WIVENHOE Tennis Club hosted this year's Colchester and District Friendly Tennis League Tournament Finals.

This was the culmination of the tournament started in June this year with 78 applicants from seven tennis clubs across the area, playing in singles and doubles categories.

At the finals there were representatives from Lexden Hill, Colchester Officers Club, Spring Lane, Dedham, Wivenhoe, and Little Clacton.

Following the cancellation of the event in 2020 it has been great for people to play competitive tennis again and this was evident from the enthusiasm of participants and their supporters who watched the event.

Results: Ladies Singles won by Emily Skinner (Spring Lane) who beat Lingqing Jiang (Wivenhoe) 5-7, 6-4, 10-4 Mens Singles won by Paul Gloc (Colchester Officers Club) who beat Alex Temple (Lexden Hill) 6-1, 5-7, 10-5 Mens Doubles won by Sam Taylor and Chris Burridge (Spring Lane) who beat James Wallis and Ralph Charles (Spring Lane) 6-4, 6-4 Ladies Doubles won by Anita Filer and Sherry Hodgson (Spring Lane) who beat Freya Wallis and Olivia Milton (Spring Lane) 7-5, 6-2 Vets Ladies Doubles won by Christine Clark and Clare Smee (Wivenhoe) who beat Debbie Sainty and Caroline Weston (Dedham) 6-3, 6-3. Vets Mens Doubles won by James Wallis and Ralph Charles (Spring Lane) who beat Andrew Cartwright and Mark Risley (Little Clacton) 6-4, 7-6 Mixed Doubles won by Emily Skinner and Sam Taylor (Spring Lane) who beat James Wallis and Freya Wallis (Spring Lane) 6-1, 7-6 Vets Mixed Doubles won by Alex Temple (Lexden Hill) and Loess Overbury-Tapper (Colchester Officers Club) who beat Andrew Hodgson and Sherry Hodgson (Spring Lane) 6-4, 6-4.

At the presentation ceremony, Colchester and District Friendly Tennis League Committee chair John Sambrook presented the tournament cups and individual shields to the winners.

In addition, Little Clacton were presented with the Shield for winning the Ladies League and the Mixed League Competition 2021.

Because of the number of rain-affected matches this year, there is still one outstanding men's league which will be a title decider.

John thanked all the participants and their supporters for making the event so enjoyable and taking part in the spirit of the Friendly League.

He gave special thanks to Sherry Hodgson who organised the competition and Christine Clark and Wivenhoe TC for hosting the event, along with the volunteer officials for umpiring the matches.

He closed by acknowledging how good it had been to have competitive tennis again after a year based mainly in our own club bubbles.

The photos are of the Mixed Doubles, Mens and Ladies final participants