Despite the miserable weather last Sunday Wellow Tennis Club managed to stage and complete their annual Fred Hodges trophy competition. The trophy was first competed for in 1994 and is named after the club member who at the time was the club’s oldest active player. The format is novel with its own rules with pairs competing in self-handicapping matches with the first to win five games or a tie-break if the score is 4-4. 

Twenty-eight club members took part with pairs rotating and with all matches subject to a 30 minute time limit all pairs played either three or four sets.  After six rounds the games won by each individual player were totalled up and the four men and four ladies with the highest average games won progressed to the semi-finals.

The first semi-final saw Gordon Taylor and Jane Capper beat Roger Marchbank and Abby Whatley 5-3. In the other semi-final Atilio Soto and Sandra Peckham just prevailed in a very close contest with Ben Wallis and Elaine Pickering 5-4. In the final Soto and Peckham proved too strong for Taylor and Capper easing to a 5-2 victory to become the twenty ninth winning pair of the trophy.

The competition was expertly run by Paul Feeney with help from Dave Pinch and because of the format of the competition it was completed in just 4 hours before the heavy rain came. Players and spectators enjoyed lots of food brought by the players although some drizzle meant spectators were confined to the clubhouse for part of the time.

The tournament  marked the end of the club’s summer season and the start of the winter fixtures. The club is scheduled to play 90 matches over the next 6 months with 12 teams competing in six different competitions. The club is also staging its first half term camp for juniors at the end of October.