The 2015 Irish Real Tennis Closed Championships

Cambridge University, UK

12–13 September, 2015

Champion: Chris Herbert
Doubles champions: Rupert Derham and Mark Heffernan
Congratulations!

The IRTA visited Cambridge over the weekend of 12–13 September for its annual Irish Championship, and for a match against the CURTC.

The Irish tournament attracted an entry of eight players, with handicaps ranging from a little over 20 to a little under 60, and was played off half handicap difference. Play got under way on both courts on Saturday morning at 9am, and the first round all went according to seeding. The two semi-finals looked to be breaking with this pattern: in both matches the stronger seed lost the first set by a considerable margin. However, in each case there was a recovery in the second and third sets, and Chris Herbert ultimately defeated Rupert Derham 2–1, and Roland Budd defeated Rustom Manecksha 2–1. Chris prevailed in the final to take his first Irish title.

The semi-finals of the plate competition also both went to three sets, with Mark Heffernan successful against Derek O'Sullivan, and David Keane defeating Vince Lucey. David looked to be on course for another upset when he took the first set against Mark Heffernan in the plate final, but Mark recovered to emerge victorious.

The players also teamed up (seed 1 with seed 8, seed 2 with seed 7, etc.) for some level doubles. Roland Budd and David Keane won all three of their round-robin matches with Rupert Derham and Mark Heffernan combining well to take the runner-up spot and thus gain a place in the final. The Derham / Heffernan pairing managed to reverse the earlier result over the longer-format final, taking the title by 10 games to 7.

On the Sunday the IRTA played a series of close matches against local players, and also enjoyed lunch organised by the CURTC.

We are grateful to the CURTC for permitting us to use their courts for our Irish Championship, for organisational assistance and support in the course of the weekend, and for welcoming us once again to Cambridge.

Closed championship results

Main championship:

Christopher Herbert (hcap 20.8; seed 1)	Christopher
Derek O'Sullivan (hcap 58.7; seed 8)	6/0, 6/2	Christopher
		1/6, 6/3, 6/4
Rupert Derham (hcap 38.3; seed 4)	Rupert
Mark Heffernan (hcap 40.4; seed 5)	6/1, 6/5		Christopher
			6/3, 6/1
Rustom Manecksha (hcap 36.7; seed 3)	Rustom
Vince Lucey (hcap 50.5; seed 6)	6/3, 6/4	Roland
		0/6, 6/3, 6/4
Roland Budd (hcap 31.1; seed 2)	Roland
David Keane (hcap 52.7; seed 7)	6/3, 6/3

Plate:

Derek O'Sullivan	Mark
Mark Heffernan	6/2, 5/6, 6/3	Mark
		4/6, 6/4, 6/4
Vince Lucey	David
David Keane	6/3, 3/6, 6/3

Round-robin doubles:

	A	B	C	D	Matches	Games	Position
A (CH, DO'S)		0	6	1	1	7	3
B (RB, DK)	6		6	6	3	18	1
C (RM, VL)	2	5		2	0	9	4
D (RD, MH)	6	3	6		2	15	2

Final:

Roland Budd, David Keane	Rupert, Mark
Rupert Derham, Mark Heffernan	10/7

CURTC vs IRTA results

CURTC		IRTA
Chris Walthew (40)		Rustom Manecksha (37)
	6/2, 4/6, 3/6
Charlie D'Oyly (26)		Chris Herbert (21)
	6/5, 6/4
Steve O'Rahilly (52)		Vince Lucey (51)
	6/4, 6/5
Andrew Petrie (28)		Roland Budd (31)
	6/0, 5/6, 6/5