THE CELEBRATIONS continued at Bromsgrove Tennis Club as two more promotions were confirmed last weekend.
Both came from the ladies section as their C and F teams secured their place in Division Four and Division Nine respectively after impressive wins.
Bromsgrove Ladies C Team was the most convincing as they hammered Stourbridge 4-0, with Di Wilson and Steph Armstrong putting in a strong display to win both their contests in straight sets.
Joan McGregor and Debbie Oliver had to dig deep to get the crucial extra wins as they claimed two tough three set battles to complete the whitewash.
Not to be outdone the Ladies F Team took on Old Hill B in Division Ten and ran out 3-1 winners to clinch their promotion. This was much a tight contest with only one rubber decided in two sets when Alison Douglas with Carol Cornellison won 6-1,6-3. Their opening contest looked as though it was going to be tough at 1-1, but they really stepped up to the mark to take the final set 6-0.
Dilys Thomas and Cynthia Colley, meanwhile, spent a long time on court, but were only able to win on their two matches. which included a three set epic.
It was also a tense afternoon for the Ladies A Team who needed a win to guarantee their survival in the top division. And Captain Sally Franks and Tina Manning led by example, winning both their contests 6-0, 6-3 and 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Sophie Cornelius and Sophie Oliver fought hard but went down in both their encounters 5-7, 6-4, 1-6 and 1-6, 5-7 which levelled the game.
But after a count back on games, with rubbers and sets equal, Bromsgrove just sneaked it 49-48, which delighted skipper Franks.
“It’s been a fantastic season with at least three teams getting promotion and we’re hoping for at least one more,” she said.
“Next season we’ll have two teams in Division One, and most teams playing in a division higher after all the promotions, which shows how strong Ladies tennis is at Bromsgrove.
“All the captains and players have done a fantastic job to get us where we are.”
Meanwhile, the Mixed A team secured the win they needed away to Manor Park which has put them in a strong position to secure promotion.
The turning point was the fight back by Steve Jones and Cornelius from 5-1 down in the tie break against their opponents’ first pair to take the set 7-5.
This extra set gave Bromsgrove the victory as both Jones with Cornelius and Kelly Kenward with Andy Brettell beat the Manor Park second pair but lost to the first pair.
It was not such good news for the Men’s C Team who narrowly missed out on promotion from Division Six after not getting the draw needed against Hagley A.
