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2001 Aldenham Tournament

Graham Pulsford reports:

After what had seemed like months of incessant rain and flooding the weather changed for the better and we arrived in bright sunshine to find dry courts and perfect playing conditions. The format is straight forward - for each round the pair with the most points, after thirty minutes, using normal scoring is the winner. To spice the game up with five minutes remaining a whistle is blown to jangle the nerves and ensure a final flurry of points! Within two hours sixteen pairs can be reduced to a winner with the other pairs being ranked two to sixteen. This year's sole newcomer was Matthew Woods (Chalfont St Peter College).

Quarter-finals

As has become the rule there was no seeding of players and partners were drawn from a top hat. The draw produced some unusual pairings and the initial joint pre tournament favourites were Martin Lindsay/Tim Shepherd and Ian Leeming/Joe Seelig who were unluckily destined to meet each other in the quarter-finals!

This eagerly awaited clash was won surprisingly easily by Ian Leeming/Joe Seelig who concentrated on returning the ball and minimising their error count- the perfect definition of 'percentage fives'! Tim Shepherd afterwards confided to anyone who would listen that he had a severe groin strain but no one, and particular his partner of the day, Martin Lindsay, was overly sympathetic!

In the other quarter-finals Jim Fredenham/Matthew Woods forced a narrow victory over the sweaty pairing of Phil Lyndon/Tim Pemberton, and Tim Chamberlain/Dave Goodrick produced some steady fives to surge past the flu ridden Richard Dennis/Donald Fitt. The closest match saw Mike Fenn/Andrew Fraser come back from 2-8 down against Jonathan Lindsay/Graham Pulsford to win by a single point, 12-10 and 0-1, in the final few seconds.

Semi-finals

The first semi-final was a cracker. The left handed Tim Chamberlain, backed by steady back court play from Dave Goodrick, fought 'neck and neck'with the experienced pairing of Ian Leeming/Joe Seelig but were finally piped 14-15 at the whistle.

The second semi-final was almost as close. This was a tactical battle between Mike Fenn/Andrew Fraser and the ever astute Jim Fredenham with his young partner Matthew Woods. There were some excellent top court rallies but as poor Jim Fredenham's legs finally gave way the older pair went through to the final by three points. (The weather had taken its first victim!).

Final

The final was therefore between the strong favourites Ian Leeming/Joe Seelig and the surprising finalists Mike Fenn/Andrew Fraser. Betting on the outcome was suspended as the favourites set out their stall with some aggressive and accurate volleying and they opened up a healthy 3 point lead in the opening minutes. At this stage the match looked over for Mike Fenn/Andrew Fraser (yes, the older pair!) but true to form 'fives is a funny old game'. Andrew Fraser took the offensive and, ably backed by his partner, they gradually and inexorably changed the character of the match. Their score crept up slowly and after twenty minutes the equalising point took the score to 5-5. In the ten last minutes Ian Leeming/Joe Seelig attempted to break the stranglehold by volleying everything but a series of unforced errors on the top step saw the Mike Fenn/Andrew Fraser partnership ease through to the winning post by a margin of four points.

Presentation

The much coveted Heath shirts, this year in Dutch Orange, were presented to the winners outside the Three Horseshoes public house. Mike Fenn replied on behalf of the winners, and then the gathering turned to the more serious matter of basking in the sunshine with a healthy pint and some less than healthy food. Our thanks to Andrew Fraser for preparing the courts and hearty congratulations on a job well done!

On a more sober note; the members of the Heath EFC would like to thank the late Mr Jack Waddell for his donation to the School for the use of improving the fives facilities. This has been used for the repair, renovation and repainting of the fives courts which are once more in mint condition.