NORTH AMERICAN RACQUETS ASSOCIATION

 
   
BOSTON CHICAGO DETROIT MONTREAL NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA TUXEDO

 

 

The Racquet & Tennis Club

 

 

New York Silver Racquets, Kendrick Cup and Walsh Cup results

 

  The seas were now parted

      The Moon was now hung

              'nother rackets weekend underway

                      Prince praises now being sung


                              Kendrick Cup players all on a high

                                      The lads now getting “preserved”

                                              That apparently for weekend activities

                                                       NO TEA WOULD BE SERVED !
      The City Of New York welcomed two heroes last weekend as the NY Yankees prepared for their ticker-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes and, at the same time, the world-wide rackets community convened at the NYR&T to honor the man affectionately known as The Prince of NARA, E Denis Walsh (“EDW”). Rackets leaders and luminaries from far and wide each contributed their congratulations and well wishes to EDW during a well-scripted stag dinner that was so capably emceed by
uber-rackets impresario, Guy Devereux. 

      Denis was feted on this evening for his several decades of dedicated enthusiasm not only to NARA but also for his rackets leadership and overall support to the game of rackets. NARA, at its annual meeting of the Board in May, overwhelmingly approved and authorized the establishment of the Walsh Cup; an annual singles and doubles competition for the over 60s set.

      Speakers who roasted  Denis included Tom Elliot (Philadelphia), Davis Anderson (Chicago), Kevin Broderick (Detroit), sons McCabe and Lucas, Mervyn Dunnington-Jefferson (London), Willie Surtees ( NYR&T), Edward Ulmann (NYR&T) , Keene Addington (Chicago), Phillip Mengel (Tuxedo), Devens Hamlin (Boston), Ron Kaulbach (Montreal) and Jimmy Burke (Boston). In  total, 98 racketeers assembled in the Racquet & Tennis' beautiful dining room.

      Certainly of note was the outstanding number of travelers, young and not-so-young. Montreal led the way, in many estimates, with Air-Chamandy’s bringing close to twenty from the Great White North.

     Making the trek from the UK (in addition to Sir Mervyn) were former World Champion John Prenn, Mjolnirs Mark Agate and Mark Farmiloe, Mancunian Brendan Hegarty, and Dean Pennick.

       As for the competitive aspect of the weekend, the re-invigorated Kendrick Cup sported 24 entrants and Will Thompson (NYR&T) outlasted Montrealer Pete Dawes, 16-13 in the third game. In the semifinals, Thompson beat Lucas Walsh (Boston) in three games and Dawes beat Noah Wimmer (NYR&T), also in 3 games. According to NYR&T professional James Stout, the Kendrick Cup was the tournament of the weekend as the semi-finals and finals all went the distance at three games. The New York Racquet & Tennis runs its streak of Kendrick Cup winners to two in a row with Thompson’s win.

       Silver Racquets doubles held to seeding as Jon Larken and Kendrick de Koning coasted to Silver victory without being threatened. The finalist team of Mjolnirs, Mark Agate and Mark Farmiloe, suffering terrible jet lag, didn't quite have what it would take against the local Larken and de Koning.

        In the newly formed Walsh Cup (singles and doubles), Greg Van Schaak, down a game, came back to defeat former World Singles Champion Willie Surtees 15-5, 16-18, and 15-7 to take this inaugural singles competition for the over 60s set. In the Walsh Cup doubles, Surtees and Edward Ulmann prevailed in three 15-7, 13-18 and 15-8 over Van Schaak and Elihu Inselbuch.

        One keen observer noted how the combination of the Kendrick Cup with the Walsh Cup added a certain nuance to the weekend. NARA News certainly agrees.

            Next up on the NARA schedule are the Pro Singles and Pro-Am Doubles with the Price Cup (over 50s) on the weekend of Dec 4-6 in Boston. Please be sure to consider attending and in January, Philadelphia hosts the US Amateur on the weekend of 14-17th. Should be cracking good fun!

Submitted by: Jeffrey L Durkes 10Nov2009

(Brackets coming soon...)
           

