Encouraging start for Cippenham as first team fly and B team holds steady

Rob Hansell

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Cippenham's two sides made encouraging starts to the new Senior British League season over the weekend, with both teams playing at their home venue — as they will for all matches this campaign.

After relegation last season, the first team now competes in National Division B-2, while the B team remains in Division C-5.

The first team began strongly, winning their opening three matches before falling to a powerful Fusion side on Sunday afternoon, finishing the weekend third in the division.

Meanwhile, the B team ended with two wins and two losses, placing them mid-table.

First Team Highlights

Cippenham opened with a 6-3 win over Gwent, with Martin Gray named Player of the Match. Gray won both his singles matches, while Rob Hansell, captain Martin Adams, and Shae Thakker contributed one win each. Hansell and Thakker also combined to win the doubles. Impressively, all six Cippenham wins came via 3-0 scorelines, underlining their dominance.

In Saturday afternoon’s clash with Crusaders, Gray failed to repeat his earlier form, but Thakker, Hansell, and Adams all recorded two wins apiece in an emphatic 8-1 victory. Thakker took Player of the Match honours.

On Sunday, Andy Norwood and Steve Munson replaced Thakker and Gray. Adams became Cippenham’s third Player of the Match after defeating Lee Phillips and Jack Vaughan. Norwood also claimed two singles wins, while Hansell added another and partnered Adams for a doubles victory in a hard-fought 6-3 win over Bristol Associates, where five of the nine sets went to a deciding game.

However, Cippenham’s strong start ended with a disappointing 8-1 loss to Fusion 3, with only Adams registering a win. Several sets went down to the wire, including two narrow fifth-game defeats for Hansell (14-12 and 12-10).

B Team Round-Up

The B team, boosted by Hari Gehlot’s inclusion, opened with a 6-3 win over Isle of Wight. Gehlot and Louis Alexander both won two singles matches and combined for a doubles victory. Bharath Prasanna Kumar added one win, while George Driscoll, making his league debut and becoming the 30th graduate from the club’s coaching programme, was unable to add to the tally.

That scoreline was reversed in the afternoon as Cippenham lost 6-3 to Godalming Simply Let. Kumar impressed with wins over Harry Barker and Varun Shastry, and Alexander defeated Robert Piel, but there were no further victories.

On Sunday, Steve Joel replaced Gehlot but couldn't help Cippenham avoid a heavy 8-1 defeat to Ellenborough, with the doubles pair of Alexander and Driscoll earning the only win. However, the team finished on a high, thrashing Generation 2 (Fareham) 9-0 to end the weekend on a positive note.