The 2016 Seacourt Silver Racquet concluded today with the two semi finals and Final being played

Conor Medlow was looking to secure a place in the final with the aim of winning the Silver Racquet for a third time, which has not been achieved by anyone else before. However an in form Marc Seigneur had different plans, defeating Conor 6/4, 6/3

Up next was Petworth Pro Tom Durak who had beaten Lewis Williams in the Quarter final to secure his place against Horatio. Horatio started strong and took a 5/3 lead. However Tom fought back to take the first set 6/5. Horatio was undeterred after letting the first set slip through his hands and took both the 2nd and 3rd set 6/1 to secure a showdown against Marc Seigneur

The Dedans and Bar were full of spectators, with a further 15 or so in the Galleries. This was in addition to the 100+ viewers around the world watching via Seacourt YouTube Channel.

Marc and Horatio traded games in the first set, with Horatio securing it 6/5. In the second set Horatio increased the pressure, trying to shut Marc out of the game, forcing multiple errors and securing the Silver Racquet 2016 title, 6/5, 6/2.

The presentation of the Trophies took place on court, with speeches from Chairman Gary Medlow, Managing Director Alex Garside and the Champion Horatio Cary.

Many thanks to Sponsors Neptune Investment Management, the numerous local sponsors, Adam Player for marking the 3 matches today, the Bar and Catering team and the Seacourt members who supported the event including billeting some of the players

Part of a larger printed article in the Weekend supplement of the Portsmouth News on Saturday 30th January

It’s been likened to chess on a tennis court. And it was a favourite sport of King Henry VIII, who had a court built at Hampton Court, while his daughter Elizabeth I became a keen spectator.

Four hundred years later and this regal sport of real tennis – often called ‘the sport of kings’ – has a relatively small, but committed, following centering on one of the world’s 50 or so courts.

And we are lucky enough to have it right here on our doorstep.

Seacourt Tennis Club, in Hayling Island, boasts one of the UK’s 26 courts and attracts players of all standards from across the south.

More than just a sport, real tennis and the social side around it is a way of life for many.

I visit Seacourt and meet a couple whose life revolves around real tennis – and their passion certainly shines through.

Tory Wall, 50, from Hayling, works part-time for the Tennis & Rackets Association, the governing body of real tennis, while her partner, Paul Weaver, a retired company director, now leads junior real tennis in the UK.

Tory says: ‘My son Ben started to play real tennis and I used to take him to Saturday morning junior lessons.

‘I used to sit and watch and as he got better I began to think I’d quite like to have a go.

‘The game is very strong on etiquette and behaviour, as well as obviously hitting the ball.

‘There are a lot of funny rules to the game which have belonged through its long history.

‘I think this is probably one of the reasons people get hooked on the game – it is interesting as well as giving you a good workout.’

The sport involves hitting a ball over a net, but that’s where its similarity with the modern game of tennis ends.

Paul, 65, explains: ‘There’s no other sport like this.

‘The original game was started in the courtyard of a French monastery.

‘As luck would have it, one end of the court had a wall that stuck out.

‘The game developed around what was around the courtyard.

‘Real tennis is the original racket sport.

‘Originally they played it without a racket, they played it with their hand.

‘Eventually I imagine the monks got pretty fed up with hitting the ball with their hand and developed some sort of a racket.

‘Now you think of all the racket sports all over the world and it all comes back to this.’

The fact that a court survives in Hayling Island is amazing.

The original building was built in 1911 by businessman John Marshall, who picked up the sport while at Cambridge University and wanted his own private court in his back garden on Hayling seafront.

‘It’s really quite bizarre there is a court on Hayling Island,’ explains Paul.

‘In about 1950, nobody used the court. The roof caved in and eventually it was sold for building land.

‘One of the guys who is now part of the families that own the club remembered it from when he was a young man.

‘He went and saw the builder and bought the land back off him.

