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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thorndon's pre-Xmas season
It was a great pre-Christmas season for the Thorndon tennis teams. I play on the Premier 2 team, where we surpassed our expectations and made the final. The match reports for those games are below.
The Premier 1 men's team also made their final, where they were narrowly beaten by Wellington in an outstanding final that showcased the best of Auckland's tennis stars! Their achievement was all the more impressive as they had to cope without their captain Nick White and call up one of our Premier 2 players on occasion. Fortunately they proved to have sufficient cover.
Our men's Interclub 1 team stormed through their league to collect their third league win in three campaigns. After starting in Interclub 2 a year ago they will now be playing in the Premier 3 promotion league after Christmas, and are all very excited to be playing at 1pm instead of 8:30am. Congratulations in particular to Chris Schilling, Steve Goodman, Darren Keall and John O'Donnell who've been the regulars in this team's meteoric ascent.
The men's teams in the 4th, 5th and 6th interclub grades all achieved good mid-table finishes. It's terrific that the club can support six teams that are doing so well.
On the women's side, our Premier 1 team finished top of the league but lost a tight semi-final to Khandallah. Hannah Seemann, daughter of Thorndon Premier 1 mainstay Phil Seemann, led Khandallah to victory with a fine win in the top singles against Makere Bradnam.
Our women's Interclub 1 team achieved an excellent third place finish, thanks to some high quality new imports. Sadly they will be losing at least one player back to the UK at Christmas but are already working hard on finding new faces. The women's teams in Interclub 2 and 3 also had good campaigns.
Well done to everyone involved. There has been some great tennis this year and a lot of support shown between the teams. The only thing that could have been better was the weather, so hopefully that'll improve in time for February.
The Premier 1 men's team also made their final, where they were narrowly beaten by Wellington in an outstanding final that showcased the best of Auckland's tennis stars! Their achievement was all the more impressive as they had to cope without their captain Nick White and call up one of our Premier 2 players on occasion. Fortunately they proved to have sufficient cover.
Our men's Interclub 1 team stormed through their league to collect their third league win in three campaigns. After starting in Interclub 2 a year ago they will now be playing in the Premier 3 promotion league after Christmas, and are all very excited to be playing at 1pm instead of 8:30am. Congratulations in particular to Chris Schilling, Steve Goodman, Darren Keall and John O'Donnell who've been the regulars in this team's meteoric ascent.
The men's teams in the 4th, 5th and 6th interclub grades all achieved good mid-table finishes. It's terrific that the club can support six teams that are doing so well.
On the women's side, our Premier 1 team finished top of the league but lost a tight semi-final to Khandallah. Hannah Seemann, daughter of Thorndon Premier 1 mainstay Phil Seemann, led Khandallah to victory with a fine win in the top singles against Makere Bradnam.
Our women's Interclub 1 team achieved an excellent third place finish, thanks to some high quality new imports. Sadly they will be losing at least one player back to the UK at Christmas but are already working hard on finding new faces. The women's teams in Interclub 2 and 3 also had good campaigns.
Well done to everyone involved. There has been some great tennis this year and a lot of support shown between the teams. The only thing that could have been better was the weather, so hopefully that'll improve in time for February.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - The Final
As you can see from the posts below, it had been a long road to the final and we really hadn't expected to make it. Whatever happened we had Premier 1 Promotion league tennis to look forward to after Xmas and a princely sum of $125 prize money (between us)!
Unfortunately we'd still be in the red as we needed to order new team shirts, as Richard didn't have one. Controversy reigned as Kris pushed for bright red muscle tops while others favoured a "less aggressive" design. In the end Thump Sports came up with some discount Nike tops for us at short notice, which were white with a black collar. So we all looked smart though a bit on the traditional side for the red muscle top fans.
This time we were indoors on the excellent Rebound Ace courts at the Renouf, with an 8:30am start. Richard kicked off the day in traditional fashion by jogging up to the car 10 mins late swearing he'd received a different email to the rest of us, and we were on our way!
I was a bit concerned that the French guys would be a little better on hard courts in perfect conditions, than astro in the wind and drizzle. This turned out to be the case, with Kris and I playing some decent stuff but failing to win the big points and hold enough of our own service games as we lost 6-4 6-3 to Herve and Julien.
Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete put in a heroic effort against Patterson and Garnham, taking the first set but eventually going down 4-6 6-4 7-5. So things were starting to look a bit bleak for taking the title.
Matters weren't improved by an unrecognisable tennis player, wearing Julien Bourdry's face, showing up for the top singles. I played a reasonable first set but lost it 6-0. There were lots of good rallies and close games, but on every big point Julien was finding great shots and sneaking forwards to end the point with angled volleys. The match was briefly competitive around the start of the second set but then Julien went up a gear again and won it 6-2. I had no complaints after losing to such an impressive display. Well, my only complaint was that Julien told me he was quitting after our last match!
Herve put in an equally impressive display against Kris. There were lots of great rallies and close games but Kris wasn't in quite the same form as his previous encounter with Wellington and went down 6-0 6-1. He will be back with a vengeance after Xmas!
Richard put in an excellent performance against Patterson, and had him cramping near the end, but was edged out 7-6 6-4. Richard's forehand was dominating proceedings at times but Patterson was as steady as ever.
Brian had another very entertaining game with young Kiranpal Pannu. He looked at his best when storming forwards and bouncing smashes over KP's head. But in the baseline rallies KP just proved too consistent again and came through 6-4 6-3.
So we had to take a whitewash after all our hard work to get there but it was against a quality Wellington side, the top two of whom were both new for this season. Julien would have played Premier 1 if not for all the South Americans drafted into that team! Runner-Up was a great result for us and we are looking forward to what will be some very challenging tennis in the Regional 1 Promotion league.
Well done to everyone involved in this season's effort. We think it's probably the best ever finish for Thorndon's second men's team, which reflects the standard of tennis being played at the club.
Unfortunately we'd still be in the red as we needed to order new team shirts, as Richard didn't have one. Controversy reigned as Kris pushed for bright red muscle tops while others favoured a "less aggressive" design. In the end Thump Sports came up with some discount Nike tops for us at short notice, which were white with a black collar. So we all looked smart though a bit on the traditional side for the red muscle top fans.
This time we were indoors on the excellent Rebound Ace courts at the Renouf, with an 8:30am start. Richard kicked off the day in traditional fashion by jogging up to the car 10 mins late swearing he'd received a different email to the rest of us, and we were on our way!
I was a bit concerned that the French guys would be a little better on hard courts in perfect conditions, than astro in the wind and drizzle. This turned out to be the case, with Kris and I playing some decent stuff but failing to win the big points and hold enough of our own service games as we lost 6-4 6-3 to Herve and Julien.
Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete put in a heroic effort against Patterson and Garnham, taking the first set but eventually going down 4-6 6-4 7-5. So things were starting to look a bit bleak for taking the title.
Matters weren't improved by an unrecognisable tennis player, wearing Julien Bourdry's face, showing up for the top singles. I played a reasonable first set but lost it 6-0. There were lots of good rallies and close games, but on every big point Julien was finding great shots and sneaking forwards to end the point with angled volleys. The match was briefly competitive around the start of the second set but then Julien went up a gear again and won it 6-2. I had no complaints after losing to such an impressive display. Well, my only complaint was that Julien told me he was quitting after our last match!
Herve put in an equally impressive display against Kris. There were lots of great rallies and close games but Kris wasn't in quite the same form as his previous encounter with Wellington and went down 6-0 6-1. He will be back with a vengeance after Xmas!
Richard put in an excellent performance against Patterson, and had him cramping near the end, but was edged out 7-6 6-4. Richard's forehand was dominating proceedings at times but Patterson was as steady as ever.
Brian had another very entertaining game with young Kiranpal Pannu. He looked at his best when storming forwards and bouncing smashes over KP's head. But in the baseline rallies KP just proved too consistent again and came through 6-4 6-3.
So we had to take a whitewash after all our hard work to get there but it was against a quality Wellington side, the top two of whom were both new for this season. Julien would have played Premier 1 if not for all the South Americans drafted into that team! Runner-Up was a great result for us and we are looking forward to what will be some very challenging tennis in the Regional 1 Promotion league.
