Congleton Lawn Tennis Club staged its annual mixed doubles championship on Sunday 22 and for the most part dodged the rain showers
 
Chair Rob McNinch thanked everyone who took part , Andrew Giltrap for organising the event . all those who manned the bar during the afternoon and Mandy Craker for being DJ throughout the afternoon
 
The event was sponsored by Kutchenhaus Kitchens of Congleton and also Astbury Mere Care Home
The winners of the event were  Adam Goodall and Lauren Bennett and they received the Burton Shield named after the clubs long serving chairman and latterly president Alec Burton –  Alec’s daughter Liz Wardlaw presented the shield
Liz was accompanied by other family members as we paid tribute to the great legacy that Alec left behind at the club
 
The winners prizes of Sports Direct vouchers were presented by Kuldeep Saimbi from headline sponsors Kutchenhaus
 
The runners up were Rhys Eaton and Kim Bennett – mother losing out to daughter in the final
 
The winners of the plate event were Ivor Walls and Charlotte Middleditch and the prizes of vouchers for the Blue Bell were presented by Adriana Jaracz from plate sponsors Astbury Mere Care Home
 
The runners up in the plate were Ty Holland and Venus Moses
 
After the conclusion of the event the club staged its annual adult and junior presentations
 
The club had a different format for a number of the other club championship events in 2024
 
The  mens and ladies doubles were played as knockout events during the season with partners drawn at random
 
The mens champions were Simon Darmon and Mervyn Sara - prizes were courtesy of Chris Gowans from Lets Go Street Food and were vouchers for the Old Hall in Sandbach
 
The ladies champions were Louise Fenn and Karen Podmore and prizes courtesy of Hightown Fish and Chips
 
The open ladies singles event suffered from a low number of entries and was played as a straight knockout – the winner of the final played in very wet weather was Venus Moses who also won a voucher for Hightown Fish and Chips
The runner up was Heather Bryson who won a voucher for Crepe-O-Licious
 
The open mens singles event was due to be played as a one day event – unfortunately weather was the winner with the heavy rain meaning the event could not go ahead
The event will now be played as a knockout with players arranging their own matches
 
Thanks went to the sponsors of the main event Per4mance Fitness and Ant Ayre Bespoke Personal Training
The plate event is being sponsored by Crepe-O-Licious
 
The club introduced new events for the over 50 age groups in both mens and ladies singles – these were very popular events with many long and tight matches taking place
The mens over 50 singles champion was Ian Oakley who received a voucher for the Brownlow Inn courtesy of SCA Solar
 
The runner up was Russell Finch
 
The plate event final was a match between Pat Eaton and Ian Graham
The winner was Pat Eaton after three tight sets
 
The ladies over 50 singles champion was Louise Goodall who also received a voucher for the Brownlow inn courtesy of SCA Solar
 
The plate final was played between Pam Bloor and Celia Whitecross
The winner was Pam Bloor
 
The club have also held a number of other fun tournaments during the year – thanks went to those who have run these on the day , those who have taken part and to all of the local businesses who have sponsored these events – the club gave a big shout out to Spall Clark Solicitors who have supported the club again - this for the fifth year running
 
Congratulations to all those who have been successful in these events
Chairmans Trophy sponsored by SC Elite Sports Massage – Eileen Grigg and Steve Carter
Presidents Trophy sponsored by Hannahs Creations – Adam Goodall and Peter Aspin
Town Mayors Trophy sponsored by Spall Clark – Heather Bryson and Matt Parker
Summer Fun Tournament sponsored by La Popote and Beartown Brewery – Gill White and Ty Holland
 
The club still have the Fireworks tournament  , the Festive tournament and the New Years Eve tournament to come so there are still plenty of chances to take part – these will be on the website very soon for sign up
Thanks went to Andrew Giltrap for securing the sponsors for these and our other events , and organizing our competitions throughout the season
 
