Maiden title for Montagu Evans
The Annual Office and Industrial Agents tennis tournament took place today at the David Lloyd Club in Bushey, Hertfordshire. Despite threatening clouds all day, the rain stayed away as 22 pairings battled it out for the coveted silverware.
All four round robin groups were keenly contested and saw some fine competitive tennis. In particular, Group A saw a titanic battle in the quest for semi-final places which saw the teams from Cushman & Wakefield/Campbell Gordon and last year's trophy winners, Savills, tied at the top of the group on 19 points. With the number of matches won and the match between the two teams also tied, it was left to a tie break to decide who would progress. In the end, the Cushman Wakefield/Campbell Gordon pairing of Charles Dady and Charlie Benn just edged it over the Savills pair of Ed Gee and Duncan Knight.
The plate semi-finals included some of the strongest pairings we have seen in recent years, with M1 Agency (Andy Hall and Myles Wilcox-Smith) losing out 6-1 to Hughes Ellard (Tim Clark and Russell Mogridge). In the other plate semi-final, Savills (Ed Gee and Duncan Knight) overcame some late wobbles and a spirited fightback from the Vail Williams/Maugham Williams team (Alex Gauntlett and Chris Mitchell) to win through 7-6 (8-6 in the tie break). The plate final again saw a slow start from the Savills team but their class and power shone through in the end running out 6-4 winners over the valiant Hughes Ellard team.
In the main competition semi finals, Cushman & Wakefield / Campbell Gordon (Charles Dady and Charlie Benn) defeated the strong Jones Lang LaSalle pairing (Ben Gelder and David McMillan) 6-4, with some fine serving and attacking play in very windy conditions. On the other side of the draw, Montagu Evans (Johnny Goldstone and Rob Wallace) defeated the more experienced pair from Madlins / Altus (Andy Rogers and William Taylor) 6-3. The final was played in front of an enthusiastic crowd on the terrrace, and in the end the Montagu Evans team just got the better of the tricky conditions to defeat Cushman and Wakefield / Campbell Gordon 6-4, to win their maiden title in this event.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to our sponsors, Colliers International, and to everyone who attended the day. Special mention must go to Jim London (London Clancy) and Malcolm McPhail (Lamron) who were recognised at the prize presentation for their unstinting support of the event over the past 20+years! We look forward to seeing you all again in 2018.
