Portsmouth champs win Solent thriller
The annual Solent Cup challenge between the winners of the Portsmouth and Southampton winter leagues took place at CourtX on Southsea seafront, writes ALAN BEST.
In the men’s competition, Chichester, representing the Portsmouth League, and Salisbury, the Southampton League, were both making a first appearance at this level.
Matt Worden and Joe Glover, Chichester’s top pair, took the opening rubber in straight sets.
Second pair James Bird and Charlie Guimaraens had a tougher task, facing Salisbury’s club coach and his partner, the Wiltshire captain.
The Chichester pair took the first set, but lost the next two closely-fought sets.
Salisbury’s top pair then really got into their stride, taking the 1s v 1s rubber in straight sets.
Bird and Guimaraens now had to win the rubber to keep Chichester in the tie.
After winning the first set 6-2, Chichester lost the second.
With the clock approaching four hours of play, Chichester finally earned two match points – only to see them both saved!
At 6-6, a deciding tiebreak was required. It was nip and tuck all the way to 6-6 in the tie-break.
Now every other point was a match point. Salisbury earned and lost the first two, but Chichester won the next one and a booming Guimaraens serve made sure no more were needed.
But calculators were still required to determine the winners. Rubbers were shared 2-2, and sets 5-5, but Chichester had taken 51 games to Salisbury’s 44.
The ladies’ match, played alongside the men, was a little less exciting.
David Lloyd West End turned up with the Hampshire county ladies’ captain alongside the No1 ranked lady in the county. Lee (Portsmouth’s representatives) couldn’t match that strength.
DWLE ran out 4-0 winners, but not before their two teenage starlets, Sophie Grist and Chloe Efford, had shown the county captain their potential when they took a set off her and her partner and kept her on court for an hour and a half.
CourtX’s third and fourth men’s teams met to claim division three ‘bragging rights’.
The opening rubbers saw both top pairs comfortably overcoming the second pairs.
The reverse rubbers both went to a deciding third set and there was a remarkable similarity in the scores, with the fourths winning the 1s v 1s rubber 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 and the 2s v 2s match 6-2, 3-6, 4-6.
One division down, Southsea 1 got their season off to a good start with a 4-0 win over Warsash 3, while CourtX 1 ladies pulled off a 3-1 win at Lee’s second team.
There was another 3-1 win for Chichester ladies 3 against Rowlands Castle 2 in division four.
Midweek action saw Ryde Lawn mixed masters 1 held to a draw at CourtX, with the rubbers and sets shared. Ryde claimed the extra winning draw point by winning 43 games to CourtX’s 36.
Two wins for Jane Mellor
and Lynne Foster earned Rowlands Castle a point in their ladies’ masters encounter with Swanmore 2, but Jane Crawshaw and Gita Kaushik took a set off them and that gave Swanmore the winning draw points.