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Highlights of the Finals’ Day
The 2006 Club Championships came to an interrupted close on Saturday 22nd July with the completion of nine of the ten finals in six events over more than four hours of highly competitive play.
For the second year running the mid summer finals day looked to be taking advantage of excellent weather only to be marred by a torrential downpour after play had been going on for no more than 45 minutes.
Some hardy souls remained in the clubhouse, whilst others headed for home and a change of shirt. However the weather forecast was uncannily accurate, the wind and the rain abated as predicted and play resumed at 4:00 after a 2½ hour delay as players and spectators alike enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine.
This year we had more spectators than ever – the car park could have supported a “full” sign and the excellent weather lasted into the evening to allow celebration of the now traditional Summer Barbecue at which the presentations to the finalists were made.
The tournament attracted slightly fewer entrants than last year but the tiered structure of the doubles events meant that 22 of the 59 entrants contested the finals and all squads, from D team to A team, were represented. Of those 22 14 were playing in their first finals day; a testament to the developing standard of tennis at the club.
As in 2005, we had a team of ball kids supporting the finals trained again by Annabel W. The innovation for 2006 was the introduction of umpires chairs (kindly loaned by the Oxfordshire County LTA at the White Horse Centre in Abingdon and ferried to the club courtesy of Angus’s horse box) and volunteer umpires for the five Open Singles and Doubles events.
Further details and photographs in:
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