2000 Mixed Championships

Howard Wiseman reports:

Without any hard work being involved by the competition organiser, twenty pairs appeared at Highgate on a very sunny Sunday in May, to compete for the title of "Mixed Champions"! For the second year in a row, the following rule was implemented: "the man can only remain in the serving position for one rally." Again, this rule received unanimous approval, since it prevents any player from dominating the match.

All matches were played in an excellent spirit, and on the whole, in excellent time!. John Reynolds and Nancy Rossi perhaps took the relaxed spirit of the day a little too far, always basking in the sun on their Fives court until another opponent happened to appear before them. This approach turned out not to be very quick - but all matches were played eventually.

Defending champion Teresa Dunbar had swapped her partner for a younger model - this time partnering her son Peter instead of husband Graham. Their quarter-final match was surprisingly tough, against the scratch pairing of Kerry White and Peter White (no relation). Kerry and Peter made a particularly strong partnership, and always remained slightly ahead, eventually winning the match 10-6, 10-8. Meanwhile, Joanna Doley and Howard Wiseman defeated Nancy Rossi and John Reynolds 10-6, 10-7. In the other half of the draw, Krystyna Vargas and Karl Rudman defeated Anneke Wells and Sanjay Ranasinghe, 10-8, 10-1, and Marianne Rees and William Powell beat Charlotta Cooley and Jonathan Dean 10-8, 10-5.

The remaining matches were all decided in the final game. Kerry and Peter apparently had their match against Joanna and Howard comfortably under control, only to have the second and third games stolen from the last moment, to lose the match. Krystyna and Karl also reached the final at the expense of Marianne and William. The Final was a real cliffhanger, with some extraordinary long rallies taking place, seemingly always on the most crucial points. This match could have gone either way. In the end it was won by Joanna and Howard, 10-9, 9-10, 10-8.

Results

Quarter-Finals

Kerry White & Peter White beat Teresa Dunbar & Peter Dunbar 2-0 (10-6, 10-8)

Joanna Doley & Howard Wiseman beat Nancy Rossi & John Reynolds 2-0 (10-6, 10-7)

Krystyna Vargas & Karl Rudman beat Anneke Wells & Sanjay Ranasinghe 2-0 (10-8, 10-1)

Marrainne Rees & William Powell beat Charlotta Cooley & Johnathan Dean 2-0 (10-8, 10-5)

Semi-Finals

J.Doley & H.Wiseman beat K.White & P.White 2-1 (8-10, 10-9, 10-9)

K.Vargas & K.Rudman beat M.Rees & W.Powell 2-1 (9-10, 10-5, 10-5)

Final

J.Doley & H.Wiseman beat K.Vargas & K.Rudman 2-1 (10-9, 9-10, 10-8)

Plate A Winners

Emma Temple & Peter Cohen

Plate B Joint Winners

Wendy & Jack Furness + Lucy Simpson & David Cox

Plate C Winners

Helen Clarke & Sebastian Darmadi

Nineteen pairs took part