We currently have eight Men's teams of varying abilities in the Cambs Men's Summer League, of which two are now in Division 1. In Winter tennis does not take a break and we have two teams in the Cambs Men's Winter league, with teams represented in Divisions 1 and 2.
For the top players in the club CLTC has one team in the Aegon Men's National Club League. There is also the Grays Cup – a knockout tournament for players from Division 3 downwards. This year too saw the inaugural Men's Open Doubles tournament, with excellent prizes on offer, and an event which is sure to grow in popularity.
Interested? If so contact the Tennis Manager who will put you in touch with the Men's Captain.
This winter we decided only to field two teams in the Cambs Winter League. In Division 1 our first team started off with a draw 4-4 in a closely fought match at David Lloyd where we had opportunities to win the match. We then fielded a strong team against Saffron Walden and won the match convincingly 8-0. After that we suffered 3 frustrating 5-3 losses against Shelford 1& 2 and Huntingdon 1. With St. Neots unable to find a team for the remaining match Cambridge finished fourth on the same points as Huntingdon and David Lloyd but were placed higher based on the number of sets won. The backbone of the team were Sam Scharf, Jamie Blundell and Jakub Sanda supported by David Carlos, Pieter Van Houten, James Morris, Sidney Bennett, James Mills and Ben Schamisso.
Cambridge 2 had a frustrating season with two teams (Cottenham and Soham) withdrawing before the first match was played. Our first match was in Royston on probably the windiest day of the year and we were well beaten 8-0. We reversed this result with a very comfortable win against Buckden 2. On a dark cold night out at Buckden their first team gained revenge beating us 8-0. After that we lost 7-1 to a strong Thorpe Wood team, although the match was closer than the score suggests. We played well in our final fixture, rearranged after a power cut, with a solid 6-2 win. This left the team in 5th place. The team was represented by Mike Snaith, Sidney Bennett, James Morris, Torben Schuettfort, Charles D'Oyly, Philip Jenson, Tim Marchenay, Greg Clowes, Ed Garrott and Peter Jeffery.
The results and league tables for both teams can be found here.
The Men's teams performed admirably this summer and there is no doubt that we have acquired more depth in strength this year with the addition of a few new players to the team squad and a few returning after absence or injury.
Men's 1 secured second spot in Division 1 after a poor start due to player availability . Next season they will be joined by Men's 2 who gained promotion having won six of their seven matches. Men's 3's position in Division 2 was looking a little precarious before a win in their final match against Huntingdon. With pleasing symmetry the experienced Men's 4th team finished a very creditable 4th in Division 4 winning two matches, drawing three and narrowly losing two. Men's 5 and Men's 6 also did well finishing 3rd and 4th in their group respectively, narrowly missing promotion by one point. And congratulations to Men's 7 who secured promotion with four wins and two draws. Unfortunately Men's 8 narrowly lost three matches 3-5 and means they will relegated to Division 9 next season.
The final league tables and fixture result for all 8 teams can be found here.
This was the first year the club decided to enter three teams in the Cambs Winter League and it proved to be a successful move, with Men's 3 earning promotion in their first year -well done to them! Congratulations too to Men's 1 who finished second in Division 2, and will be justly rewarded with top flight tennis next year! Men's 2 also stood up well to the challenge finishing third in a tightly contested group.
The results and league tables for all three teams can be found here.