The 1st Round of the 2015 club championships are all but completed. Men’s A Grade saw two players battle it out for a spot in the main draw. Simon Birchall and Nick Gregor played a five setter with Simon prevailing in the end. Once Simon got his forehand drives going there was no stopping him as they are so low and accurate and Nick struggled with them. Torben Mikkelsen and Jack Skippen played in A Reserve to take the final spot in the main draw. At 2-1 up Torben was looking comfortable but Jack got off to a good start in the fourth and it looked like it was heading to a fifth but alas Jack lost his way and let Torben in and he went on to win in four. The Women’s A Reserve, B and B Reserve were combined as there is a serious lack of women playing. The ladies all start in the one grade as as they win or lose they get graded as the results indicate. Lauren Mikkelsen had a win in three over Jamie Disson and Allison Bennett had a win in four over Angela Zammit. Some games were rearranged to be played due to other commitments. It was a big week for doubles. The top A Grade men were paired off with lower graded players to even the teams up and it appears to have worked with some surprising wins and of course some losers. The dark horse team appears to be Paul Tarasenko and Kane Hancock. They defeated the much fancied team of Tony McFarlane and Helen Anderson. Tony is the current No. 1 player and was expected to get his team through but he did not see much of the ball as it was all directed at Helen. Paul and Kane won 2-1. In their second match Tony and Helen had to play the veterans Barry Serjeant and Steve Pilley. This match was a lot closer than the first but as all play was directed at Helen, who matched it with the boys, it was the veterans who won the third game by one point just as full time was called. The men’s No. 2 player Michael Davidson teamed up with Robert Hodson to play Kash Robinson and Philippa Hayman. On paper this should have been an extremely close match but Kash was crook with a touch of the flu and as the games wore on he got worse and worse. Mick and Robert won this match in 3. Next up Kash and Philippa played the young bucks of Nick Gregor and Jack Skippen. Kash and Philippa managed to win one game but it was the younger team that had the win. The doubles it a timed match. Three, twelve minute games and as the clock ticks down, if the scores are close, there is a real sense of urgency from the losing team to get more points. Of course the team leading usually slows things up and wastes time. It’s fast paced and noisy but doubles is a great game to play and just as exciting to watch. All finals for all grades singles and doubles will be played on Thursday night starting at 6pm. Everybody, players and non players are more than welcome to come along and watch, there will be somebody you know competing. Food and refreshments are available. Susan Pilley