Well done to everyone involved in this season's effort. We think it's probably the best ever finish for Thorndon's second men's team, which reflects the standard of tennis being played at the club.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Miramar
Our last game of the season and we needed a win to be sure of our place in the final. The game was rained off on Saturday but we got a sunny, through breezy, day on the Sunday to finish the season. We were just a few yards away from Andy's house and he came down with Alex to offer some welcome support. Our glamorous Interclub 1 women't team also showed up so we had a rare little crowd behind us.
Kris and I got the ball rolling with a 6-4 6-1 win against Olly Sadler and Matt Nichols, meaning we'd gone unbeaten as a pair through the league. Richard and Chris extended our lead with a good 6-3 6-4 win against Cameron Steel and Jonathan Wilson.
I played young Olly Sadler in my singles and, similarly to my game with Mitchell, spent the first half of the match getting a tennis education from someone less than half my age. I was 6-3 5-2 down but put in one last big effort to keep defeat at bay and got back to 5-4. We'd had one particularly long rally where Olly took a tumble at the end, and from that point on he didn't seem quite right. I managed to get the second set 7-5 and then Olly seemed to have very little left to give in the third, going down 6-1. So I'm made it through the league unbeaten in my singles, mostly thanks to my modest gym routine as I struggled to compete shot for shot with some of my younger opponents.
Kris put in another quality performance to take out the improving Cameron Steel 6-2 7-6. Richard took an early lead against Matt Nichols but Matt came back to take it 7-5 6-2. Richard swore that he would be using new balls for all his matches in future, even if he had to supply them himself, as he was fed up with getting sucked into long rallies with old balls! Brian played Jonathan Wilson, who was almost a mirror image of Brian with a big spinny serve and forehand. Brian played some great stuff but got edged out 7-5 6-4.
It's been very noticeable that Premier 2 teams have more depth than Premier 3 and generally field quality players right down the order. Richard, Brian and Chris 'Epic' Patete have faced tough opposition at 3 and 4 throughout the season but scored a lot of crucial points for us.
So we took this match 4-2, which guaranteed us the second spot in the league and a rematch with Wellington in the final.
Kris and I got the ball rolling with a 6-4 6-1 win against Olly Sadler and Matt Nichols, meaning we'd gone unbeaten as a pair through the league. Richard and Chris extended our lead with a good 6-3 6-4 win against Cameron Steel and Jonathan Wilson.
I played young Olly Sadler in my singles and, similarly to my game with Mitchell, spent the first half of the match getting a tennis education from someone less than half my age. I was 6-3 5-2 down but put in one last big effort to keep defeat at bay and got back to 5-4. We'd had one particularly long rally where Olly took a tumble at the end, and from that point on he didn't seem quite right. I managed to get the second set 7-5 and then Olly seemed to have very little left to give in the third, going down 6-1. So I'm made it through the league unbeaten in my singles, mostly thanks to my modest gym routine as I struggled to compete shot for shot with some of my younger opponents.
Kris put in another quality performance to take out the improving Cameron Steel 6-2 7-6. Richard took an early lead against Matt Nichols but Matt came back to take it 7-5 6-2. Richard swore that he would be using new balls for all his matches in future, even if he had to supply them himself, as he was fed up with getting sucked into long rallies with old balls! Brian played Jonathan Wilson, who was almost a mirror image of Brian with a big spinny serve and forehand. Brian played some great stuff but got edged out 7-5 6-4.
It's been very noticeable that Premier 2 teams have more depth than Premier 3 and generally field quality players right down the order. Richard, Brian and Chris 'Epic' Patete have faced tough opposition at 3 and 4 throughout the season but scored a lot of crucial points for us.
So we took this match 4-2, which guaranteed us the second spot in the league and a rematch with Wellington in the final.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Wellington
This was a tough assignment, away at table-topping Wellington on their ultra sandy astro courts. This was a Wellington team with a distinctly French flavour, with a number 1 (Julien Bourdry) who had played some Premier 1 games and had once been a top ranked French junior. He'd even had his own article in the local paper! I drew some encouragement from the fact that if anyone dislikes sandy astro courts more than me, it's the French with their long cultured swings.
