Runner-up Spot for Unseeded Ward at Aldershot

Dan Ward, who plays at Totally Tennis, was runner-up in the LTA South & South West Tour 16U boys singles at Aldershot Tennis Centre earlier this month.

Ward (pictured right), who was unseeded in the Grade 5 event, had a bye in the first round and then defeated third seed Joseph Lamburn in the quarter-finals in three sets 4-3, 3-4, 10-8. He caused further upset in the semis by defeating top seed Luka Williams (a former Totally Tennis player) in another three set battle  4-3, 3-4 ,10-8. He finished as runner-up after losing in the final 4-0, 4-2 to fellow unseeded player Joshua Mortimer, who had beaten the fourth and second seeds. Congratulations Dan!

Keen player Dan is a regular at Monday and Tuesday Drills at the indoor centre, trains with Queen Mary’s College (QMC) at Totally Tennis on Wednesday afternoons and plays in the doubles matchplay sessions on Thursday evenings.

Photos used with courtesy of the Basingstoke Gazette

October in Pictures | 2023

The Mixed Team (L to R Dan, Sandra, Lisa & Elton) played at home beating Oakley 6-2

50+ session with coach Kevin

Basingstoke Pickleball Club players Maisie Wise, Harry Feast and Lewis One all won titles at the HEAD International Luxembourg Open (read full article HERE)

Serving practice with coach Kevin for the QMC students at the indoor centre

October Half Term Tennis Camps

Pickleball taster sessions at Hampshire Court (above & below)

Basingstoke 5K – Move Against Cancer group celebrated their 4th birthday at Totally Tennis after the Basingstoke park run

Mixed Morning with coaches Nigel & Kevin

Seven Basingstoke Pickleball Club players competed in the 2023 National Finals in Bolton winning an impressive collective haul of 5 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals

AoC Regional Tournament held at Totally Tennis | 2022

The Association of Colleges (AOC) South East Regional singles competition was played at Totally Tennis’ indoor centre on Thursday 24th November attracting fourteen players from colleges across the region. The annual tournament was run by Queen Mary’s College (QMC) sports teacher and tennis referee Sarah Goldson. The players were representing colleges including Esher, Farnborough, Havant & South Downs (HSDC), Peter Symonds (PS), Richard Collyer, Bexhill and Basingstoke based QMC.

In the semi-finals top seed Owen Martel from (PS) beat fourth seed Callum Lowther from (HSDC) in straight sets 4-0, 4-0. The second match saw an all Peter Symonds battle, with teammates Dan Micklefield (2) beating Ashton Kerslake 4-2, 4-1. QMC was represented by Bobbly Miller and Jude Atfield. Atfield finished third overall in his group of four players that included fourth seed Lowther.

In the final, Martel dominated the match defeating Micklefield 4-0, 4-0. The 3^rd/4^th play off match was won by Kerslake who beat Lowther 4-2, 4-2 securing the top three players who went through to the next stage were all from Peter Symonds College

Goldson said, “It’s my 17^th year running the South East Regional Tennis Competition and it was good to get back to some refereeing duties!” she added, “The singles competition always produces some great tennis and the overall winner, Owen played some very impressive tennis.  As a region, we will be well represented in the finals by the top three players who went through.”

The AoC Sport National Championships will again take place at the University of Nottingham over the weekend of 14th-16th April 2023.

April in Pictures | 2022

A Squad Tournament at the beginning of the month was won by Jake and Matteo was runner-up

Junior Tennis Camps returned for the Easter Holidays with coaches Kevin & Kie

Coach Jenny joined the team

Ladies Social Hour players enjoyed the spring sunshine on the outdoor courts

Congratulations to Guy who won the April Giants squad tournament. Alex was runner-up

Coach Isla (pictured above & below) represented QMC as part of the South East team at the AoC Sports National Finals in Nottingham. The team finished 3rd overall.

Congratulations to Charlotte who won the April B & C squad tournament. Runner-up was Thomas.

Our adult pay-and-play regulars enjoying their weekly sessions

Coach Isla won the QMC Sportswoman of The Year award for her contribution to tennis

Adult beginners course with coach Ed

Find out more about Totally Tennis’ Adult and Junior sessions via our website www.totallytennis.co.uk/play-tennis or telephone 01256 358816

Third place for Isla and the South East team at the AoC Sports National Championships

Totally Tennis coach and performance player Isla Hignett represented Queen Mary’s College (QMC) as part of the South East team at the 42nd annual AoC* Sports National Championships held in Nottingham last weekend.

