From the Evening Press - Tuesday 17th November

THE inaugural Terry Haw Trophy was won by Anna Baker and John Clare at Fulford Tennis Club.

Baker and Clare were pushed all the way by runners-up Jill McCreedy and Mike Johnson.

The trophy was presented by Haw, who has been the Fulford chairman for the last ten years.

The tournament will become an annual affair after the club awarded Haw the silver cup in recognition of his decade of service.

Meanwhile, Fulford were among the winners in the Ladies Winter Tennis League Derwent section.

There were also successes for Knaresborough, Poppleton and Copmanthorpe ‘A’.

In the Ouse league, Bishopthorpe, Starbeck, Boston Spa and Wistow were the winners.

Stamford Bridge and New Earswick drew in the Nidd league, with Sheriff Hutton then beating Bridge.

The Foss league saw wins for Tollerton, Cliffe, Fulford ‘B’ and Sutton-on-Derwent.

RICHARD Parker and Laura McMahon lifted the trophy after a hotly-contested 30th annual Fulford Floodlit Tennis Tournament.

Parker and McMahon won through the Tuesday night group to reach the round-robin final, which they won in the fifth round.

The Monday group was won by Govind Baker and Helen Martin, with Joshua Beavers and Elizabeth Mallory taking the Wednesday honours.

They were joined in the final by Thursday winners Ben Foster and Pam Campbell, plus the two leading runners-up, Ben Hatfield and Jill McCreedy, and Tom Craddock and Sue Walker.

A total of 48 players entered the tournament.

Govind Baker and Faye Garland were the first winners of the new York tennis season at Fulford’s Spring Cup.

A field of 16 couples battled it out in ideal conditions in the traditional season-opening tournament, which pits Fulford Tennis Club players against visitors from rival York clubs.

Home pair Baker and Garland emerged victorious, beating another Fulford team, Richard Parker and Eleanor Crooks, 6-0 in the final.

Baker and Garland had topped Group ‘A’ in the round-robin stage of the tournament with Parker and Crooks, who were also unbeaten, finishing second.

In Group ‘B’, defending champions Paul Birch and Karen Retief – from Dunnington and York, respectively – dominated, dropping only four games out of 36.

Fulford’s Nigel Skelton and Jill Rounce were the fourth pair to qualify for the semi-finals after bouncing back from an 8-1 defeat by Birch and Retief in their opening match.

In the last four, Skelton and Rounce took a 2-0 lead against Baker and Garland only to lose 6-2, while Parker and Crooks ended Birch and Retief’s hopes of retaining the trophy.

The reigning champions staged a comeback from 5-2 down, but Parker served out for a 6-4 win.

The final was a one-sided affair as Baker and Garland walked away with the trophy.