B-Team Inter-Services 2010
NAVY TENNIS REIGNS SUPREME
In a nail biting second day, the Navy beat the RAF and ARMY to take the Inter-Services 'B' Tennis Championship trophy held at the Army Tennis Centre in Andover on 24-25 Apr 2010.
After last year's successful season-ender for Navy Tennis, culminating in a dramatic win for the Men's 'A' team at the Inter-Services 'A' Championships at Wimbledon, this year’s tennis season sprang into action in incredible style. Now, as men’s Inter-Services champions for both 'A' and 'B' Squads, Navy Tennis has never been in such a position of ascendancy over its two rivals.
On the first glorious weekend of Spring, ET(ME) Richard Drew got the Navy off to an impeccable start winning his first singles match 6-0, 6-3 against the RAF. Richard was first spotted at last year’s Navy Championships in Portsmouth. Sensing a star in the making, he was provisionally selected for the ‘B’ team and was immediately put forward as Men's No.1 – an incredible achievement in his first appearance for the Navy. Richard, who started playing tennis aged 5 and went on to win the U-18s Yorkshire County Doubles tournament before joining the Navy two years ago, followed his first win with an impressive thumping victory over the Army 6-0, 6-1 vindicating Mens' team captain, Cdr Nigel Bowen’s decision to put him at No.1. He was the best player of all 3 Services by a clear margin, and will no doubt be representing the RN at the Inter Services A tournament later in the season.
The Navy’s No.2 Marine Nathan Jackson also got off to a good start winning his first set against the Army 6-3. At 5-2 down in the second set it looked likely that his first match was going to go to a third set but Nathan bravely battled back and eventually won the set (7-5) and the match. Although he lost his second match against the RAF 4-6, 6-7 the Navy went into the second day tied with the RAF on 3 rubbers each; the Army failed to win any of their matches.
Surgeon Lt (D) Bryony Southorn also got the Women’s team off to a superb start winning her first match against the Army 6-3, 6-1 and convincingly swept her RAF opponent off the court in her second match 6-0, 6-0. History was in the making for Musician Alice Hudson. In her first appearance for the Women’s team, Alice is the first ever Royal Marine to play Navy Tennis and although she lost both her games, showed great promise during the competition. At only 18, Alice played at Somerset County level before joining the Royal Marines in Sep 2009 and will undoubtedly feature in Navy tennis for a long while yet.
In a closely fought contest the Championships recommenced on the Sunday for the Doubles matches. The Women’s team narrowly missed out but the Men’s competition was finally decided on the last match of the day: The No.1 pairing of Nathan and Richard won their first match against the RAF 6-2, 6-2. After careful consultation with Kevin Baker, the Men’s coach, team captain Nigel Bowen decided to play Lt Duncan Thomas and CPO ET(WE) Martin Shortt as pairing No.2; two players who had never partnered each other. This decision proved to be a master stroke. They narrowly won their first match against the Army in a 3rd set tie break, but a more critical moment was to follow during their 2nd match – the last match of the tournament. At 6 rubbers to 4 in favour of the Navy and with the RAF’s No1 pairing winning against the Army in the third round, it was crucial that the Navy got something out of their match against the RAF’s second pairing. At 6-3 up everything looked rosy but a glance across the courts saw the RAF finally beat the Army taking the overall tally to 6-5. In a pulsating match, the RAF came back and won the match 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 meaning Navy and RAF had each won 6 matches overall. However, in this event the rules call for a count of the total number of sets won – this is the same ruling that saw the Navy team lose to the Army in the Women’s Inter-Services at Wimbledon last year. The tally of sets was 13 to the RN and 12 to the RAF. So, in winning the first set 6-3, Duncan Thomas and Martin Shortt had in effect secured the trophy for the RN!
Speaking after the match Nigel Bowen heaped praise on his team and especially applauded the efforts of Kevin Baker – a Level 5 High Performance coach who runs a very successful Tennis Academy at the Portsmouth Indoor Tennis Centre, and has recently agreed to act as men’s coach for the remainder of the season. This follows his success last year when he accompanied the Men’s A team for their successful Inter-Services Championships win at Wimbledon. Cdr Bowen praised the RNLTA for their support in recruiting Kevin and was delighted to win the Inter-Services B tournament so early in his tenure as men’s captain.
Navy Tennis is always on the lookout for budding stars so if you think you've got what it takes please contact Cdr Nigel Bowen on 9679 80073 or come along to the regular FREE tennis sessions at Portsmouth Indoor Tennis Centre opposite HMS TEMERAIRE on Monday evenings (7-8pm). Some of the key forthcoming tennis events include the Inter Command Championships 10-11 Jun on the grass courts behind the Portsmouth Indoor Tennis Centre, Men/Ladies' vs. Queens Club in London on 3 Jul, the all-comers RN Championships on the grass courts 22-25 Jul and finally the Inter-Services 'A' Championships at Wimbledon 2-3 Aug. Throughout the summer there will also be inter and intra-establishment competitions so if you are interested in competing or picking up a racket for the first time, contact your PT department. For more details please visit our website: www.navytennis.co.uk.