The Championships, which took place from Friday 22nd – Sunday 24 April, saw the South East tennis team play in Pool B at Nottingham Tennis Centre against teams from London, Eastern, South West and Yorkshire & Humber. The team event consisted of men’s and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches.

Alongside Hignett (pictured above 2nd right), the South East tennis squad was made up of players from Peter Symonds College in Winchester including former Totally Tennis club mate Tillie Reid (pictured above 3rd right). Overall the South East team finished in third place with 121 points. The South West team were crowned champions with 140 points and awarded the Wilkinson Sword Trophy. The tennis competition was won by the London team.

Sarah Goldson, QMC PE teacher and tennis team manager, said, “Isla was our sole representative at the AOC National Championships this year, it was great for Tennis and of course Isla herself on the back of securing the QMC Sports Woman of the Year Award.”

She added, “Given the results she secured at the competition she was a major asset to the South East Team and I was so pleased so see her come away with a Bronze Medal.“

The AoC Sports’ National Championships, now in its 42nd year, is the longest running student sport event in the UK. This year over 1,500 talented young sportsmen and women from 91 colleges competed across 13 sports.

*Association of Colleges

Photos used with courtesy of Isla Hignett.

Isla Wins AOC South-East Regional Singles Title 

Isla Hignett represented the Queen Mary’s College (QMC) tennis team, who train at Totally Tennis, in the AOC South East Regional Singles tournament that was played at the indoor centre last week. Both the boys and the girls draws were round robin groups, with the top two players progressing to the semi-finals. There were eleven players competing in the event and six girls.

In the girls’ competition, Hignett, who is also an assistant coach at the club, won through the group stage without dropping a game against players from Farnborough and Peter Symonds Colleges. Hignett was joined by top seed Anna Vinnell from Barton Percival who had also won both her group matches, along with former Totally Tennis team mate Tillie Reid and Issy Tivey. In the semi-final matches, Hignett beat Reid 4-0, 4-1 and Vinnell defeated Tivey 4-0, 4-0.  

In the final, Hignett broke serve early but was then broken back in the next game but that did not diminish her aim to go for every shot. She managed to challenge Vinnell in the rallies and close out points with numerous winning shots and after a great match she won the AOC South-East Regional Girls singles title.

QMC sports teacher and tennis coordinator Sarah Goldson said, “It was an assured and confident performance from Isla which was great to see given her lack of recent match experience.” she added, “A great win for QMC that sees us represented in the tennis competition at next year’s National Finals.” 

In the boy’s competition the matches played out as expected with the four top seeds winning fairly comfortably in the group stage. In Group A, top seed Raffaello Papajcik from Esher College was easily the highest rated player at 1.1. He only needed one win against Thomas Pollard (BHASVIC) as there was a no show in that group.

In Group B, Dan Micklefield from Peter Symonds won the group after beating Edward Rockall 4-1, 4-2 and Matt Tarling 4-0, 4-0. Group C was more closely contested with the initial match in the group being the deciding one. Aaron Butcher from Chichester defeated Kyrill Kennett from Peter Symonds 4-3(1), 0-4, 10-8 and both players beat Dan McTear.

In Group D second seed Barney Brown from Farnborough came through relatively comfortably defeating Leon Gibson 4-0, 4-0 and Billy Moon 4-0, 4-0. In the semi-finals, the matches produced some excellent tennis at this stage of the competition with the top two seeds tested but both came through with the loss of just a few games. In the final, Papajcik eventually got to grips with the powerful serving of Brown and was able to dictate more of the rallies from the baseline eventually winning 4-2, 4-2.   

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Goldson said, “The level of tennis was excellent in this match and was certainly the biggest test for top seed Papajcik. It was an impressive win for Esher College. Sadly, QMC was not represented in the boys’ competition due to an injury to our entrant.” she continued, “It was great to see the competition return after a gap last year and although some of the players said they had not competed very much in the past year, there were some who were definitely back to regular tournament participation.”

AoC Sport, formed following the merger of British Colleges Sport, English Colleges FA and the Association of Colleges sport policy team, is the membership organisation for colleges, leading the development of sport and physical activity in 16+ education. Sport and physical activity are essential components of college life, giving students significant advantages in education, employment and health. The AoC vision is for every college student to participate regularly in sport or physical activity and their purpose is to promote, support and deliver college sport and physical activity.

March in Pictures | 2020

Performance player Hayden Cummings was runner-up in the Grade 4 South West Winter County Tour 14 & U Boys Singles held at Hale Gardens.

