2021 PELL CUP REPORT
by Mike Gooding
What had angered the gods so much in order to place 2021 Pell Cup between Scylla and Charybdis, in our terms, a once in a hundred-year pandemic and a once in a thirty year hurricane. We had already waited a long two years since the last Pell Cup was held and as such, those tournament results had already faded from memory. There was a glimmer of hope in early May that we would be able to hold this year’s Pell Cup, with the dropping of restrictions that included playing without a mask and gathering in large groups. However, had these restrictions remained in effect, there would be little joy in the event.
Now that restrictions were lifted and the green light was on, the process of booking caterers, a venue for the dinner and soliciting sponsors for prize money could start in earnest. Before long, all of this was moving forward well and as it turned out, we were missed as much as we missed others and generosity flowed.
The moment of truth had arrived on Wednesday August 18th for the first match. That pitted Sewall Hodges & Kathy Minevitz against first time Pell participants, Philly members Victoria Scott and Bill Green in The E division.
The Match started with Kathy and Sewall edging ahead only to be caught at 5/5 all by the Philadelphians. Kathy and Sewall kept their nerve against a team that was starting to settle into the Newport Court, to take the set 6/5. The momentum started to shift almost immediately in the second set.
Bill was now holding his own and Victoria (the baby-faced assassin) was starting to fire of bullets for the nick and tambour leaving Sewall & Kathy very little chance to draw back the deficit.
Now 1 set all and starting the final set at 3-all at it was anyone’s match. The seventh game went to Philly the eighth was a 40 all game and ended on a shot for the gallery going high and put away off the penthouse by Victoria. In the final game, Victoria kept up the pressure to take the match, that was more significant than anyone knew at the time. 5/6 6/0 6/3. The two other teams that comprised the E division were Kitty Cook/Audrey Lehr (Philly) and Prady Sakpal/Shirley Freitag who, in turn, had a battle royal. The match was hotly contested with Kitty and Audrey coming out ahead 2 sets to 1. Three of the players were new to the game and will certainly climb the divisions in the upcoming years.
In the D division, past winners David Thill & Peter Arment join forces again for the third year with their eye on the winner’s trophy. Larry Phillips rejoined the field with a different Salve student this year Delaney Pothier. With travelers from Philadelphia SJ Ayoub and Haren Arcot also joined by Jeremy Thompson playing with local Michael Lanza. Peter & David took the first match over Michael and Jeremy 6/3 6/2 and then beat SJ and Haren 6/4 6/2, this put them in the drivers seat in the group. The next match was going to be against Larry Phillip and Delaney Pothier, a team that had recently beaten them in the club handicap doubles. This match was looking like it would be the decider in the group stage and was eagerly awaited. Disappointingly Larry missed the match and had to take a walkover, however, was able to make the second match of the day to defeat Jeremy and Michael 6/1 6/1 putting them second in the group.
Going by handicaps, the C division should have been the closest division in theory with the smallest difference between the teams. This was not the way it would work out in practice though. Peter Bender and Dan Nagler demolished Arthur Drane and Manny Tancer 6/1 6/0 and continued to beat Beth Winthrop and Brad Dellenbaugh 6/4 6/3 and Steve De Voe and Dan Paquette 6/3 6/3 to ensure an undefeated record in the round robin. Manny and Arthur, undeterred by their first match, went on to win both of their subsequent matches to secure the second place and qualification in to the final on Sunday.
Conversely, the B division had a much larger disparity between the top and bottom team’s handicaps. This as it turns out was no predictor of form or results. Greg Van Schaack and Averell Fisk, although being the best ranked team, failed to win a match which no one would have expected at the start of the event. This is the reason we all show up, there is always a chance to play your best match and reach further than you expected. This threw the cat amongst the pigeons, and the other teams in the group Haven Pell/Vern Cassin, Mark Beaumont/Paul Bolster and Steve Fazzini/Frank Oliveira all saw their chances improve. Haven and Vern took all their matches, albeit by 1 game over Frank and Steve, to finish top with Mark and Paul finishing second and looking forward to improving on their 6/4 6/5 loss to Vern and Haven in the final.
A more congenial group of guys you could hope to meet squared up against each other in the A’s.The father-son team of Bill and Erik Barker (Wash.) were the odds on favorite and ruthlessly proved the point by only losing 6 games in 3 matches. This left a scramble for the runners up spot in the group, which Phil Stockton and Peter Dickinson took by besting the team of Ryan Carey/John Damon 6/5 6/2 and Eliot Van Buskirk/James Chamberlain. 6/2 6/2. Pete and Phil were looking to for a little revenge on Sunday alas it never came.
