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Epsom Tennis & Padel Club Newsletter - October 2025 edition
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Welcome
Welcome
We are now firmly in the winter season and dealing with the unpredictability of our lovely British weather, but before we start to untangle the fairy lights, let's cast our minds back to the wonderful summer we had and all the tennis and padel we managed to play in glorious sunshine.
Always a highlight is the Summer Handicap, which was a great success with some excellent play in both padel and tennis. The scores highlighted some very close matches, which can only mean the handicaps were spot on and we thank our handicap committee for all their work on this. Although the majority of matches were played in scorching heat, rain delayed some of the final matches and the ladies tennis doubles final is yet to be played. Enormous thanks to Andrea Gulland for another seamless tournament.
Christmas is just around the corner and that means shopping! A good suggestion is tennis and padel lessons, they always makes a great present or a great gift to yourself for New Year! Details of our coaches can be found in the clubhouse or on our website.
Linda St John
on behalf of ELTC Committee
Summer Handicap Finals
Summer Handicap Finals
The annual Summer Handicap Finals took place on Sunday 14th September, with our new champions crowned as follows:
Tennis:
Mens Singles: Zac Preuveneers (runner up, Simon Yeung)
Womens Singles: Sam Coop (runner up, Charlotte Yeung)
Mens Doubles: Jules Waters and Peter Jackson (runners up, Arman Medina and Kobbie Boafo-Nartey)
Womens Doubles: to be decided - Andrea Gulland & Sam Coop vs Carol Hilsum & Sadie Legg
Mixed Doubles: Charlotte Yeung & Simon Yeung (runners up, Sam Coop & Ollie Hickson)
Padel:
Mens Doubles: David Love & Kelvin Malayapillay (runners up, Andy Newton & Ollie Nutting)
Womens Doubles: Andrea Gulland & Cathy Finegold (runners up, Kim Lascelles & Nicky Evans)
Mixed Doubles: Shayne Baillie & Mark Jackson (runners up, Amy Robertson & Dave House)
A BIG thank you to Andrea for all the back room work that makes our tournaments happen - as well as the actual organising and running of the tournament. Thank you also to Kobbie and Neil for running the day, but what a shame about the weather. The outstanding match will be played in due course when we have drier conditions!
Handicap Match Picks
Handicap Match Picks
Men's Singles Handicap
Congratulations to our Summer Handicap Mens Singles winner Zac Preuveneers (right), and finalist Simon Yeung (left). Spread over two days, the final was a close-fought three-setter……well played.
Men's Doubles Handicap
Congratulations to Jules Waters and Peter Jackson (centre), winners of the long-awaited Men’s Doubles Summer Handicap Final . And kudos to runners-up Arman Medina and Kobbie Boafo-Nartey who made them suffer, I mean work, for it in a two and a half hour epic battle. Well done, all four of you.
Ladies Tennis Teams Results
Ladies Tennis Teams Results
Social News Roundup
Social News Roundup
It Will Be Pasta - Navarro no. 3
On a very hot Thursday evening in July, we held our third Navarro fun tournament this year with supper to follow play.. 24 members participated and the winners’ prizes this time went to Claire Baker and Mark Ayers. The padel was followed by a choice of 3 pasta bakes which were cooked for us by Fiona Garner and Jo Robinson, a big thank you to you both.
Bahrami and Navarro no. 4 meet - the coming together of the 2 sections!
On 9th August we held a combined event for our Padel (Navarro) and Tennis (Bahrami) sections followed by a BBQ for all who participated. With 20 tennis members and 24 padel members arriving within about 10 minutes of each other - they are mostly quite well trained now and arrive at the aloted hour! - it led to a slightly frenetic start, but we managed to start on time!
2 hours of padel and tennis followed and then, after a drink or two to quench their thirst (it was a warm afternoon after all) the BBQ food was ready for consumption.
A big thank you to those who contributed delicious salads and yummy bakes for after - Charlotte, Janet, Louisa, Mel, Nigel, Sheila and Will - they were very much appreciated - and to Paul Edwards for slaving over a hot BBQ!
On the day the winners were ... Linda St John and Nick Willett in the Navarro competition and Sally Jones and Kobbie Boafo in the Bahrami competition.
Well played to everyone who took part, it was a fun afternoon for all and good to get the two sections together afterwards for a bit of socialising!
The Chilli one! – Bahrami no. 5
On the evening of Thursday 25th September, we held a Bahrami "fun" tournament for our tennis members and were, once again, fortunate to have a mild, dry evening for it.
We had a slight change to the previous formats this time, with 4 rounds of 20 minutes being played. 20 members took part and our winners on the night were Jane Harrison and Graeme Aston. After play we all sat down in the Clubhouse for a delicious Chilli supper and a few drinks!
Thank you to Jo Prothero and Janet Luscombe for sharing the catering for this one - we are always grateful to our members who offer to help us and enable these events to actually happen.
The next event of this type is scheduled for the evening of Thursday 11th December - however it will be slightly different as we will run a similar event alongside for our padel section too. Here’s hoping we can all fit in the Clubhouse!
Quiz Night no. 2
Quiz Night no. 2
Our annual Quiz Nights are the main fundraiser for our section and on 10th October, at the request of our members for more, we scheduled a second one into our social calendar this year.
As last time, we had 12 very competitive teams enter and the winners this time were “Betty Swallocks Pheasant Pluckers” – a name that our Quiz Master thought best to shorten on the night!
