THE HARD BAT TOURNAMENT

 

Thursday 16th March at CPC

 

by Ron Kemp

This year’s Hard Bat tournament saw 23 players compete for the title. The players were split into six groups, five with four players, and one with three players. Hot favourites for the final match were Alex Rorke and Keith Taylor, and true to form they cruised through to meet in the final. Their everyday style of play with reverse pimples certainly gave them an enormous advantage against the other players used to playing with faster rubbers, and very few players really got to grips with the hard bats in the short time available. Notable exceptions were Jim Hall and Paul Freeborn, whose styles changed little from their usual game, Paul audaciously attempting vicious forehand loops just staggering over the net!  

 

The group winners were:

Group 1 - Alex Rorke

Group 2 - Roger Nevell

Group 3 - Andy Ely

Group 4 - Keith Taylor

Group 5 - Jim Hall

Group 6 - Paul Freeborn

 

Joining the six winners in the quarter finals were “lucky” group runners up Mark Knowles and Ron Kemp.

 

QF 1 - Alex Rorke beat Ron Kemp  11-8, 11-6, 11-5

QF 2 - Mark Knowles beat Roger Nevell  11-4, 11-8, 11-8

QF 3 - Jim Hall beat Andy Ely  11-6, 12-14, 11-4, 11-1

QF 4 - Keith Taylor beat Paul Freeborn  11-1, 11-6, 11-9

 

The Semi Finals were well contested. The first saw Alex defending brilliantly against the strong attacking shots from Jim; the second was a similar game, Mark unable to consistently penetrate Keith’s defence.

 

SF 1 - Alex beat Jim  11-8, 11-8, 11-5

SF 2 - Keith beat Mark  11-7, 13-11, 11-5

 

The impressive form Alex showed throughout the event continued in the final, with a very steady display of rolled backhand and forehand shots, Keith being unable to find any kind of rhythm to his game. Alex continued his attacks with devastating kills, to which Keith had no answer.

 

Final: Alex Rorke beat Keith Taylor  11-2, 11-2, 11-5

 

Congratulations to all players for coming along and trying to play in a totally alien environment, and for making the tournament an outstanding success! Thanks also to Karen King for organising the tournament and providing the tea and biscuits!