Kris and I took on the French connection of Julien and Herve Michaud in the doubles. In case we were still sleepy Herve woke us up by nailing Kris with a smash in the first game, and then tagging me about 3 times over the next half an hour. Julien meanwhile was showing a preference for neat little drop-volleys. But Kris was on fire and we powered to a 6-2 5-2 lead. There was some concern as a couple of poor service games saw us lose our lead and the second set 7-5. But we dug back in and took the final set 6-0 with some very solid play in tough conditions.
Richard and Brian were beaten 6-1 6-2 by the quality pairing of David Patterson and Mike Garnham, so we still had a lot to do in the singles.
I don't know if it was the tough doubles defeat, the sandy astro court, the windy and drizzly day, or a combination of all the above but Julien was not in the mood for our singles. He went for a winner on almost every ball and, while landing some spectacular winners, made too many errors. I got as many balls in as I could and that was enough for a 6-1 6-1 win and some welcome Topdog points against an S3. Julien indicated afterwards he was planning to give up playing matches as he wasn't enjoying them at all, so we finished on a low key note.
Richard had a hard battle with Patterson, who was heard saying "this bloke's better at singles than he looked in the doubles"! But Patterson hit his stride on his home turf and came through 6-4 6-2.
Brian faced top tot Kiranpal Pannu, who is small but steady! Brian went 5-1 down, came back to 5-4, but then Pannu finished the first set 6-4 and got the second 6-3. Brian had the greater weight of shot but couldn't consistently hit through his talented young opponent.
Match of the day was Kris vs Herve. Kris lost the first 6-3, won the second 6-2, then the third stayed on serve through to a tie-break. There had been some great shots and pulsating rallies in deteriorating conditions. Kris played well to get to 5-4 up in the TB, but Herve landed a couple of mighty blows to win it 7-5. Overall though Kris had a superb day, dominating the doubles and pushing a good S4 opponent to the edge.
So we took our first defeat, 4-2, but still had a useful couple of points in our bid to make the final.
Kris and I took on the French connection of Julien and Herve Michaud in the doubles. In case we were still sleepy Herve woke us up by nailing Kris with a smash in the first game, and then tagging me about 3 times over the next half an hour. Julien meanwhile was showing a preference for neat little drop-volleys. But Kris was on fire and we powered to a 6-2 5-2 lead. There was some concern as a couple of poor service games saw us lose our lead and the second set 7-5. But we dug back in and took the final set 6-0 with some very solid play in tough conditions.
Richard and Brian were beaten 6-1 6-2 by the quality pairing of David Patterson and Mike Garnham, so we still had a lot to do in the singles.
I don't know if it was the tough doubles defeat, the sandy astro court, the windy and drizzly day, or a combination of all the above but Julien was not in the mood for our singles. He went for a winner on almost every ball and, while landing some spectacular winners, made too many errors. I got as many balls in as I could and that was enough for a 6-1 6-1 win and some welcome Topdog points against an S3. Julien indicated afterwards he was planning to give up playing matches as he wasn't enjoying them at all, so we finished on a low key note.
Richard had a hard battle with Patterson, who was heard saying "this bloke's better at singles than he looked in the doubles"! But Patterson hit his stride on his home turf and came through 6-4 6-2.
Brian faced top tot Kiranpal Pannu, who is small but steady! Brian went 5-1 down, came back to 5-4, but then Pannu finished the first set 6-4 and got the second 6-3. Brian had the greater weight of shot but couldn't consistently hit through his talented young opponent.
Match of the day was Kris vs Herve. Kris lost the first 6-3, won the second 6-2, then the third stayed on serve through to a tie-break. There had been some great shots and pulsating rallies in deteriorating conditions. Kris played well to get to 5-4 up in the TB, but Herve landed a couple of mighty blows to win it 7-5. Overall though Kris had a superb day, dominating the doubles and pushing a good S4 opponent to the edge.
So we took our first defeat, 4-2, but still had a useful couple of points in our bid to make the final.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Khandallah
This was the first of our matches against our old friends from last season's Premier 2 Promotion league. If you're going to play a club on the top of a hill in Wellington then make sure you choose a particularly windy day. We made our way up the long and winding road in Brian's roaring team HQ and, after a quick browse round the cool Thump Sports shop, were ready to play.
