Report on Hants Inter Town Tournament held at Andover on April 28th 2012
In the Men’s Division Basingstoke were represented by Sander de Riemer, Peter Howell and Patrick Garlick.
Portsmouth fielded a particularly strong team and ran out 5 – 1 victors over Basingstoke in the first match with Sander winning the only game.
This was followed by a 4 – 2 defeat to another strong Bournemouth A team. Both Sander and Peter won one match each.
The last match was against Andover A and Basingstoke ran out 5 – 1 winners to finish third in their group. A very creditable performance by all the team.
In the Vetts “A” Division Basingstoke “A” were represented by Sean Pickin, Peter Matthews, Tony Brown and Denise Weller.
They played their matches against Bournemouth A, Aldershot A and Basingstoke B and recorded 6 – 0 victories in each match. Only in the last game was this record threatened as Tony and Denise just managed to hold on 11 – 9 in the fifth game of their mixed doubles game against Aldershot. A proud record achieved against some strong opposition. Well done!!! This is the third consecutive year Basingstoke A have won the Hampshire Inter Town Vetts Division 1 tournament.
Also in the Vetts Division “A” Basingstoke “B” fielded Peter Martin, Keith Dickenson, George White and Sarah Whithorn.
The first match against Aldershot A was lost by the score of 5 – 1 with only Sarah winning her singles match. The second match was predictably lost also by the score of 6 – 0 to the afore mentioned Basingstoke A team.
Better results in the third match against Bournemouth A team saw George win his singles and Peter and Keith win the mens doubles. The end result left Bournemouth running out 4 -2 victors and left Basingstoke bottom of their group.
In Vetts Division “C” Basingstoke were represented by Ron Powell, Robin Burns Bill Bavister and Celia Hooker.
Only thee teams were fielded in this division and Basingstoke were paired against Andover B and Andover C.
In the first match against Andover B they were soundly beaten 6 – 0 by a more experienced team with only Celia coming close just losing 11 – 9 in the fifth. Better results came in the second match against Andover C with Celia getting revenge over her Andover opponent and in the loudest match of the day Bill won his singles 11 – 8, 12 – 10, 13 – 15, 12 – 10.
The tournament was held again at the John Hanson School in Andover. The conditions are superb and this contributed to a very enjoyable days play and the refreshments provided by Andover were most welcome.
My thanks go to all the players who represented Basingstoke and I hope you all enjoyed the competition.
Peter Martin