The club held its usual internal winter competitions last winter
The Winter Doubles League was run by Dave Lonsdale
Mens winners were Stuart Warburton and Ian Parsons
Joint ladies winners were Lynn Boyes and Jill Bell , and Venus Moses and Heather Bryson
Mixed winners and overall champions were Vicky Hudson and Matt Parker –  this trophy was presented by the competition organiser Dave Lonsdale
Deniz Turkish Kitchen were the headline sponsors for this competition
 
The Winter Foursomes was run by John and Lindsay Newton and the winners of this competition sponsored by Bracken Barn Interiors were Heather Bryson and Russell Finch
 
Next were the junior awards for the season
 
Starting with the Junior Sports Personality of The Year – this trophy was presented to the club by John Winterbottom– the winner for 2024 is Tristan Green
Coach Craig Leese said “Tristan attends coaching and the junior club night, and is an absolute pleasure to teach. Always listening and  never complaining. His tennis has improved plenty, and this year saw him representing the club in one of the u14s teams.
Every week Tristan has been attending the junior club night, and is often found helping players who are not as strong as him, he's been fantastic with all ages . He was one of many juniors who did a great job helping out on the open day, and he's also been an extra pair of hands helping at the sports camps when needed.
Thanks for helping across the last 12 months Tristan, this award is fully deserved.”
 
The prizes for the most improved junior boy and girl were presented next – the large trophies were provided by Alec Burton who was a long term advocate of junior tennis and did so much to develop the junior programme at the club
 
The most improved boy was Rhys Eaton
Mr Leese said “ I think most people in the club now know Rhys and that's a testament to how much he's improved over the last 12 months.
 
He has represented Congleton in the u14s and u16s teams winning a large majority of his matches. This season he has also played in the men's teams.
 
He has also taken part in a number of our social tournaments reaching the final in the Town Mayors Trophy and is now taking part in the open mens singles competition
 
It's been a fantastic 12 months and the progress certainly won't end there. Well done Rhys.”
 
The most improved girl was Uliana Ganina
Mr Leese said “Uliana was attending our Friday night junior night every week.
She was always one of the first to arrive walking straight from school playing her music and singing out loud. She would happily stay on the tennis court just hitting balls with anyone who wanted to play. Over the weeks her game really improved from struggling to hit the ball, to easily maintaining long rallies.
Unfortunately Uliana moved back to Ukraine at the start of September so isn't here to collect her award, but I am sure you can join me in a round of applause for her improvement in tennis.”
 
In junior team tennis our under 12 boys team had a successful season winning division two of the Cheshire section of National Club League – so congratulations to Gabriel Knott , Arnav Singh and Azzan Zaheer-  Men’s club captain Matt Parker presented them with their trophies
 
The club have again had tremendous success in team tennis during the last 12 months
A big thank you goes to all of those who captained a team and all those members who played in these teams for the club during the last twelve months
 
In the East Cheshire winter league the first team secured a third successive promotion by being runners up in division three
The second team maintained their position in division six after two successive promotions
 
In the South and Mid Cheshire Spring League 2024 Congleton B won division three and Congleton C won division five
 
In the South and Mid Cheshire Summer Leagues 2024 our successful teams were
Mens A – first division champions
Mens F – fifth division champions
Ladies D -third division champions
Ladies E – fourth division champions
Mixed A – first division champions
Mens A – Les Hoff Knockout winners
Ladies E – Handicap Knockout winners
Mixed A – Mixed Knockout winners
Promotion was also secured by Ladies B , Mens C and Mixed D
 
Mr McNinch concluded the presentations by giving a large thanks to everyone who has played in any of the teams and competitions and those who have contributed to the clubs successes during the year
 
The day concluded with a BBQ for team players and their guests – thanks went to the club captains Matt Parker and Helen Dyson for organising this and Ray Masson for serving up the burgers and hot dogs

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Thank you Astbury Mere Care Home, Congleton and Kutchenhaus Kitchens your support today was much appreciated