Charnwood Tennis Club's Men's 'Superseniors' Over 60s team faced two tough matches in three days.

On Wednesday, they visited The Leicestershire to take on their first team in rather wild and windy conditions.

Charnwood were without a few regulars, so Chris Barlow teamed up with Andrew Smith, while captain Kevin Leck resumed his partnership with Marc Kroon.

Smith and Barlow battled hard for four sets, ultimately without success. 

Meanwhile, Leck and Kroon cruised past their first opponents, but Leicestershire pair John Walworth and Mark Shelton gave them a bit of a scare, handling the difficult conditions very well to take the Charnwood pair to a first set tie-break.

Some quality volleying from Kroon proved decisive, as he and Leck eventually won 7-6, 6-4 to clinch an overall draw at two rubbers apiece.

Victory over defending champions

On Friday, a full strength Charnwood team consisting of Leck and Kroon, supported by Nick Barham and Dave Foster, took on champions Oadby. 

The latter were below strength, with county legend Gary van der Byl partnering captain Paul Heighton-Towers, and a slightly weaker second pair consisting of Derek Buchanan and Gordon Sheard. 

In the first round, Leck and Kroon were comfortable victors against Buchanan and Sheard, while Barham and Foster were edged out in two very competitive sets by van der Byl and Heighton-Towers 6-4, 6-4.

In the second round, Barham and Foster rapidly accounted for the second pair, leaving the result dependent on the match between Leck and Kroon and the Oadby first pair. 

Despite some excellent tennis from van der Byl, Leck and Kroon dominated the first set, which could have been more comfortable than the eventual 6-4 scoreline.

They also gained an early break in the second, but Kroon began to run out of steam and miss some of the volleys he had been executing so well.

This allowed the Oadby pair to fight back and take the second set 6-3. Nonetheless, a drawn rubber was enough to take Charnwood to a deserved 5-3 victory.

With a win and a draw against two strong clubs, this was a good week for Charnwood, who finish their 2026 campaign in a couple of weeks with a visit to unbeaten Carisbrooke.