Inter-Club Tournament

Cambridge was in action in Warwickshire over the weekend at the National Inter-Club Tournament. Ben Geytenbeek played in the singles draw, with David Pimblett and Christie Marrian in the doubles. After arriving in Leamington, the first matches were against a team called T&RA 2, which turned out to be locals to Warwickshire. Ben raced to a fast start against the left-handed James Richardson, who brought it back level with some quick-fire aces. Ben then regained his composure and finished it off 6/4. David and Christie then outclassed Bill and Gerry Slora 6/2, using all parts of the court to keep the ball away from their opponents. Shortly after, Ben was on again against Martin Trees (Moreton Morrell 2), winning 6/2 with very consistent play. David and Chrisite finished off the afternoon session 6/3 over Sir Andrew Hamilton and Mark Leefe (MCC) 6/3.

It was then off to Moreton Morrell for the evening matches. A late running schedule meant a long evening waiting for matches. The singles was a large handicap difference match between Ben and Freddie Freeman (MCC) who played Varisty Seconds for Oxford back in February. It was clear that both players had improved a lot, but Ben ultimately couldn’t find enough winning shots and had a bit of unfortunate luck and lost 4/6. Christie and David then narrowly lost to Terence Drane and Bruce Paxton (Moreton Morrell 2). It was a match that swung wildly both ways going to a tight deciding game, but ultimately going down 5/6. Cambridge qualified through to the quarter finals in both singles and doubles, after much explaining (in vain) of the scoring system and a coin toss to decide the final qualifiers.

However, the following morning beckoned a slow start for the Cambridge teams. In the doubles, both players seemed to find the net often than not, and lost the first five games in a row to Radley’s Nick Gordon and Tim Roberts. Though they eventually scrounged a game, they were knocked out 1/6. Ben didn’t do much better, another slow start and by the time he was firing, Jeremy Hawkins (T&RA) managed a few incredibly bizarre strokes to win the match 2/6. Nonetheless, it was a fun tournament and many thanks to Leamington and Moreton Morrell for hosting and their excellent food!

Ben Geytenbeek

ps Cambridge’s QF vanquishers went on the win the Singles and Doubles Finals…