 

World Rackets Doubles 2nd Leg results from Queens Club, London

Foster and Hue Williams win World Doubles title on points

 

---Up 2-0 and only needing a third game, allow Smith/Hubbard a 3-2 lead
 

---Packed Queen's Club gallery sees magnificent play

 

Challengers Harry Foster (former World Singles Champion) and Mark Hue Williams staved off a late stage and heroic rally by Neil Smith (former World Champion) and Mark Hubbard (Radley professional) to win the World Rackets Doubles Championship last Saturday, 25 April at The Queen's Club in London's Kensington area. A packed Queen's Club gallery was treated to a magnificent end of match performance by the professionals.

Having won the first two games handily, 15-10 and 15-10, Foster/HW lost game three 18-13. Game four also went to the professionals 15-7 and today's tilt was tied at 2 all. Smith and Hubbard sprinted out to a 10-0 lead in game four but really needed to hold their opponents to a near shutout to have much hope.

Hope springs eternal, as they say, and Smith and Hubbard won game five in overtime 17-14 (Hue Williams buried a potential Championship point into the tin at 14-13) and now needed to not only win game six but win it by a score of 15-6 or better. Once Foster and Hue Williams scored their 7th point it would be over and that they did at 7-4. Had Smith and Hubbard won game six the two leg match would have been tied 6 games all but per tie-break rules the next decider is total points for both legs.  The marker and referee for the match were Andrew Lyons and Peter Brake.

In an after match interview with NARA, Neil Smith lamented, “ yeah, we needed to close them out easily after being up 10-0 in that game four in order for us to have a decent go at it. My partner played a great match but our deficit was too much after game two.”
 

Some weekend statistics
 

100 Gallery attendance

42 Stag Attendance

4 hammer Serves

2 Double Faults

1 missed Championship point

0 number of points by Champions in two OT's

0 Tea

 

Besides the spectacular weather in London all weekend, the stag was equally as grand. Staged at the venerable Turf Club in the St. James's District overlooking the Mall, 42 black tied gents immersed themselves into a wonderful evening of fine wine, beef and an overall great evening. North Americans in attendance were E Denis Walsh, Fast Eddie Matthews and Jeff Durkes. Of note, of the 42 there, 18 of them were Mjolnirs. Of course, we were treated so kindly by our British host(s) to a familiar trip into Mayfair for the apres stag.

On Saturday evening 45 people met after the match in Knightsbridge at Frankie's, an excellent restaurant. Four former World Singles Champions were in attendance including John Prenn, James Male, Howard Angus and Harry Foster.
 

The match was also beamed world-wide thanks to the largess of Richard Spender and the Montreal Racket Club.
 



Submitted by: Jeffrey L Durkes 27APR09

 

 

World Rackets Doubles 1st Leg results from New York City
 

Challengers Harry Foster and Mark Hue-Williams take a 4 games to 2 lead over defending champions Neil Smith and Mark Hubbard going into Queen's next week. Game scores were 12-15, 12, 17-14, 11-15, 6 and 8. Total points are 85-70. In order for the champions to retain their crown they must win 4 games to 1, or, 4 games to 2 with a point total differential greater than 15.

 

Travelers in attendance included, but not limited to, Nemec, Chamandy, Addington*, Walsh*,Walsh The Younger, Landreth, Laws, Yager*, Gross*, Cashman, Surtees, The Fork, Pritchard, Tanfield, Hue-Williams (UK), Prenn (UK).
 
 
Next week's showdown starts at 10 am Central, 11 am Eastern and results and analysis will be posted directly upon completion, here. Please check back.
 
*denotes NARA Board Member

 

Submitted by: Jeff Durkes 20April2009
 

 

 

SILVER RACQUET WEEKEND

OCTOBER 30TH- NOVEMBER 2ND, 2008

SILVER RACQUET RACQUETS PAIRED DOUBLES

SILVER RACQUET INVITATIONAL COURT TENNIS SINGLES

SILVER RACQUET INVITATIONAL SQUASH DOUBLES

NEW YORK OPEN HANDICAP COURT TENNIS SINGLES

IN CONJUNCTION WITH

WORLD RACQUETS CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST LEG

JAMES STOUT, CHALLENGER VS. HARRY FOSTER, WORLD CHAMPION

SOCIAL EVENTS

THURSDAY OCTOBER 30TH: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STAG DINNER (BLACK TIE) 7:00 PM

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31ST: COCKTAILS (PELL ROOM) 6:00 PM