A big thank you to Graham, for writing and presenting a quiz that was challenging for some at times! Also, we must thank our bar staff, Fiona, Mark and Colin for working very hard to keep the drinks flowing!
Final thanks go to those who supported us on the night, it was a fun evening that was enjoyed by all but, best of all, we raised over £800. Until the next time quizzers …
2025 Lemon Diz-all Tournament!
2025 Lemon Diz-all Tournament!
On Saturday 6th September, we held our annual fun Mixed Doubles tennis tournament to celebrate the life of our very dear friend Diz, who passed away three years ago after bravely facing cancer.
Diz was a beloved and enthusiastic member of our club for many years, playing with the 2nd and 3rd teams. The club held a special place in her heart, and in her memory, her family gifted us a bench, which is nestled beside the roses named Elizabeth, a touching tribute to her true name. As many of our members know, Diz adored lemon drizzle cake, which inspired the name of this event: The Lemon Diz-all Tournament. It’s our way of remembering her with smiles and shared stories.
After 2 hours of tennis, it was time for tea and cake – and yes, all 7 cakes baked by our lovely members were Lemon Drizzle Cakes. They were delicious – so a big thank you to our bakers - and I even saw several members trying different ones! Perhaps they thought they were on Bake Off!
In lieu of charging for this event we asked those taking part to donate instead to the JustGiving page we set up for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in memory of Diz. This way the charity benefits with the inclusion of GiftAid on the donations. We raised a massive £500 (+GiftAid) which was an amazing amount and the Royal Marsden have sent us a letter and certificate to recognise our achievement! It’s also never too late to donate so should wish to, you can do so by just clicking on this link, https://www.justgiving.com/page/mandi-tindall-3?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL
Our winners on the day were Sam Coop and Nick Gimson and in lieu of prizes, the club also donated to the charity. Very well played to all who took part – and a further thank you to the organisers. It was certainly a fun afternoon with many memories of Diz being shared in the wonderful sunshine.
We have since received a letter and certificate from the Royal Marsden thanking us for our efforts and these are both displayed on the noticeboard in the Clubhouse.
Thank you
Thank you
For our social events, we have been very fortunate this year to have members who have offered to make supper, bake a cake, bring a dish for a BBQ etc which all helps with our workload. If anyone would like to offer help with catering, or organising and running a future event, please send an email to social@epsomtennisclub.co.uk. The social events are usually for between 20 and 25 people and you don’t have to cook for everyone, you can just help us by providing a dish for 10 people or maybe share the load and cook for all with a friend or partner.
I would also like to say a big thank you to all who have helped this year with our Bahrami and Navarro events – Jo Prothero, Lucy Ryckaert, Mel Johnston, Duti Williams, Barrie Bass, Didi Hyde, Sheila Fox, Jo Robinson, Fiona & Alex Garner, Ollie Hickson, Hélène Mottais, Richard Watkins, Elena Gimson, Louisa Hogarty, Janet Lewin, Charlotte Crockford, Nigel Cope, Will Culhane, Janet Luscombe, Gill Bisland and Chris Hyde – and a special thank you to Jo Prothero and Duti Williams who have helped to provide supper on several occasions this year.
Call for help
As you will know, our club is run entirely by volunteers, and we welcome any offers of help from our members, and not just for social events. If you feel you could spare us some of your time to help with any aspect of running the club it would be very much appreciated.
Social Calendar 2025 - update
Social Calendar 2025 - update
Friday 21st November
19.00-22.30 A Night at The Epsom Races (Sports Club). Mandi Tindall/Barrie Bass
Friday 5th December
19.30 – late! ELTC Christmas Party, Main Clubhouse
Sunday 7th December
10.00-13.00 Working Party to tidy grounds and clubhouse (all are welcome). Paul Edwards/Paul Tindall
Thursday 11th December
18.45 Bahrami (Tennis) and Navarro (Padel) combined event followed by supper. Volunteers required
Monday 15th December
09.30-12.00 Off-peak Tournament followed by lunch. Sue Glover
Saturday 20th December
10.00-12.00 Tinsel Tennis Junior Tournament. Mike Lavey
Parking Reminder
Parking Reminder
Please remember to update the club at parking@epsomtennisclub.co.uk with any changes to your car registration and advise any visitors to use the tablet in the clubhouse. Should the tablet be out of action there are QR codes that can be used for temporary registration. If you are unsure that your vehicle is registered there is a full list next to the tablet in the clubhouse.
Tennis - Box League
Tennis - Box League
A big well done to all those who have been playing in the Box League this year, hopefully you have enjoyed some great tennis, and particular congratulations to Zac Preuveneers who is currently sitting at the top of the league.
We have approximately 70 players in the league at this time, however, only 10 of those are women - so come on ladies please join us!
A reminder that to enter our singles box league, players need to register via their LTA website logon. Simply sign in and search for Epsom LTC Box League. If you have not already done so, please add your phone number to ensure you can be easily contacted.
Meanwhile join the ELTC Whatsapp Box league group, which is accessed via the community Whatsapp. You will be told when the next round starts and you can ask for help.
Racquet Stringing
Racquet Stringing
Our club stringer is Ben Newman. Ben offers a standard three day turnaround time for racquet restringing. A 24 hour service may also be available. Prices are from £23.00
Contact Ben on:
Tel: 07944 694338
Email: bennewman43@hotmail.com
Thank you to all those who have contributed to our newsletter. We welcome any news you would like to share. The committee will consider all articles and advertisements to ensure that anything included is for the direct benefit of our members. To request an inclusion, please email our news team HERE.
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