Former Totally Tennis performance player and Sherfield School Tennis scholar Dean Kirby Cooper (right) competed in his first grade 4 ITF doubles event in Tampico, Mexico.

The Queen Mary’s College (QMC) boys tennis team enjoyed their first outdoor training session of the season

Head Coach James McIntosh will be running the (now postponed) London Marathon and held ‘The Macca’ adult tournament to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Coach Dom joined the team at Hampshire Court Spa & Leisure ‘Fitness Fanatic 3’ event to raise money for Sport Relief

Performance player and coach Liam Hignett was runner-up in the Men’s singles at the British Tour Edgbaston

Siblings Liam and Isla Hignett are offering a series of self-isolation tennis exercises here on the blog to keep everyone active during the Coronavirus outbreak

QMC in Training For National Cup

The Queen Mary’s College (QMC) boys tennis team enjoyed their first outdoor training session in preparation for their first National Cup match. The team, that includes Totally Tennis performance player Harry Feast, train weekly at the club.

The boys have a bye in the first round and will face the winners of Canford School vs. Portsmouth Grammar School in the second round.

 

November in Pictures

Totally Tennis DS Sessions take place on Sunday mornings at the indoor centre

Performance player Hayden Cummings enjoyed some sunny clay court training at La Manga in Spain

Performance player and assistant coach Harry Feast got through the semi-finals of the AOC South East Regional Boys Singles competition representing QMC

Performance player and coach Liam Hignett represented Hampshire & IOW in the Men’s Winter County Cup

The November TT Tour Grand finals competitors. Winners Tobi Adeniran (Red) and Luca Dharwar (Orange) pictured below

Performance player and coach Liam Hignett has been invited to play in the LTA British Tour Master 2019 event at the National Tennis Centre in December

Performance players Harry Feast and Ollie Brown made it through the semi-finals of the AOC South East Regional Boys Doubles competition representing QMC

AOC SOUTH EAST REGIONAL DOUBLES COMPETITION

Following on from the successful AOC South East Regional singles competition on Tuesday 12 November (read about that HERE), the doubles competition was also hosted at Totally Tennis’ indoor centre on Friday 29 November. 

There was a slightly reduced entry list with some last minute withdrawals, leaving just three Colleges competing for the Boys, Girls and Mixed doubles titles; Queen Mary’s (QMC), Richard Collyer’s and Peter Symonds. The match format was the new FAST4 rules.

Six pairs competed in the boy’s doubles with QMC represented by Matt Berry/Chris Bundhoo and Totally Tennis pairing of Harry Feast/Ollie Brown (pictured below). Berry and Bundhoo lost their opening group match against the top seeds from Peter Symonds 4-0, 4-2, they played much better in their second match but frustratingly lost out in two tie-breaks 4-3 (2), 4-3 (4). In the other group, Feast and Brown lost their first match against Peter Symonds but beat Richards Collyer’s to finish second in the group, 3-4 (6), 4-3 (1) and 10-6.  

Goldson said, “Both Harry and Ollie showed greater consistency in this match and a more aggressive approach saw them come back from a first set deficit, to win a highly contested match where with three tie breaks deciding each set.“

Having reached the semi-final, they then had to play the top seeds from Peter Symonds, who played a very solid match to win 4-2, 4-1. Despite the loss, both players enjoyed the experience and both played well, against more highly ranked players. The final saw the two Peter Symonds pairs playing each other, with the number 1 seeds of James Ardley and Paddy Thorne winning comfortably 4-0, 4-2.

In the girls’ doubles, there were only three pairs in the competition and the Peter Symonds number one pairing of Magda Kornijckuz and Loreli Sanderson had a relatively comfortable win, taking both matches in the round robin group to win.  QMC were not represented in the girls’ doubles. Harry Feast and Poppy Goffin represented QMC in the Mixed Doubles and finished in 4th place overall, Calista Muna and Alex Costa from Richard Collyer’s College were the winners.

Goldson said, “Really proud of the efforts from Chris, Matt, Ollie and Harry today.  We always knew it would be tough to get past the Peter Symonds number one pairing but the they all played some great tennis.” she added,  “I was especially pleased to see Harry and Ollie make the semi-final.”

AoC Sport, formed following the merger of British Colleges Sport, English Colleges FA and the Association of Colleges sport policy team, is the membership organisation for colleges, leading the development of sport and physical activity in 16+ education. Sport and physical activity are essential components of college life, giving students significant advantages in education, employment and health. The AoC vision is for every college student to participate regularly in sport or physical activity and their purpose is to promote, support and deliver college sport and physical activity. Read more about AoC sport on their website www.aocsport.co.uk