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1ST: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LUNCHEON (DINING ROOM) 1:00 PM

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: 2:00 PM

SILVER RACQUET DINNER DANCE (BLACK TIE): 7:00 PM

COSTS

BENEFACTORS: $900 ONE TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEE, STAG DINNER, DINNER DANCE WITH GUEST, FRIDAY NIGHT COCKTAILS, LUNCHES ON FRI, SAT, & SUN, FRONT ROW SEAT FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (AS AVAILABLE), PROGRAM RECOGNITION

SPONSORS: $475 ONE TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEE, STAG DINNER, DINNER DANCE (ONE), FRIDAY NIGHT COCKTAILS, LUNCHES ON FRI, SAT, & SUN, ROWS 2-5 FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (BEST AVAILABLE), PROGRAM RECOGNITION

ALA CARTE:

ONE DRAW ENTRY: $85, SECOND DRAW: $65, STAG DINNER: $125, DINNER DANCE: $125, DESERT & DANCING ONLY: $50, SATURDAY LUNCH: $30, SEATS FOR MATCH (AS AVAIL.) ROW 1: $400, ROWS 2-3: $250, ROWS 4-5: $125, ROW 6: $75, STANDING: $50

RSVP by emailing completed entry form to: silverracquet08@gmail.com by October 24th. World Championship seating on a first come basis. Contact Mike Gooding, Ben Gould or Andrew Fowler (212) 753-9727 with questions.

 

 

 

Silver Racquet Weekend

November 1st – 4th 2007

Force de Mjolnir !
 

    The 2007-2008 North American fixtures list commenced last weekend (Nov 1 - 4th) at the New York Racquet & Tennis Club with the US Amateur Singles and Doubles competition, along with the Silver Rackets Doubles. The organizers ran a well run event that started with a huge veal chop and a wonderful wine selection for 30 at the Stag dinner.

    The Stag Dinner was perhaps the quickest in history (53 minutes) due to the Club party being held on the second floor and there was no shortage of beautiful "crumpet" upstairs. Needless to say, the stag broke down quickly and it was now game on! Peter Pell, by all accounts, has quite a Rolodex of names of the fairer sex. The Saturday evening Ball was also a resounding success and ended up in the Grill with people dancing the night away.

    For the Silver Rackets final, World Champion Harry Foster and Robin Geffen won in a walkover. In the US Amateur Singles, Mark Farmiloe (Queen's Club and Mjolnir) forced a 5th game after being down 2-0 and beat Thorold Barker (NYR&T). In a match that took every bit of 2 and a half hours, Thorold suffered from a series of painful cramping sessions throughout the match .

    On the US Amateur Doubles front, Guy Devereux and partner Barker cruised to a 3-0 win over Foster and Geffen.
 

Reported By: Jeffrey L Durkes on 11/5/2007

Silver Rackets
           
           
    Foster/Geffen      
           
      Foster/    
    Fri 8:20pm Geffen    
  Devereux/Moss   17/16 15/12    
    Devereux/      
  Fri 10:20am Moss      
  Shumaker/Beattie 15/2 15/7      
           
      Sun 9am Foster/Geffen  
  DeKoning/Scott     15/11 15/7  
    Scott/      
  Fri 11am DeKoning      
  Gross/GVS 15/8 15/11      
      Emil/    
    Fri 1:40pm Prenn    
      3/15 15/10 15/5    
        Sun 12pm  
    Emil/Prenn      
     
   
           
          Foster/Geffen
  Farmiloe/DeSvastich Farmiloe/     w/o
    DeSvastich      
  Fri 3:40pm 15/9 15/11      
  Stevenson/McLernon        
      Farmiloe/    
    Fri 6:20pm DeSvastich    
  Haynes/Thompson   18/13 8/15 15/4    
    Maltby/      
  Fri 2:20pm McKinney      
  Maltby/McKinney W/O      
           
      Sun 10am    
  Hombrecher/Tanfield     Kaulbach/Barker  
    Hombrecher/      
  Fri 7:40pm Tanfield      
  Pell/Habina W/O      
      Kaulbach/    
    Fri 9pm Barker    
      15/5 15/5    
           
