February 20, 2026
- Riya Bharwad wins the LRTA Under 21 singles at Radley
- Godsill and Glasscock (almost!) win the Doubles Double
- CAMBRIDGE WIN AWAY AT MIDDLESEX!
- National League on Friday (17th)
- East Anglia Cup, 28/6/25 at Newmarket
- East Anglia Cup+ 2025 @Newmarket
- FLM IRPTA National League, Division 9: Final
- Leamington Visit Redux
Free Taster Sessions!
Membership of CURTC is open to all, very much town as well as gown. We love welcoming new members of any age. This ancient and intriguing game is fast or slow, tactical, subtle and addictive. One of our professionals (Kees, Peter and Mark) is usually here 9am – 5pm on weekdays or 9am – 12 noon on Saturdays, they will be happy to explain and encourage.
We offer free taster lessons in small groups usually on the first and third Wednesday each month at 12:30pm and 5 or 6pm. Just register your interest with the pros, in person, by telephone, 01223 357106 or by email curtcpros@gmail.com
Varsity Team Shirt Presentation
It was a bit dark and Polly is a very black Lab. Many thanks to the Master of St Johns and Herbie Hancock for hosting!
Mens 1st Varsity
James Wilson, Leo Sanitt, Ben Craig, Jin Seok Lee
Womens 1st Varsity
Theodora Enslin, Martha Jameson, Ellie White, Venetia D’Arcy plus Ben sorting shirts
Womens 2nd Varsity
Camice Revier, Helena Hinkel, Lara Abraham, Lucy Caines (Venetia D’Arcy)
Mens 2nd Varsity
Giles Holliday, Joe Betts, Marcus Cloke Browne, Angus Todd
2nds Varsity @Oxford
Day 1 results (Cambridge 1st)
W1S Lucy Caines df Rosa Mark 6/3, 6/2
W1D Lucy & Lara df Tosa & Tanisha 8/2
W2S Lara Abraham df Tanisha Reddy 6/0, 6/0
M4S Giles Holliday lt Toma Kerac 2/6, 4/6
M3S Joe Betts df Ali Cliffe 6/5, 6/3
M2D Joe & Marcus df Toma & Max 8/6
M2S Marcus Cloke Browne vs Max Benster
CURTC Category Tournaments: part 2
The 50’s, 40’s and 30’s Category Tournaments were compressed into a single weekend and came up with some exciting tennis and three new names to go on the CURTC Honours boards.
Youth vs Experience in the 50’s Final
First up were the 50’s where Giles Holliday and Simon Godsill emerged from Group B to face David Pimblett and Joe Betts in the semi-finals. Notice the perfect Senior/Student representation! Simon was not overawed by the 8 point handicap disadvantage to take an early lead and looked like an upset was on the cards. But David decided enough was enough and upped his consistency to book his place in the Final. The other semis was an all-Student match-up where Joe did not let Giles get into a rhythm with his often lethal leftie serve. So this meant the Final was a rematch between David and Joe which David had edged 6/5 in the Group stage. This time the score line was the same but the winner different!
The afternoon saw the 40’s take to the courts. Again the handicaps did not prove a reliable guide as the three groups were won by a 1st seed (Ben Geytenbeek) a 2nd seed (Rupert Grose) and a 3rd seed (Angus Todd) with Graeme Menzies completing the semi-finals as the best runner up. Angus edged Rupert in the third 8/7 of the tournament to earn the right to play Ben in the Final. By this time everything was hopelessly behind schedule but the Pros managed to juggle some court bookings to complete what proved to be a lengthy final as Angus edged home in the 4th 8/7.
Angus Todd & Ben Geytenbeek
Sunday dawned and the 30’s took to the courts to attempt to end further behind schedule than the 40’s. (They succeeded!) The two groups saw the top seeds (Josh Elliott and Jin Seok Lee) advance comfortably along with Leo Sanitt from Group A. Group B saw three players end up with a single win with Men’s Varsity Captain Ben Craig advancing on games one. It should be noted that Ben showed exemplary diplomacy in losing to the Giraffe Club Chair, Andy Smith! The first semi went to Josh but the second produced an upset as Ben overcame Jin 6/4 to reach the Final.
Josh & Ben
The match, while not as long as the 40’s Final, still kept the 30’s comfortably behind schedule as Ben pulled off another upset 8/5.
