Several of Badenoch and Strathspey’s tennis teams in with chance of honours
Round up from the local tennis clubs competing in the Galbraith Highland Tennis Leagues.
Grantown
The women’s A team held the unbeaten Elgin to a 4-4 draw in the Division 2 match of the day.
The Strathspey team for the fixture in the Moray capital was: Lindsay Tinney & Diane Sellars, and Mandy Davidson and Rachel Knight.
It was a game of two halves with Tinney and Sellars outplaying both home pairings. The 1v1 rubber was taken 7-5, 6-4.
Their second contest was a bit more straightforward. They were pushed all the way in the first set (6-4) but ran away with the second (6-0).
Davidson and Knight had an altogether tougher time, losing both rubbers
Meanwhile in Division 3, the club’s second-string trounced Elgin C with a maximum 8-0 scoreline.
That win puts the team in second place, just two points behind Forres A
A Strathspey derby in Men’s Division 2 saw Grantown A host Rothiemurchus with the latter whitewashing the hosts by 8-0.
The Aviemore outfit now has a five point lead over the trailing pack. Grantown is one of three sides on 12 points
Kingussie
A five-match losing streak continued for the women’s first team.
The visiting champions elect Elgin A rolled into Badenoch and left with the three points, having won six sets to two.
The club’s second quartet had a better evening, recording a win at Nairn. It was a close-run thing though.
The final result 4-3 only tells part of the story.
The first round saw Lou Kinnear and Mary Anderson hammer the Nairn second couple with a 6-2, 6-0 win.
On the other hand, Deb Tait and Eileen Stuart were involved in a struggle with the Nairn first pair. The first set went to the visitors on a tie-break, a win that was to prove crucial.
They then lost the second (6-3), and the championship tie-break just ran away from them, losing out by 10 points to three.
The time taken to complete the three setter had a knock-on effect on the second round. The set time limit of 9.15pm was reached with neither rubber finished.
However, when the alarm goes play stops. It was possible that only one game was required for victory in each tie.
Nairn were up in one (5-3) while Kingussie led in the other (5-2). An eventful evening, ended with Kingussie winning because of that first tie-break win.
The start of the reverse men’s matches saw Tain visit Kingussie. The outcome was exactly the same as the first encounter, five all. Nothing, it seems, can separate the two teams.
Newtonmore
The club’s foray into the women’s league is going well. The team has only been beaten once in their six outings.
A wee bit of luck in the three drawn matches could have seen the Badenoch side at the top of Division 4.
As it is, they are in fourth position, just two points behind leaders R&A C.
Their latest fixture saw them at home against the leaders, The outcome – another draw. All four rubbers were won relatively easily.
Mother and daughter duo, Zoe and Rosie Ettle saw off the challenge of both opposing pairs, while Madeleine Ettle and Cath Hamill lost their battles.
R&A
Two of the three women’s teams are riding high in their competitions.
R&A C are in pole position in the fourth division. The team at Newtonmore consisted of Jenny Sime and Lenka Nagel backed up by Wendy McKay and Daisy Grant.
Both pairs were unable to defeat the homesters’ first pair but were able to see off the challenge from the Newtonmore number twos
In Division 1, the A team travelled up the A9 to pay the ITSC firsts. The outcome was a draw.
Eve Wilkinson and Wendy Munro had a relatively easy evening, winning 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-0.
The second pairing of LJ Fishpool and Jo Evans had an altogether tougher visit to the Highland capital.
Three of their four sets were decided on closely contested tie-breaks. Unfortunately, they lost all three of them.
The seconds are not having a very successful season and sit bottom of Division 2 having lost their first five fixtures.
The first match in the second half of the season ended in victory, defeating ITSC B 6-4, and closing the gap between the two teams. Both are now on eight points.
The result could have swung further in favour of R&A B but two rubbers went to a match tie-break. The visitors winning both.
So, it could have been an 8-2 victory but they will be just happy to get that first victory under their belt. Team: LJ Fishpool and Judith Marten, and Kim Beattie and Amy McAdam.
The men’s A team are closing in on winning Division 2 and stepping up to the topflight for the 2026 season.
The first encounter between the side and Grantown ended in a 4-4 draw.
But the visit to Grantown saw a totally different outcome, completely overcoming their depleted opponents to record an 8-0 victory.
Team: Angus Harrold & Paul Singleton; and Gavin Musgrove & Damir Kabyrzhan