The Open draw was a little light this year due to postponed plans and wonderful reasons, an engagement a wedding and the arrivals of the next generation of court tennis stars. The condensed draw still had the same high quality as the previous years
With John Lumley and I defending the title for the third year. Leon Smart was joined by Conor Medlow for the first time. They both had played in the event over the last few years but not together. The third team was a father and son duo of Bill and Erik Barker who were also playing in the A division. The first match in this division was held during the Thursday night cocktail party hosted and provided by Kathy Minevitz and Sewall Hodges. There was great excitement in the gallery, what better way to spend the event but by watching live court tennis and enjoying a range of delicious hors d’oeuvres and drinks. A spirited match ensued in the sultry hot and humid night air. The Barkers new to the court and the open division parried of the as many blows from John and Mike but the relentlessly onslaught soon saw the games ebb away from them. The score was 6/1 6/0 but not to be trite, this did not illustrate the quality of the rallies for all to see on YouTube thanks to Ryan Carey
The Friday night cocktail match pitted Leon and Conor versus John and I. This was a match I was wary about, as the combination of the soft secure hands of a top lawn tennis player Leon and the rapier like unpredictable play of Conor were bound to throw up some questions. Could they be answered in time? Right from the start it was obvious Conor and Leon’s plan was to serve high and deep to nullify powerful returns.
This strategy did not work straight away and they soon found themselves 2-love down. Often with a plan, the ability to stick to it when it doesn’t reward you straight away is crucial. Although John and Mike captured the first set, it was not without its costs. The effort to hit hard off dead balls and the inability to get to the service side often enough weighed heavily and started taking its toll. Game after game fell to the new pair until the set was theirs. In a final act of defiance I turned to John set point down on the hazard side. “John, what’s our best scenario?”
The combined thought was we want to swap receivers (so John would take Conor) and, if possible, have John potentially be serving and receiving in the 5 all game if it came to it. At worst we thought we would reconnoiter for the Final and fight again in the Final.
As luck would have it, Conor decided to serve first, letting us not have to choose between the options but have them both. Freed from the burden of history, John revived Conor’s serve with the relish that I had lost along the way. The plan started well with a quick game and a 40-15 lead in the 4-3 game. A couple of loose shots and we were back to 40-all and Leon played a terrific cross-court volley under the winning gallery to beat John and level the match at 4 games all. The next two games were split with extremely close and highly contested rallies, one rally lasting 35 strokes, ending with a volley into the grille. Now at 5-all in the 3rd, the final game began with John Lumley receiving and forcing two volley errors from Conor to lead 30 love. Leon responded with a with a force to the grille. In the next point, Leon clipped the tape to lose the point. At this point, teams changed ends 40-15 with a chase John served to Conor. This time Conor made a good shot to force an error. 30-40 John and Mike lead, just one point separating the teams. The final point was a little anticlimactic with Mike hitting a weak volley and Conor hitting a rash reverse boast into the net. Final score: 6/5 3/6 6/5. This match was due to be repeated as the Final
By Saturday’s night dinner, some players who had traveled prudently decided to leave before Tropical Storm Henri made his unwelcome arrival. The dinner itself, even with slightly depleted numbers, was fantastic, relocated to the Midtown Oyster Bar in the heart of Newport ‘s hospitality scene. Midtown does a brilliant job with delicious food and a picturesque deck overlooking the harbor.
As with all things weather related, the forecasts were mixed and ever changing. The finals started on time at 9am with the D finals. This was going to be interesting as the teams hadn’t played each other yet and therefore had no history. David and Peter came out surprisingly strong considering the amount of “entertaining” they did at the Cooke House the night before! They steamed through the first set 6-1, in the humid pre-hurricane atmosphere. The second set was much closer with Larry and Delaney cutting out the errors. David and Peter got the 9th game to lead 5-4 and then went up 40-15 only to be thwarted on the 3 match points. Now 5-all once again they got to match point 40-30 up, unfazed Delaney and Larry kept their nerve and leveled up to 40-all. Peter served to Larry a piqué, which he could only poke back and gave Peter a bit of a sitter. Maybe it was the pressure or the espresso martinis, I cannot say, but nevertheless but he framed it into the net, handing the set to his opponents. Now 1-set all and the wind blowing hard ,David and Peter got to 4-3 up when Henri arrived and stole the power and the lights went out, the lights came back on, and loud cheers rang out, but this was short lived. The lights now were out for good on the 2021 Pell Cup, it was a very disappointing end for all on such a great weekend of tennis and parties.
As no further play could take place, the results of the group stage were used to determine the winners of each division.
We will never know if the runners up in the group could have improved their standings.
Open Division
Winners Mike Gooding & John Lumley
Runners-up Conor Medlow & Leon Smart
A Division
Winners Bill Barker/Erik Barker
Runners-up Phil Stockton/Pete Dickinson
B Division
Winners Haven Pell / Vern Cassin
Runners-up Mark Beaumont / Paul Bolster
C Division
Winners Peter Bender/Daniel Nagler
Runners-up Manuel Tancer / Arthur Drane
D Division
Winners David Thill / Peter Arment
Runners-up Larry Phillips / Delaney Pothier
E Division
Winners Victoria Scott / Bill Green
Runners-up Kathy Minevitz / Sewall Hodges
Special thanks to all the sponsors for providing the prize fund, Ryan Carey for streaming the event so well, Kathy Minevitz and Sewall Hodges for proving and running the Thursday night party. Delaney Pothier, Pete Dickinson Shirley Freitag and Jake Faulise for bartending, set up and breakdown.
