Warsash are champions again – Portsmouth Winter Tennis League round-up

Stubbington v Southsea (from left): Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner, Maureen Parker, Suzanne Johnson, Elaine Reed, Helen Shelton,
Deb Prytherch, Linda Swinburne, Nicky Whild. — Stubbington v Southsea (from left): Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner, Maureen Parker, Suzanne Johnson, Elaine Reed, Helen Shelton, Deb Prytherch, Linda Swinburne, Nicky Whild.

They will now represent the Portsmouth League in the annual Solent Cup challenge match against the as yet unconfirmed champions of the Southampton Winter League at Thornden on April 9.

The respective ladies championship winners will play the same day and, while Ryde Lawn could still come through to steal the title, it looks highly likely that Chichester will be representing the Portsmouth league, writes ALAN BEST.

In Men’s 2, Ventnor’s 3-1 win over Warsash 2nds set up a nailbiting finish to that division. Elliot Jones and Hugh Idle won both their rubbers, with Elliott Rugg and Dave Richards backing them up with a straight sets win over Jonty Challis and Martin Doyle.

Warsash 1 v Lee Mixed Masters (from left): Syd Quinn, Nigel Craine, Mary Quinn, Steve Webb, Barbara Wilkie, Karen Kirwan, Chris Little, Steph Evans

Victory leaves Ventnor level on points with Chichester at the top of the table, but dark horses Lee 2nds could sneak past both the top two if they win their last two matches - one of which is against Chichester!

Men’s Division 3 is no less exciting. Unbeaten Ryde Mead are currently in third place, three points behind leaders Chichester 2nds but with a game in hand.

It seems likely they may finish level on points, in which case the team with the best ratio of rubbers won to rubbers played will take the championship.

No such closeness in men’s Division 4, though. Carlton Green eased to a 3-1 win over Ryde Lawn 3 to clinch the title.

Chichester’s ladies 1 have already been mentioned as champions elect in Division 1, but their 2nd team also deserve an honourable mention, having clinched the division 2 title when they saw off nearest challengers Warsash 2nds in a head to head decider three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, CourtX 2 were unbeaten in the seven matches they played and that was enough to clinch the Division 3 title with ease.

Division 4 is set up for another classic head-to-head encounter when JEM Tennis take on Active Academy.

JEM need at least a winning draw to clinch the championship. Anything else leaves the matter out of their hands – and here again the championship might be decided on countback of rubbers won v rubbers played.

Stubbington ladies finished their Division 5 season in style with a 4-0 win over Southsea. As a result, they finally saw off the stubborn challenge of Wickham, who finished just two points behind the leaders, having lost only one match.

The top three mixed competitions have all been dominated by a team that went through the winter unbeaten - Warsash (Division 1), JEM (Division 2) and Lee 2nds (Division 3).

However, Division 4 is competitive right to the end, with Ryde Lawn 3rds needing a minimum of a winning draw in their last match at Southsea to sneak past Carlton Green for the title.

The closest match of the week was one was the mid-table midweek mixed masters one between hosts Warsash and Lee.

The mixed rubbers were shared, Warsash taking having a mid-point advantage as Mary Quinn and Chris Little won a set in their losing rubber against Barbara Wilkie and Nigel Craine.

The hosts’ ladies pair then went on to increase the advantage with a match tie break win, but Craine and Steve Webb eased past the Warsash men in straight sets, levelling the match at two rubbers and five sets each.

Lee were declared the winners of the extra point, having won 37 games to Warsash’s 36.

Other mixed masters results saw Warsash 2nds also on the losing side, by a 4-0 margin,, while mid-table Fishbourne rounded off their season by beating Ryde Mead 4-0.