Melton Mowbray Tennis Club repeat terrific 11-title tally

For most of the season they had looked like having to settle for the runners-spot behind Loughborough Firsts until the long-time leaders came a cropper the previous weekend, 6-2, against Rothley.

This left the Melton team needing to win their final match against third-placed Victoria Firsts to snatch the title from Loughborough.

Once again displaying the club’s never-say-die approach, the team turned in a superb performance to secure an eleventh title of the year.

The tally mirrored that of the club’s debut year of 2017.

Outstanding for the Melton club were first pairing of John Sturmey and Simon Hawthorne who collected four rubbers in a convincing manner, losing just 10 games.

The second pairing of skipper Justin Horobin and Neil Johnson weighed in with two rubbers from their hard-fought and lengthy matches to secure a 6-2 overall win and with it the Division Three title.

Players involved in the squad were John Sturmey, Simon Hawthorne, Justin Horobin, Neil Johnson, Sean O’Regan, Mike Roys, Gabriel Johnson, Tom Ellis and Duncan Beiley.

In the league’s individual player statistics, Simon Hawthorne topped the standings with nine out of 10 wins, with John Sturmey and Justin Horobin joint-fourth with seven wins out of eight, and Neil Johnson in eighth spot with six out of eight wins.

Scores: J. Sturmey/S. Hawthorne W 6-2, 6-4; W 6-4, 6-0. J. Horobin/N. Johnson D 7-5, 1-6; D 5-7, 7-5.