    Kaulbach/Barker      
           
           
           
  Best 2 of 3 Best 2 of 3 Best 2 of 3 Best 2 of 3  

 

US Amateur Singles
  T Barker        
           
  Fri 5pm T Barker      
  P Haynes 15/3 15/2      
           
M Stevenson   Sat 10:20am T Barker    
Thurs 5pm M Stevenson   15/1 15/5    
C Bradley 2/0        
  Fri 4:20pm Kaulbach      
  Kaulbach  9/15 15/3 15/8    
           
      Sat 3pm T Barker  
  G Maltby     15/5 15/4 15/11  
           
  Fri 12:20pm G Maltby      
   C Scott 15/13 15/4      
           
P Pell   Sat 11am G Maltby    
Thurs 6pm Pell        
T Shumaker 15/4 15/6        
  Fri 1pm Pell   Sun 11am  
  M Mclernon 11/15 15/4 15/9
   
           
          M Farmiloe
  G Devereux       13/16 8/15 15/8 18/14 15/8
    G Devereux      
  Thurs 2pm 15/0 15/1      
  W Deane        
           
    Sat 11:40am G Devereux    
  C McKinney   15/4 15/1    
           
P. Beattie Fri 11:40am Beattie      
Fri 9:40am Beattie 15/2 15/12      
S Moss 15/11 15/9        
      Sat 4pm M Farmiloe  
  K De Koning     3/1  
           
  Fri 5:40pm DeKoning      
  A Hombrecher 15/4 15/12      
           
    Sat 12:20pm M Farmiloe    
  R Tanfield   15/2 15/7    
           
  Fri 9am Farmiloe      
  M Farmiloe 15/5 15/7      
           
           
  Best 2 of 3 Best 2 of 3 Best 3 of 5 Best 3 of 5  

 

US Amateur Doubles
           
    Devereux/Barker      
           
           
    Sat 2:20pm Devereux/Barker    
           
           
    Gross/Shumaker    
           
           
      Sat 5pm Devereux/Barker  
  Bradley/Beattie        
    Yeatman/      
  Fri 3pm Wintersteen      
    15/11 13/16 15/3      
  Yeatman/Wintersteen   Yeatman/    
    Fri 7pm Wintersteen    
      15/0 15/5    
        Sun 1pm  
    Scott-DeKoning
 
   
           
           
          Devereux/Barker
          15/9 15/8 15/2
    Moss/Farmiloe      
           
           
           
    Sat 1:40pm      
  Stevenson/Arriz        
           
  Sat 9am Stevenson/Arriz      
           
  Maltby/McKinney        
      Sat 6pm    
  McLernon/Kaulbach     Foster/Geffen  
           
  Sat 9:40am Pell/Hombrecher      
           
  Pell/Hombrecher        
    Sat 1pm      
      Foster/Geffen    
      15/4 18/13    
    Foster/Geffen      
           
           
  Best 2 of 3  Best 2 of 3 Best 3 of 5 Best 3 of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE(A)STERN OPEN

NEW YORK 2007

 

The We(a)stern Open is over and the 1st leg of the World Championship is completed.

Neil Smith and Mark Hubbard defeated Mark Hue-Williams and Harry Foster 4 games to 0 on Saturday April 20th before a packed gallery.

In the We(a)stern Open Singles final, Tennis and Racquet Club pro, James Stout, completed dominated and easily beat James Coyne, 3-0.

A different story evolved in the Doubles Final, though. Top seeded Rupert Owen-Browne and Tonbridge racquets' coach, Dave Makey, needed 5 games to claim the title, outlasting Guy Devereux and Bostonian Todd Meringoff.

 

James Stout won the Pro Singles and freshman MRC Pro, Ryan Tulley, won his second consecutive Pro-Am doubles crown, as he and partner, Montreal fellow, Nick James handled the Tonbridgian pair of Owen-Browne and Makey.

