6 minute read
Muthaiga Sports Round-Up
Ladies vs Gents and Barefoot Bowls BBQ 2020
The last challenge of a rather disruptive year for Lawn Bowls at the Club, was the Annual Ladies vs Gents competition which was held in December 2020. Seeing out the year in triumph, the Ladies beat the Gents convincingly for the second year running… but there was an acute scarcity of gentlemen bowlers on the day!
Advertisement
Following the Ladies vs Gents competition, we all enjoyed our third Barefoot Bowls BBQ to promote the game among younger members. With a run on the Pimms there was no doubt that everybody was getting into the Christmas spirit in good time.
Muthaiga Club vs Kenya Irish Society
Muthaiga Club opened the greens for the first spoon of 2021 by hosting the Kenya Irish Society (KIS) – the Guinness Toucan Trophy – kindly sponsored by Diageo/Guinness.
Captained by Maureen Burns the KIS side was notably weaker this year with a number of key bowlers absent, so a 10-shot handicap was awarded to the visitors. However, the turnout of bowlers was exceptionally good and we had four trips and one pair. All games had high scores. Muthaiga won three games and KIS two games, so Muthaiga retained the Guinness Toucan Trophy, making it three wins in a row.
The best win by a KIS trip went to Kieran Day, John Dawson and Paul Rees with a 21-shot difference. The best win by MCC went to Ollie Fowler, Peter Scholes and Rupert McClelland with an 11-shot difference.
The Spider was won by Peter Scholes and Clare Jethwa.
The Irish ambassador, Fionnuala Quinlan, graced the occasion. She is pictured below presenting Bowls Captain Gerry Cunnigham with the Guinness Toucan Trophy.
Club 2-4-2 Pairs
In February we held the annual Club 2-4-2 Pairs competition, kindly sponsored by Gail and Eric Langton.
The entry of 14 teams was divided into two leagues to play 14-end games in round-robin format. Both leagues were very competitive and in some of the games the very last bowl decided the outcome of the game.
The final was contested by the League 1 winners, Oliver Fowler and Halina Pellini, and the League 2 winners, Maureen Burns and Sheila Barker. Ollie and Halina got off to a flying start, building up an early lead which left Maureen and Sheila playing a game of catch-up. In the end, Ollie and Halina were the clear winners 22-6.
The winners of the Spider were Ollie Fowler and Sheila Barker.
From Left: Sheila Barker and Maureen Burns Runners-up in the Club Pairs, with Gail Langton (sponsor) centre.
Winners of the Club 2-4-2 Pairs Halina Pellini and Oliver Fowler
Forthcoming Bowls Events
4 MARCH AGM 6/7 MARCH Two Wood Trips 14 MARCH St. Patrick’s Day 21 MARCH Barefoot Bowls BBQ 10/11 APRIL Club Singles 22/23 MAY MCC vs. KCC (Mackenzie Shield) 29/30 MAY Club Trips 5/6 JUNE Club Pairs 20 JUNE Barefoot Bowls BBQ
We hosted our annual Handicap Tournament with a strong field of 16 players. The handicap format allows weaker players a more even footing as they start with a handicap based on their game and experience. This is a great event for players of all abilities to compete in and enjoy a fair challenge and I greatly encourage more members to participate in what has become a hugely popular annual event on the Squash calendar. Seven year-old Aaryan Bid was our youngest competitor this year and I would like to see more children joining us on the squash courts.
The tournament was played with a group stage with the winners and runners-up advancing to the quarter finals. The top four seeds proceeded to the semi finals, where Keriri Muya defeated Anders Lindgren 3-2 in a hard fought match. Kunal Bid defeated Daniel Slazpak 3-2 in the other semi final. The final was played by two men who were walking wounded by the end, with Kunal Bid of handicap zero beating Keriri Muya, playing off a handicap of minus 1, by 3 games to 0.
We held the annual Squash vs Tennis tournament at the end of February.….
We are planning to host a monthly Club Night to run concurrently with the existing Mix-ins. These will be on the last Wednesday of the month. The plan is to have ladder matches or mini tournaments on these Wednesdays, followed by drinks or a meal. I encourage as many new players to come join and try out their squash skills.
Our next tournament will be the annual Easter Cup, dates for which will be confirmed. If anyone is keen to play please come to the courts, we have three coaches/sparring partners who are available and willing for a game and to offer some coaching tips. Any interested members, please share your details so that I can add you to the MCC Squash WhatsApp group.
Kunal Bid
Squash Captain Kennedy (left) presenting the winner trophy for the Handicap Tournament to Kunal Bid with son Aaryan
Kunal Bid presenting Keriri Muya, Runner-up in the Handicap Tournament, with his trophy
We kicked-off the New Year with a Ladies’ Singles event, but disappointingly, only eight players were available for this competition. With four players competing in two Pools on a Round-Robin basis, Pamela Bitange and Amelia Richards emerged as the winners in their two respective Pools. The final between them turned out to be an extremely exciting and closely fought contest with Pamela only just winning in a final tie-break. At the end of January, we held a Ladies’ and Men’s Doubles event. The two Pools of players were separated by the central fencing, however, players from both Pools were able to meet and chat in between matches at the refreshments table!
It turned out to be a most enjoyable morning of tennis with Tessa McLellan & Anu Bhardwaj being the outright winners of the Ladies’ Pool and Ignacio Molins & Sats Machachosas, proved to be a formidable triumphant pair in the Men’s Pool. As the Australian Championships in Melbourne had been put back by two weeks owing to their players having to quarantine for a twoweek period, MCC’s “Aussie”, also had to be postponed for two weeks in order to coincide with the actual Final in Melbourne.
Unfortunately, the change of date did clash with the school’s half-term break and so MCC’s event only attracted some twelve players this year. Nevertheless, with just six pairs competing against each other in one Pool, a great morning of competitive tennis unfolded. The overall winning pair for the morning was Bitange Ndemo & Alex Lehmberg closely followed by runners-up, Johnny Ponsonby & Naomi Ndolo. Winners of the MCC Australian Championships from left - Alex Lehmberg, John Goodwin (Tennis Captain) & Bitange Ndemo. Runners-Up of the MCC Australian Championships from left - Naomi Ndolo & Johnny Ponsonby
Forthcoming Tennis Events
SUNDAY 14 MARCH “Matata Trophy” – Mixed Doubles
SUNDAY 25 APRIL “Les Grands Chats” – Mixed Doubles (55+ players)
The annual 'Tennis vs Squash’ competition, which has been running for some twenty-five years or so, was hammered out again in February. The challenge involves both sections playing each other at Tennis and Squash. This year the Tennis Team convincingly beat the Squash Team at tennis by 10/2, however, even more convincing was the defeat of the Tennis Team by the Squash Team at Squash by 12/0. Nevertheless, it was a great morning of sport, which was followed by a combined team lunch at Pinks.