Kris and I had a good 6-2 6-2 doubles win against the young and big-hitting pair of McDonald/Johnson. Khandallah fielded an absurdly good second pair of Callender/Liddell. Richard and Chris gave it a good effort but lost 6-2 6-2, so all square going into the singles.
I got beaten up on pretty badly for the first set and a half by young Mitchell McDonald. He was hitting very well in high winds and I was soon 6-2 and a break down in the second. But I started to get a foothold in the match, got the break back, and forced the second into a TB. The atmosphere was getting a bit tetchy by now. Mitchell and his dad complained that I wasn't allowed to talk to Brian at the change of ends, which turned out to be incorrect. I went 4-2 down in the TB but managed to scrape it and force a third set. Mitchell seemed to be suffering some cramps now and I got to 5-1 up and eventually took it 6-3. We finished up on good terms, though Brian still marched over to Mitchell at the end to wave the rule book in his face and prove he could talk to me all he wanted to!
Kris faced off against Guy Callender, who beat me last season. Similarly to my match with Callender, Kris got off to a good start but then Callender came back to take it 6-4 6-1.
Brian wrapped up an excellent 6-2 6-4 win against Suri Bartlett. Like a true Wellingtonian Brian was not remotely troubled by the wind and was seen repeatedly bouncing smashes over the back fence.
We needed a win from Richard to see us home and he delivered for us with a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win against Thomas Johnson. Richard enjoyed the wind about as much as me but found a way to cope and battled back from a set down against an opponent with a very good forehand.
I treated myself to a new backpack from the shop and we made our way to the Shepherd's Arms to recover from all our exertions in the wind. That's Kris, Chris, Richard, Brian (nice smile) and me from left to right in the photo.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Upper Hutt
Double trouble for us today as Kris Funston played up for the Premier One team and Chris 'Epic' Patete was away. We faced Upper Hutt feeling seriously depleted, but fortunately with our ace coach Andy Wheeler stepping into the gap once again.
I picked up my old partnership with Andy and we carried on right where we left off, playing some good stuff to win 7-6 6-4 against the very decent pairing of Boyles/Hinton. Richard and Brian produced a fine comeback against Osborne/Quinn, winning 2-6 6-1 6-4.
My singles against Denzil Boyles was very tough. I don't remember when I last saw so many clean winners go past me. I lost the first set on a TB. The second set went to a TB and I was 4-2 down in it before clawing my way back in and nicking it. Denzil and I exchanged a couple of breaks in the third but I got to 5-3 up and managed to serve it out for 6-4. He was not happy, and I wasn't quite sure how I'd won it either. The sage counsel of acting captain Brian at change of ends was a big help.
Andy and Richard both managed to play their singles on the next court before I finished mine! Andy won 6-1 6-3 against Osborne before I'd finished my first set. Richard was similarly authoratitive, winning 6-1 6-4 against Hinton. Last match on was Brian, who won an entertaining game 7-6 7-6 against Quinn.
So another good win for us while giving up a key player to the firsts. Kris did himself proud in Premier 1, with a three set win over Jacob Emery and a first team shirt to keep (unlike me!).
I picked up my old partnership with Andy and we carried on right where we left off, playing some good stuff to win 7-6 6-4 against the very decent pairing of Boyles/Hinton. Richard and Brian produced a fine comeback against Osborne/Quinn, winning 2-6 6-1 6-4.
My singles against Denzil Boyles was very tough. I don't remember when I last saw so many clean winners go past me. I lost the first set on a TB. The second set went to a TB and I was 4-2 down in it before clawing my way back in and nicking it. Denzil and I exchanged a couple of breaks in the third but I got to 5-3 up and managed to serve it out for 6-4. He was not happy, and I wasn't quite sure how I'd won it either. The sage counsel of acting captain Brian at change of ends was a big help.
Andy and Richard both managed to play their singles on the next court before I finished mine! Andy won 6-1 6-3 against Osborne before I'd finished my first set. Richard was similarly authoratitive, winning 6-1 6-4 against Hinton. Last match on was Brian, who won an entertaining game 7-6 7-6 against Quinn.
So another good win for us while giving up a key player to the firsts. Kris did himself proud in Premier 1, with a three set win over Jacob Emery and a first team shirt to keep (unlike me!).
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