‘It was that close to being a cul-de-sac,’

Today Seacourt has around 800 members.

Tory says: ‘It can be played by all standards of players because there is a handicap system which works really well.

‘So a really good player can still have a great game with a not so good player.

‘We are really lucky to have a court on Hayling Island.

‘The ball and the racket are both very heavy so you have to have your wits about you when the ball is coming towards you.’

Paul loves the variety of the game, which includes more than 20 different types of serves.

‘It’s much more interesting than a normal game of tennis,’ says Paul.

‘I used to play lawn tennis quite a lot and once I discovered this game, I sometimes go out and play lawn tennis and it’s just so simple.’

Tory says she gets a feel-good buzz whenever she steps on court.

‘You feel a sense of the past,’ she says.

‘So many traditions are still a big part of the game that you can’t help feeling something special.’

See the article at : http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/this-is-the-real-thing-1-7186430#ixzz3zQy3U5pj

Beryl Danby, mother to Paul, Nick, Felix and Joanna, died on Monday 25th January aged 101.

Beryl was very enthusiastic to take up Tennis when Seacourt was re-opened in 1966; she was then fifty two and still recovering from experimental brain surgery – the only one in her ward to survive! She said she needed exercise and another challenge.

Of course, she encouraged all, especially other ladies; and slowly more started playing. She enjoyed visiting other clubs and enjoyed the reaction it provoked when they realised that amongst the Seacourt team E.B. Danby was female. Where could she change at Lords, Manchester, or Leamington? Naturally our ladies were made welcome on court.

At the inaugural ladies event played in the Queens weekend on handicap, she beat Judy Hall (Angus) in the final. For many years she entered the British Ladies at Seacourt.
Frank Willis was a favourite of hers; she went up to Manchester each day to watch his World Championship against Peter Bostwick; thrilled when Frank pulled all four sets back on the Sunday, then desolated when he lost the deciding set on the Tuesday.

As Seacourt she was front row at the final leg for the British Championship in 1972 when Howard Angus did take all five sets on the final leg to win the Title. To surmount this Howard became first the World Rackets Champion beating William Surtees. Then she watched Howard win the British match against Gene Scott at Queen’s for the Real Tennis World Championship that set up his win in New York. How she admired his determination, supreme ball control and footwork.

At the Opening of the new courts in Melbourne in 1975, she was delighted to be asked by Lord Aberdare to play with him to encourage other ladies to play there.
Sadly she felt that at nearly seventy she was too old to take up Rackets when the Seacourt Court was built. However, she enjoyed watching her grandsons’ successes and thought girls should play, too. She offered to donate a Trophy for the British Ladies Rackets as long ago as the early 1990s and was delighted when it was allocated for the schoolgirls under 16s, even if by then she had fallen and her broken pelvis which prevented her coming to London to watch and present it. Photos of the winners decorated her room, she always wanted all details and the results.

The funeral will take place at 3pm at St Peters Church, North Hayling on Monday, 8th February. This will be followed by a celebration of her life at Seacourt Tennis Club at 4pm. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, are to be made to The Rainbow Centre (cheques payable to The Rainbow Centre), c/o Grady’s Funeral Parlour.

It was great to see so many members supporting the Quarter Finals of the Silver Racquet today. The results are as follows:-

Marc Seigneur v Tom Seymour Mead 6/4, 6/4
Conor Medlow v Neil Mackenzie 6/3, 6/1
Horatio Cary v Bryn Sayers 6/1, 5/6, 6/4
Tom Durack v Lewis Williams 6/5, 6/5

Order of Play – Sunday 7th February 2016
Semi-Finals:

10.00 am Marc Seigneur vs Conor Medlow

11.30 am Horatio Cary vs Tom Durack

The Final will take place at 2 pm.

Don’t miss out on what should be a great final day. Bar snacks will be available.

Both the Semi Finals and Final can be watched on the Seacourt YouTube channel via
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