The HDTL Annual tournament for adults and juniors is now complete and results for all matches can be seen at the link below.
https://lta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=9091461B-55F4-42C7-A314-89EF3ADDC4CC
The Annual Dinner Dance and Awards evening is on Saturday 5 October at Harrogate Golf Club, organised by Boroughbridge Club. All tournament winners and division winning teams are expected to attend.
The annual HDTL tournament 2019 was sponsored by Harrogate Racquets Club and the match balls provided by Intersport. The U14 Junior event was hosted by Harrogate Spa Tennis Centre. Thanks to Carol Wynne for taking the photos on finals day which can be seen under the Gallery tab.
It was a wet week for the event, with drizzle or rain at some point on every single day of the tournament. But the players just got with playing, whether in summer tennis kit, or winter waterproofs. Scheduling was tricky for the organiser Paul Evison and Referee Mark Hinchliffe, but they did an amazing and professional job getting everything played, with results going up straight away after matches. By Friday evening, traditionally semi-finals night, all matches had been played, ready for a hopefully sunny Saturday Finals Day.
And sunny it was as three courts saw play start at 12pm. First to finish was the Open Mixed Doubles event with Richard Bancroft and new partner Ellie Makin (David Lloyd) taking on the well known 1st division pairing of Judith Abel & Martin Laidler (West Tanfield). Bancroft & Makin won 6-1 6-3. The Restricted Ladies Singles match on court 3 was won by Janet Devlin (West Tanfield) 6-2 6-2 taking part in her first HDTL final. She ran Carolyn Rothwell (Harrogate Spa Tennis Centre) ragged around the court with her deft and skilful sliced shots. The third match to finish was the Restricted Mixed Doubles match with last year’s winners Chris Partridge & Judith Thompson (Ripon) taking on home pairing Barbara Warren and Paul Stephenson (Harrogate Racquets). The Racquets pair shot into an early 5-2 lead, but ending up succumbing to the steady Ripon play 7-5 6-2.
Not wanting to get off court, Richard Bancroft was back on with new partner Ryan Carrick (David Lloyd) to take on the established West Tanfield pairing of Martin Laidler and Tim Simpson in the Open Mens Doubles. The West Tanfield pair had won their semi-final match late on Friday evening against the Boroughbridge father and son pairing of Ian and Charlie Grasby, but couldn’t keep the winning streak going, losing 6-2 6-0 to Bancroft & Carrick.
The Open Ladies Doubles event saw last year’s finalist Audrey Henderson with new partner Gaye Wright (Harrogate Racquets) take on Judith Abel (West Tanfield) and Helen Cowlrick (Harrogate Racquets). The players all know each other’s games so well, and Abel & Cowlrick won 6-2 6-4.
A long and hard fought Restricted Men’s Singles match took place on court 2, with two new finalists, Jonathan Guiritan (Harrogate Spa Tennis Centre) and Chris James (Ripon). Both had lost in the first round of the Open event, but had played and won three restricted matches to get to the final. Guiritan won 6-4 6-0 with both players showing the spectators some fantastic rallies and shot making.
The Restricted Mens Doubles event on court 1 was won by last year’s winner James Mathewman and new partner Shaun Holme (Starbeck) 6-2 6-3 against the well known pairing from West Tanfield of Sam Curran & Robin Hutchinson, who were also runners-up last year.
The last event on court was the Open Mens Singles with last year’s champion Ryan Carrick (David Lloyd) taking on teammate Richard Bancroft (David Lloyd). You might have thought Bancroft was tired after three semi final matches on Friday and three finals matches on Saturday, but he stormed into a 5-2 lead. Carrick however put a stop to that, winning the first set 7-6 and then after a torrential downpour he won the second set 6-3 to reclaim his title.
The HDTL committee would like to thank the organiser and referee for running such a slick event, and thanks to the players for playing without complaining in often inclement conditions. Thanks to Harrogate Racquets Club for providing use of the courts every evening, and keeping the bar open, and to Intersport for the match balls. Next year’s event will be modified based on feedback from players so make your opinions known.
