy Smith, doubles by John Page, Tim Sheward, Kim Stuckey, Colin Thomas & Andy Tollington.
Wilts O70 – also played 4 matches in Division 3B, 2 home & 2 away, and fared best winning 3 v Somerset & Northants 3-1 and Glos by only one game! This was enough to finish 2nd with probable promotion for 2025. Doubles only were shared by Robin Bennett, Paul Denyer, Glen d’Mello, James Sinclair, Glynn Stevens & Tony White.
Wilts O75 – had 5 matches in Division 2A, 3 home & 2 away, having experienced the dizzy heights of Division 1 last year. After 3 losses 0-4 to Berks, Avon & Oxon, a 3-1 win was achieved v Bucks before the team weakened by injuries lost 0-4 to Essex. The win was enough to finish 5th of 6. Doubles only were shared by Colin Gratton, Matt Holland, Edward Lea, Robert Townsend & Ian Wallace with Peter Cooper in reserve.
Mixed fortunes for our teams but again our O65s & O70s doing well. Interestingly, out of 64 rubbers played, 20 were decided by the 3rd set CTB of which Wilts only won 6 – a few more and we might have seen greater success!
Mike Powell
Wiltshire LTA Seniors Mens Tennis Organiser