Ann Clark picks up special award as Portsmouth Tennis League presentation evening returns after long Covid-related absence

Well, after a three-year Covid-enforced absence, the Portsmouth Tennis League held its 10th annual presentation evening, hosted by the Lee-on-Solent club, and a splendid time was had by all.

No fewer than 36 league trophies were up for grabs, covering the 2021/22 Winter League and 2022 Summer League seasons, with England international - and Warsash member - Ian Udal presenting the trophies.

Over 125 teams, from 24 clubs, compete in the 18 divisions run each winter and summer. And while the bigger clubs (Avenue and Chichester) unsurprisingly picked up the most trophies, all but three of the clubs won a trophy of some sort.

Alongside the traditional trophies, individual awards were made for various reasons. Most notably, a special award went to Ann Clark in recognition of her lifetime of exceptional service to tennis in the Portsmouth area and in particular to Southsea Tennis Club.

Her son Tim was also rewarded as he had captained the men’s team at Southsea from its conception some 20+ years ago until this winter.

Nicky Heyworth, a stalwart of Alverstoke Tennis Club for many years, was nominated as team captain of the year.

To the delight of the many club members present, CourtX were presented with the Colin Manvell Trophy, awarded in memory of the most fair-minded sportsman you could wish to meet and killed in a tragic accident a few years ago, as they considered to have con were considered to have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner all through the year.

Back on the trophy hunting trail for the winter season, Warsash men’s 1sts were given a scare by a rejuvenated Lee 1sts, whose second pair won the 2 v 2s rubber and came within a whisker of winning their encounter with the top pair as well.

But Andy Herrod-Taylor and Alex Petrella survived two tie breaks to secure a 3-1 win for Warsash.

Southsea are another club seeing a mini revival. Their men’s 1sts scored a notable 3-1 over Abshott to reverse the result when the two teams met in the Summer League. And Seacourt, one of the few clubs not to win a trophy over the last 12 months, started their season well when their men claimed a winning draw against Avenue 3rds.

The intra-club matchup between the 3rd and 4th teams at Warsash threw up no surprises, ending 4-0 in favour of the 3rds.

Warsash ladies 1sts lost 3-1 to Ryde Lawn 1sts, while their mixed 2nds entertained Ventnor but managed just a single rubber win, with mother/ son combination Linda and Elliott Jones scoring a double for the visitors.

Other winners in the mixed leagues were Avenue 3rds (4-0 against Alverstoke) and Southsea (3-1 against Ryde Lawn 2nds)

The midweek masters’ leagues have been fortunate enough to have avoided most of the rain that plagued the weekend fixtures.

David Lloyd’s mixed team mastered the windy CourtX courts slightly better than the home team, Sarah Keith and Fi O’Connor taking a crucial match tie break 13-11, having been match point down at 9-10, and thus sealing the winning draw points by just three games.

Avenue beat Carlton Green 4-0 and Southsea rounded off a good week for the club with a 3-1 win against Ryde Mead, both matches in mixed masters 2.

Meanwhile, Chichester’s men took two match tie breaks in the 3-1 win over Avenue.