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CURTC Category Tournaments: part 1
The CURTC Handicap Category Tournaments played off level for those in a give handicap range got off to an exciting start with the 80+, 70 and 60 groups over the weekend.
The late replacement Jim McCaughan (thanks Jim!) proved to be the winner, clinching victory with a main wall force into the the Dedans! Below he receives a slab of delicious Sirene chocolate from club stalwart, Barnaby Perks.
Carl & Simon, about to take to the court for the 70’s Final
However, there was no stopping Simon in this second match with Carl as he doubled up on the Sirene chocolate thanks to a 6/2 vistory.
Kees
CURTC Doubles Champions League
CURTC has long held a ‘Champions’ League for the winners of the Divisions of our Spring/Summer Singles League currently sponsored by Tayabali & White. Peter remarked that maybe we should make space in our crowded schedule of League matches for a ‘Champions’ Doubles League for our winners of the Divisions of CURTC’s Doubles League! Long overdue if you ask me.
In the first semi, Vamos, the T&W Singles Champions League Champions, were unabale to complete the double as they lost 2-1 to the Student team who they had defeated in the Singles Champions League. In the other semi Tayabali & White edged past the Dedans Dynamos 2-1 having saved six match points in the first of the three rubbers which turned out to be crucial. In the final there was no stopping the Students as they swept passed T&W 3-0 with a combination of ruthless volleying and cunning serving. So congratulations to the Student team of Arnaud du Roy, Theodora Enslin and Grey Godsal along with Giles Holliday who are the inaugural CURTC Doubles Champions League winners!
Finalists: Arnaud, Simon, Giles, Grey, Theodora & Vix
You can rewatch the final here: youtube.com/live/…
Peter
Christmas Tournament Inspirations
The annual Christmas CURTC Tournament on 27 December 2025 was one of those events we only fully appreciate when it’s missing — a reminder of just how special it is. A day awash with memories, smiles, and genuinely joyful moments, it delivered exactly what makes this club such a great place to be.
Huge thanks go to Peter, tirelessly on the go from 08:00 onwards, keeping everything running seamlessly, and to Alan Sharpe, whose constant and diligent marking was beyond reproach — even if the festive hat made it impossible to take him entirely seriously 😍. Jokes aside, this dedication is precisely why the club’s members make it a great club.
There were plenty of inspiring performances and joyful wins, including Gillian Moore, and the “now not so young” Felicity, freshly back in competition after her first term at York University. We all know Felicity will still be playing — and inspiring others — well into her 70s, 80s and beyond.
The tournament even had an international flavour, with Danny (from across the Atlantic (Canada… or was it the USA? 🇺🇸🤭), and Colin, who not only contributed a delightful handmade cake packed with healthy nuts, but also looked impeccably turned out — as if he’d just stepped off Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven set (though with a much better smile 😃).
With genuine member contributions, some exceptional rallies, and a warm festive spirit throughout, it was a day many will treasure — one that perfectly captured why this tournament, and this club, mean so much to so many. For 2025, champion Charlie Perks will long into the wind continue this heritage status (huge congratulations Charlie).
Ian Glasscock
ps Results from the Group phase (Doubles & Singles) can be found HERE
CURTC Ladies Championship
Ulla Petti and Ellie White faced off in the CURTC Ladies Championship last Thursday cheered on by an enthusiastic Dedans full of supporters ranging from the parental to the curious to the wizened. I believe this was the first such final where both players were sub 40 handicapwise, a testament to the strength of the current CURTC players. The first games were full of canny probing rallies, short chases and multiple deuces which Ellie turned into a 4-love lead albeit in over 20 minutes. But Ulla fought back to 5-4 before losing the first set to one of those agonizing volleys which bounces up off the Penthouse to just clip the top of the Tambour… Ulla continued to press and had a couple of points for a 4-2 lead in the second set. However Ellie’s footwork and relentless returning turned the tide to ensure the CURTC’s Ladies plate returned home with her!
But don’t take my word(s) for it, the stream of the match is available here: www.youtube.com/live/rwhqwSyXosw It really is worth a watch!
Congratulations to both players for a cracking* match
*as per marker Peter who also provided the photos
ps Sign-up for the 25/26 Ladies Championship is now open.
