Finals Night 2012
R&HTTC Finals Night 2012 was held at the Gambier Parry Hall, Highnam, on Saturday 21st April. Over 50 players, family and friends enjoyed the evening's 4 finals, which was followed by refreshments and award presentations.
A big thank you go out to all who made the evening a great success. This includes all the players that took part in the competitions leading up to the finals (25 out of 30 eligible players), everyone who brought food and raffle prizes, the hard-working kitchen assistants, and everyone else who attended on Saturday - I hope you all enjoyed it!
Lee Bruton took on the role of Master of Ceremonies as if he'd done it countless times before, and introduced Guest of Honour, Graham Slack and his wife, Lesley.
The first Final played on the night was the Handicap Singles. This was between Sten Salisbury and Fabrizio Trifiro (Photos left), both Division 4 players. As Sten had a lower average than Fabrizio, he was given a slender advantage of 3 head start. It was a close battle with Sten coming out on top winning 21-19, 16-21, 21-16.
Sten then had a quick rest before playing his second of 3 finals, the Handicap Doubles, with partner Stewart Jones of Division 1. This pair was up against Liam James & Phil Dixon (Pictured left), of Division 5 and 4 respectively. This meant the latter were given a healthy start of 12. Sten and Stewart put up a strong fight, but Liam's strong forehand topspins were too much for the more experienced pairing. Phil and Liam won 21-5, 21-23, 21-13.
The third final again saw the partners of Sten and Stewart, but this time at opposite ends of the table in the Handicap Veteran Singles. As Sten played in 3 divisions lower than Stewart he received a headstart of 9. Stewart managed to win the first set but Sten played above his league standard of play and eventually beat Stewart in 3 sets, 19-21, 21-12, 21-15.
The final match was the Open Singles verses team mates Lawrence Symonds (left) and Ann Barnes (right). This was a closely fought battle where Lawrence attacked at every opportunity. Ann was unable to reduce the effectiveness of her opponent's attacking shots as Lawrence became a worthy winner of the match. Final scores were 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6.
The Glyn Lloyd Award for services to the club was awarded to Sylvia Oastler, wife of a former club member, Dennis. She has worked tirelessly in the kitchen on finals nights over the last few years, and was a worhty winner of this special award.
The Club presented Sten Salisbury with an Award for his services to the club as he is stepping down from the role of Chairman. Sten has been involved with the club since the beginning, and we hope he continues to play a significant part by being a valued member of the committee for a few more years yet.
Other events that were played to a result before Finals Night included:
Consolation Singles:
Winner - Lee Bruton (right) Runner-up - Pete Humble (far right).
Ladies Singles:Winner - Mel Boulton (pictured right)
Runner-up - Ann Barnes
Junior Singles:
Winner - Olly Tyndall
Runner-up - Owen Berry
Quelch Award (Highest Average)Gold - Owen Berry (90.48% Div 5) (left)
Silver - Chris Pearce (88,89% Div 2) (far left)
Bronze - Fabrizio Trifiro (86.05% Div 4)
Below is a photo of all the members who attended final's night:
L to R (back): Sten Salisbury, Rob Deeley, Ken Smith, Simon Moysey, Trevor Oliver, Phil Dixon, Mel Boulton, Chris Pearce, Lawrence Symonds, Stewart Jones, Paul Russom, Fabritzio Trifiro.
L to R (front): Glyn Lloyd, Pete Humble, Lee Bruton, Auustin Romero, Elaine Marshall, Owen Berry, Liam James, Ann Barnes.