Vets open with a victory

Tennis

Herne Bay’s ladies’ veterans 1sts beat Tunbridge Wells 2nds 3-1 in their opening match of the Kent League season.

The first round of rubbers in the Division 1A contest ended all square with Anne Gibbs/sue Toye beating their opponents in straight sets but Kay Mileham/ Debbie Holden lost out after a couple of close sets.

The reverse games saw Gibbs/ Toye eventually prevail after a tight first set and Mileham/ Holden overcoming Wells’ first pair, losing only four games in the process.

Another close match saw the ladies’ 2nds edge out Broadstairs ladies at Broadstairs in Division 3B

Although all the rubbers were won in straight sets, they were all hard fought. Sue Toye/kay Mileham narrowly lost both their rubbers but the excellent pairing of Caroline Packer/ Denise Parrett took both theirs to leave the tie balanced at 2-2 in rubbers and 4-4 in sets. Bay won on countback 39 games to 37.

The mixed 4th team opened their winter season with two home wins in a week. Kemsing 3rds were the first visitors and at times the players felt they were playing more the wind than anything else.

Helen Lipyeat/colin Thompson edged their first rubber in two close sets, while Diana High/ Roger Thomas comfortably beat the second pair. In the reverse rubbers, Lipyeat/thompson lost only one game to the second pair and although High/thomas lost to the visitors’ first pair, Bay triumphed 3-1.

The same Bay pairings hosted Blackheath 4ths in slightly calmer conditions and enjoyed another 3-1 win.

Lipyeat/thompson played consistently to take both their rubbers in straight sets. High/ Thomas narrowly lost to Blackheath’s first pair in a third set championship tie-break but overcame their second pair in straight sets. The team are currently top of Division 8B.

Elsewhere, the Deal Indoor League has got under way with Bay recording a win and a loss.

The men’s 2nds met Deal ITC 3rds. Gary Smith/steve Howard took their opponents to three sets in both rubbers, narrowly losing both. Jason Hollingsworth/ Rob Catterick edged past Deal’s second pair again in three sets but fell short against their first pair having lost a first set tiebreak, leaving Bay 3-1 losers.

The men’s 1sts faced Walmer 1sts and in a tight first rubber, Alex Kazekeos/ben Keighley were taken to a championship tie-break, which the Deal side edged 13-11.

The Bay pair bounced back in the second rubber to win fairly comfortably and with the second pair of Matt Newman/richard Marshall taking both their rubbers in straight sets, Bay won 3-1.