Riya Bharwad wins the LRTA Under 21 singles at Radley
Godsill and Glasscock (almost!) win the Doubles Double
In this year’s CURTC Doubles Championship four groups of teams played off handicap over the summer in a round robin format to compete for places in the semi-finals. In the semis, Group A winners Lloyd and Aldous (75) were beaten 8-3 by Glasscock and Godsill (62), off a tough handicap difference of 13. In the other semi, Pearson and Brown (27) beat Menzies and Marsh (46) 8-7 in a very close-fought and entertaining battle, an even bigger handicap hurdle for the winners. This of course left a very tough handicap difference of 35 for Pearson and Brown vs Glasscock and Godsill in the final, and this proved too tough even for that very high quality tennis pairing, and they lost 8-2, to give Glasscock and Godsill their first ever club title (and indeed their first real-tennis honours of any sort!).
Winning the CURTC Doubles gets you an invite to compete in the Callender Cup at Wellington College, Nov 1-2. This is a national competition off handicap, where all of the participants are winners of their club’s handicap doubles, and a record 15 teams were present, including as wildcards last year’s Oxford Winners Charania and Ault. There was some very high quality tennis to watch from some low handicap pairings in the round robin phases. We (Glasscock and Godsill) proceeded with 3 solid 8-1 wins through the round robin on Saturday and the quarter finals on Sunday.
At this point we came up against the very strong local Wellington pairing in the semis of Mark Harris and Nigel Hall (40) (Hall is an ex-Cambridge varsity player and ex-Corpus Christi student from the 90s), a team that we had watched with some trepidation in the round robins and quarter final. With their skill and local court knowledge they managed to take a 4-3 lead. We then started playing more sensibly to our strong handicap advantage and pulled back to win a memorable 8-6 semi-final.
Enter the dark horses of the tournament, the junior pairing of Bartlett and Gee (80) from Holyport, who were like us unbeaten in the tournament thus far, beating last year’s winners Charania and Ault in their semi-final, in a hard-fought 8-5 win. We probably stood the best chance of anyone of beating them, with only 20 handicap difference in their favour. However, we made a few slips in the opening games of the final, which let them take a 5-1 lead. We then made a strong recovery with some excellent cross-court hitting by Glasscock and some effective high and underarm twist serves by Godsill that brought us to 7-5 against, still in trouble but in with a chance. The pressure was too great however, and the youngsters took the final game to win 8-5. In the end their high quality serving, some excellent winning `gets’ and some unforced errors by us were too much to beat the handicap differential. Congratulations to them, but we were more than satisfied with the progress we have made this year. They won Extratec racquets and we won printed tennis balls, grrr… Onwards and upwards!
Many thanks to the pros Adam and Danny at Wellington for a well organised and fun tournament.
Simon Godsill
CAMBRIDGE WIN AWAY AT MIDDLESEX!
As we arrived we found Dave Pimblett losing the day’s opening match. So far, so Cambridge. Then we waited until Faustus Vilimas (30), the day’s lowest handicapped player, a horribly young, one-time student now real tennis intern at Middlesex, arrived. He was politely late and still suffering from the previous evening’s Brodie Cup v Radley celebrations. It showed. On a fun day, the rest was a flow of comfortable Cambridge wins and it’s not often I get to say that.
TK
ps Some good news about the MURTC court. Middlesex University have granted an extension to the notice period until July 2027.
National League on Friday (17th)
Our very own Mark Hobbs and Zack Smart will be hosting Queens on Friday in the IRPTA National League from 6pm on the Blue Court. Please come along and cheer on the home team and enjoy what promises to be some high-level and competitive tennis! Feel free to BYOB and snacks.
ps If you have a few minutes, make sure to ask Mark about his recent National League match at Queens!!
Champagne League Finals
The Division 1 final between Stephen Doel (handicap 28) and Alan Sharpe (handicap 49) was the closest of matches from the very start and continued without either player achieving a significant lead. However, Stephen overcame the significant handicap difference to get one hand on the Champagne. Just as we thought Alan was beaten, he came back with the court coverage of an undergrad and an amazing run of points to take the match 8/7.
Riya Bharwad (59) played Alex Ridgeon (65) in the Division 2 final. Alex started very well, leading 4 games to love with his customary flicks, changing the direction of the ball at the very last fraction of a second and stunning the crowd with blistering speed around the court. At this stage Riya quelled her nerves and controlled the ball with great skill when serving and receiving. The quality of her underarm twist and bobble services were testament to hours of practice over the summer months. At 5 games all, with Alex tiring, Riya took control of the match to win 8/5.