 

 

 

Once again, Mark Agate had his roving band of Mjolnirs on hand to play, both on and off the court. Mark does not get enough recognition for the work he does to encourage players to make the trip to North America. He deserves huge thank you from us all. Cheers to you, Aggers and to your Mjolnirs as well

 

 

About sixty gentlemen attended the Thursday night stag despite threatening weather. Many talked about the game, how this weekend would be a great chance for many to witness world class rackets at its best and just reiterated how great the game is and how anyone at any time can be on court with the best. Our game is unique and we should strive to keep it that way.

I guess the biggest upset of the tournament would have to be Nick James' surprising win over top seed, Guy Devereux. Earlier in the season, Devereux easily handled James in the final of the Tuxedo Gold Racquets. But this was Nick's turn. Bravo!!! Bravo to Michael Goodell and the rest of the Detroit Racquet Club for starting the Fellow program way back when. These lads, in their gap year, get a lot of time on the courts and get to see the rackets' world from another perspective. This season one would have to say that young Mr. James benefited enormously from the program as he won or was a finalist in almost all the draws he entered. Way to go, DRC!!!

Saturday night, 150 or so partyers were dancing, wining and dining at the wonderful dinner/dance. Kudos to Peter Pell and his committees for the great organization and to Robert Gressler and his staff for the excellent work throughout the weekend. Of course, tournaments cannot be successful without the tireless efforts of the pros. Many thanks to Mike Gooding, James Stout and Andy Fowler for their fantastic work over the weekend.

 

 

 

 

Silver Racquet Weekend

            November 2 – 5, 2006

The Silver Racquet weekend was a great success. We had 28 guys in the
draw. 34 at the stag dinner on Thursday night, and 150 on Saturday night
for the dinner dance.  The draw was wide open with many evenly matched
teams.  An early upset was the experienced team of Dick Tanfield and
Elihu Inselbuch defeating athletic youngsters Nick Shumaker and Alexis
Hombrecher.

Semis:
deSvastich/ Surtees def. Devereux/ Geffen 2-1
Bristowe/ de Koning def. Pell/ Stevenson 2-0

Final:
Bristowe/ de Koning def. deSvastich/ Surtees 2-0

 

 

Last year's event below

Keene Addington (RCC), Edward Ulmann R&T Club) , Jeff Durkes (RCC), Karel Nemec  (MRC), Ed Matthews, Tom Shumaker (DRC) and Jake Matthews on the 2nd floor patio of the Racquet and Tennis Club in New York

 

The New York racquets weekend is over. What a great weekend it was too!!! It started off with the usual Gentlemen’s Dinner. This year about 30 sat at the long table set up in the main dining room. 

Each club in North America was represented and there were a few visitors ( Prenn, Smith-Bingham, Geffen) from the UK as well. Karel Nemec, former president of the Montreal Racket Club, introduced the small contingent from north of the border. Rob Wood did the same for the Chicago club. Of course, Boston was represented by none other than the Prince of NARA, E. Denis Walsh, who introduced his players but also had some very kind words to say about Tom Shumaker of the Detroit Racquet Club. Tom has had a bit of a set back with his cancer and is recuperating at home. Denis asked that we all send our prayers his way for a speedy recovery. Tom’s sons, Tom Jr. and Nick were at the dinner and Tom thanked Denis and said a little about the DRC and his dad. Tom works and lives in New York and Nick is presently living in Panama.  

John Prenn, Chairman of Rackets at the Tennis and Rackets Association, talked about the upcoming sale of Queen’s Club. The highest bidder will soon take over the club and the players and members have a bid in that has been submitted by Alexander Anton. We should know in a few weeks what the status is. 

Lou “The Fork” Habina was there representing his home club, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. The Jock Soutar weekend will take place in Philly on the weekend of November 17th to the 20th, with some great times lined up.  

The meal was superb and the wines and ports excellent, so I have been told. The weather was perfect (in the low 70s) so it was out to the 2nd floor patio just off the dining room for cigars and stories. After a while, the guests made their way home or onward into the New York City night. 

Friday play got into high gear. All the first round matches were played in all the draws. All of the matches went smoothly and the results were as expected. All the top seeds advanced and there were no real surprises in the other matches either. Friday the players, wives and friends went their own ways and dined out on the town. It is good to get away from the club now and then. 

