A relatively recent addition to the pantheon of CURTC championships, cups, trophies and competitions is the the CURTC Handicap Doubles. This was stimulated by the Initiation of the Callender Cup, the national championship for club handicap doubles champions/runners-up, similar to the Chetwood trophy for Singles, by the good folks at Wellington. Last year’s winners, Joe Zygmunt and John Reid were sadly unable to defend their title due to injury (but have recently been spotted back on court). The group stage results are HERE which left myself and Alan Sharpe to battle it out with Brooke and the Reviers. But first we had a masterclass in how not to take a selfie. This was (by far) the best of the various shots of the ceiling, feet and 3 (or fewer) of the 4 of us.

After a brief warm-up, we lost the spin and decided on a tactic of ‘no mistakes’ facing a considerable handicap disadvantage. Our first stroke went straight into the net (the one in the middle of the court, not one round the periphery). But oddly enough, this was the last such stroke for some time as we shot (perhaps a bit of an exaggeration due to the prevalence of replacement joints on our side of the net) into a significant lead. TK found the nick with his service mercifully elusive and Camice high bombs needed just a bit more direct sunlight to be really tricky.
Mr Mo had a last laugh (giggle?) as TK found the nick and I dispatched a couple of Camice’s high serves firmly into the net (yes the one in the middle). But in the end we won a tight contest 8-3.
Now to find a place for another Honours Board… (BTW, we are still having damp issues which is why the existing Honours Boards have not all been returned to their rightful spots)