The U14 Junior events were held at Harrogate Spa Tennis Centre on Saturday 8 June for the girls, and Sunday 9 June for the boys. In damp conditions the 6 girl entrants played a round robin of 5 matches. As the clouds darkened and the scores were counted up Raphael W-Delandro (Harrogate Racquets) had won 4 matches, and 23 games, Louisa Ibberson (Harrogate Racquets) had won 4 matches and 23 games, and Eva Kettlewell (Harlow) had won 4 matches and 26 games, and so retained her title as Girls Champion. On a sunny Sunday morning 7 boys contested a knock-out event, with Anish Johar (David Lloyd) winning the final 4-2 4-2 against Gus Short (Harrogate Racquets). There was also a boys doubles match which Zac Mitchell & Gus Short (Harrogate Racquets) won 4-0 4-1 against Adam Otto & Woody Rushfirth (Harrogate Racquets).
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Entry guidelines - closed 30 May 2019.
For the U14 junior events the player must be aged 14 or under on 31/8/19.
HARROGATE AND DISTRICT TENNIS LEAGUE
TOURNAMENT RULES 2019
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
The tournament runs between Sunday 9th June 2019 and Saturday 15th June 2019. The finals are scheduled to start at 12.30pm on Saturday 15th June 2019. In the event of a large entry some first round singles matches may have to be played prior to 9th June. Competitors will be informed by e-mail who they are playing and how to arrange these matches. The result of any match not played before 10th June will be determined by the referee.
The tournament will be played predominantly at Harrogate Racquets Club and Harrogate Spa Tennis Centre, competitors will be informed where their game will be played. All the finals will be played at Harrogate Racquets Club.
ELIGIBILITY
Entrants must be a member of a HDTL club, and be available to play the matches during the allocated Tournament week and on Finals Day. Entry is free, and the Tournament is run for HDTL players to participate in and enjoy.
There will be two entry categories: Open and Restricted, with ladies singles, men’s singles, ladies doubles men’s doubles and mixed doubles events in each category, subject to sufficient entries.
Entry rules Open category:
a. Any HDTL Club member can enter. They may, or may not, have played a match for their club in any division in any year.
Entry rules Restricted category
b. Any HDTL member can enter so long as they have predominantly played matches for their club in Div 2-6 only, and their LTA rating is 8.1-10.2 or they have no rating.
If a player has not played an HDTL match this season, then last season’s activity will be used. If they have not played a match then they should enter the Open event. The restricted event is for those who regularly PLAY in Div 2-6.
If a player usually plays in Division 2-6 but was needed to play in a Div 1 match to help their club out, as an occasional activity (max 2 times) they can still enter the restricted event.
Competitors may enter both the Open and Restricted events, but only to a maximum of 3 total events across the whole tournament.
The referee’s decision is final and s/he can refuse and exclude a player(s) at any time for any reason.
GENERAL INFORMATION
All matches are best of 3 sets with a tie break in each set at six all.
One tube of new balls will be provided for each court each evening. If you have a late match you may wish to bring some new balls. This is fine as long as all competitors agree to play with them.
If you are unable to make the allotted time, you may contact your opponent(s) to try and arrange the match at a different time. However, you can’t use the courts at Harrogate Racquets Club and Harrogate Spa during the tournament week, and your opponent(s) must agree to the change. In the event that the match can’t be rearranged or played at the allotted time, you must forfeit the game.
The Referee will communicate with you about any changes/news about the event by e-mail. If you did not supply an e-mail address on entering you can send it to the referee at hdtl.tournament@gmail.com Please ensure you keep a close eye on your e-mails throughout the event in case of any change to the schedule etc.
If a player(s) is in a match and cannot play the next round on the date stated, they must forfeit the match at match point so that their opponent(s) can play the next match (including Finals)
The referee has the right to alter the schedule so please ensure you are available all week. The referee’s decision is final.
Please ensure you arrive for your match in good time, start times are estimates and can change at any time
SAFEGUARDING OF CHILDREN & VULNERABLE PEOPLE
Please familiarise yourself with the LTA guidelines with regard to the safe-guarding of children and vulnerable adults, if you or your dependents intend to enter. This information is available here: https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/about-lta/safeguarding/british-tennis-safeguarding-policy.pdf
Matches will be played at Harrogate Racquets who kindly sponsor the event, and the balls are provded by Intersport.