Saturday’s play started with perhaps the best match of the tournament when Thorold Barker and Tom Shumaker took on the local pair of Peter Pell and Greg Van Schaack in a 1st round Silver Racquet match. The games were close and in the end it was Barker and Shumaker who advanced to the next round. Saturday’s play gave us the most exciting and grueling match of the whole tournament. Top seed, Guy Smith-Bingham played 4th seed Guy Devereux, who had just got off the tennis court after losing a close match to Barney Tanfield. Smith-Bingham took a two to one lead in games and was ahead in the 4th 7-1 at one point. It sure looked like we were going to see an all Old Etonian final, as number 2 seed Jonathan Larken had earlier disposed of former World Champion, John Prenn. But things got interesting as Devereux got untracked and began to serve to perfect length and won game four, setting up a fifth and deciding game. Devereux came out smoking and in the end managed to win and set the stage for the final against his friend and fellow New Yorker. What a match it was!!! Next up was the doubles semi-final and Devereux was teamed with Larken and preparing to meet the Boston pair of Todd Meringoff and Nelson Russell. Instead of a rest between matches, Devereux opted to carry on. This proved to be a mistake as, after leading 1-0 in games, his body totally cramped. He was in agony, screaming in pain. The top-seeded pair had to default as the ambulance came and took Guy to the hospital where he received an IV treatment to stabilize his body. It worked because he was ready the next morning to play in the singles final. 

Saturday about 175 members and guests attended the Grand Ball. A wonderful meal was served and many thoroughly enjoyed the fine music as the dance floor was filled throughout the evening with the happy guests dancing to the music of the Bill Harrington Orchestra. The meal was superb and the whole evening was just perfect. Peter  Pell deserves much credit for the work he did in insuring the evening was a great success.  

Before the Sunday singles’ final, there was one more Silver Racquet doubles’ semi final. Young Teddy Molson, an Old Etonian, attending Princeton, was partnered with Elihu Inselbuch. and were matched against the two Bostonians, Russell and Meringoff. The winner of this match was to play Guy Smith-Bingham and Robin Geffen in the Silver Racquet final. The Beantowners came out on top and were to play in two finals after the fine Sunday brunch. 

Many were surprised to see Guy Devereux ready to play on Sunday after his unfortunate collapse on Saturday. But he was there and ready to take on his pal and fellow New Yorker, Jonathan Larken. The first game was all Larken as he won 15-4. There were some great rallies in the match and Devereux did have a great lead (14-7) in game two, but faltered and allowed Larken to tie and win the tie-breaker (17-14). The 3rd game was much like the first as Larken easily won 15-6. 

The Silver Racquets final was a rather quick match as Smith-Bingham and Geffen disposed of their opponents 15-5 and 15-7. The victory was there 2nd in the last 3 years as they won in November 2003. 

The only match left now was the U.S. Amateur Doubles. Willie Bristowe and Thorold Barker had made it to the final by defeating Ted Molson and Paul Beattie in the ¼ final and then Karel Nemec and Mike McLernon in the semis. As mentioned previously, the Boston duo of Todd Meringoff and Nelson Russell made it to the final when Devereux was forced out due to injury. This match was the one of the best matches of the weekend. True, we didn’t have world class players on the court, but for the gallery, it was truly a great match to witness. The New Yorkers played steady and won the first game 15-10.The second game started out with the local lads jumping all over the inexperienced North Americans and at one point held a 12-1 lead. It looked like this match would be over in 3 games. But hold on!!! Meringoff came in and served to 11-12. In the end, Boston took the game 17-14. Game three was back and forth with some great serving and the New York pair won 15-10. Once again Meringoff’s serving made the 4th game close and eventually he and Russell were able to win 15-12 and set up a 5th and deciding game for the title. This time the transplanted Brits were able to shut down Meringoff and his serve and won the game and the U.S. Amateur Doubles title with a convincing, 15-6, 5th game win.   

After all was done, Jonathan Larken holds both the U.S. and Canadian Amateur crowns, while Thorold Barker has the same honor with the Doubles titles, as he was partnered last January with Guy Barker in Montreal.

That was the end of the fantastic weekend. Head professional, Mike Gooding made sure all was running smoothly in all the draws.  Bob Gressler and his fine staff at the Racquet and Tennis Club did a fine job, as usual, and everyone had, I think, a most wonderful time.