There was some concern that Simon Aldous (73) would not cope with giving John Sheekey (74) a head start in the Division 3 final. Wrong! This was another thrilling final; Simon serving excellent underarm twists, placing the ball into the corners and John showing great speed and athleticism. At 6-all, Simon’s service advantage deserted him and John bounded his way to grasp the champagne with an 8/6 win. Simon showed equal amounts of joy winning his prize.
Many thanks to Pol Roger for their generous sponsorship of this year’s Champagne Leagues!
Kees
The Dutch Visit
Last weekend, The Dutch landed once again on our courts, armed with rackets, team spirit, and a suspicious amount of good cheer. From the first serve to the last reste, the courts buzzed with energy — a blend of competitive fire and plenty of laughter. The rallies stretched long and volleys flew fast, with the visitors’ sharp skills and trademark enthusiasm earning them a 10/5 victory over Cambridge.
While the visitors may have claimed the numbers, CURTC showed excellent form and competitive spirit, with the whispers of ‘next time’ growing louder with every handshake. As post-match conversations at The Punter flew, it was clear that the talks of challenging The Dutch for a rematch had already begun. One thing’s certain: when these two teams meet again, it promises to be just as competitive, just as fun, and just as memorable.
Thank you to both teams for an amazing day, to Kevin, Philippe, Peter, and Kees for all the help with organising, and to Sonja and George for keeping us going with cakes and cider! Until next time, bandits!
Ulla Petti
2024/5 CURTC Junior Club Championships
Riya, Felicity, Leandros
The finals of the Under 16 and Under 19 CURTC Club Championships took place last Wednesday. Nine players competed in the Under 16 CC round robin (RR) stage of the tournament to determine two finalists. The RR matches were played over the last few weeks, which resulted in Leandros Georgoulis winning all his matches and Riya Bharwad coming second. There were many close matches, notably, Marius Parente-White nearly defeating Riya and William Buttrey winning against Marius.
In the knockout final it was obvious that Riya had made significant improvements to her game, probably from making very good use of her Summer Season Ticket (SST)! Riya led all the way, however Leandros kept within a game up to when the score was 4/5. Leandros showed great speed and agility and Riya served and returned with power and precision. Riya then increased her lead to win 8/5.
In the Under 19 Club Championship, Riya and Leandros joined the defending champion, Felicity Riddall-Bell. All three players were about handicap 60 so it was no surprise that there was very little separating the players in their matches. Leandros came closest to catching Felicity, the ultimate winner, losing 8/7 and Riya lost 8/6. Felicity’s victory was a fitting end to her time as a Cambridge junior, as along with her mother, Fiona, she has been a significant contributor to junior tennis at our club.
Kees
East Anglia Cup, 28/6/25 at Newmarket
Purloined from the CURTC Instagram page.
It was hot… Even at 8:30 when we arrived at Newmarket to take on the hosts in the first round of the East Anglia Cup. The EAC is a round robin between the four East Anglia Clubs, each match comprising two Singles and a Doubles with Charles Norbury & Miles Hember doing the Singles and myself and President Vix doing the Doubles. Newmarket is a tough court to play on as it is a bit bigger and just a bit different form CURTC. Having assured everyone to be prepared for a low bounce, the balls proceeded to bounce around in an almost Blue Court fashion.
First up was Charles with the smallest of his handicap disadvantages for the day, 9. Taking a bit of time to suss out the court and forget my bounce advice, Charles got going to get to 5-all before just falling short. There was no stopping Miles, in fact there was no stopping Miles all afternoon! This meant the Doubles would decide the match (and perhaps more). Well things went Cambridge’s way and we then had a two hour wait before taking on Prested which did not go so well, Miles excepted. A more convincing display against Hatfield meant it all came down to the last match. Newmarket needed a sweep, Prested a win with the other possibility meaning that three teams would be equal on points and the dreaded games count back would be needed..
It was now even hotter and we were struggling just watching from the Dedans. Newmarket came agonisingly short in a comeback in the first Singles but Jon Fistein made sure the result would come down to the final Doubles. The first games were traded before John Burnett started scampering around like someone half his age giving Newmarket a convincing win and a search for calculators.
Apologies for using Sunday’s scoresheet
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Many thanks to Rodger East and Newmarket for hosting and we look forward to the trip to Prested for the 2026 East Anglia Cup!
CURTC is grateful for the support of our Sponsors…
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Giraffe Club: CURTC Alumni
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