Prince's Cup
It was appropriate that the Prince’s Cup, in memory of Keyvan Farmanfarmai, should start on the day that he passed away three years ago. Eight pairs played in two boxes on the Saturday. Box 1 winners were the Chairperson and Mat Fattorini who beat Anthony Parmiter and Mark Savage 6/3 and surprisingly Club Champion Tom Bomford and Norman Hyde 6/1. Vice Chairperson Bruce Paxton and David Phillips made light work of Hamilton and Fattorini and Parmiter and Savage but lost to Bomford and Hyde who nonetheless were pipped at the post for the runners up spot on game difference despite 2 wins.
Two classic comments by Keith Beechener: 1. Click on the Instagram link below (many thanks to Keith for an excellent array of photos to browse through!)- or at the bottom of the home page of the MMTCC website- don’t miss it and 2. When Norman claimed to have been paid £250 to give a talk about motor cycling, the ascerbic Beechener pointed out that he would happily have offered to pay £300 to prevent him from speaking!
Lunch was then taken – a magnificent Persian repast provided by Marilyn Farmanfarmai ably supported by her friend Carole. Chicken cooked the Persian way is superb and was Keyvan’s great speciality.
Post prandial Box 2 saw the Scottish pair of Alan Moug and Mark Maclure ghost past Beechener and Tony Branfield, and Keyvan’s son Jon and Johnnie Cook but struggled to defeat David Prophet, who was doing an impression of an Old Testament ..hem… prophet and John Franklin. Prophet and Franklin squeaked into the runners up slot, but Branfield and Beechener failed to progress to Sunday, a failure no doubt with Norman’s blessing.
The first semi was a close affair although Hamilton and Fattorini were steady enough to pull through 8/6 against OT Prophet and Franklin. In the other semi the Scottish play was too murderous for Paxton and Phillips who succumbed 3/8.
The Final was an excellent spectacle. Hamilton and Fattorini roared off to a 6/1 start with the Scottish play a ghostly shadow of its former self. But the Scots settled to their task and clawed back to 6/6 and at 40/40 Maclure, bless him, double faulted! O woe, hubble, bubble toil and trouble, is this a dagger I see before me?? … but Moug served an excellent rail road game to Fats to take the score to a nerve tingling 7/7. At 40/15 up Maclure boasted a Hamilton serve from under the winning gallery into the dedans with an unclassical shot that would not have impressed the Persian Prince! By this stage the Chairperson was beyond any teapot impersonations but he and Mat could at least reflect on three finals this summer and one win! Mark pointed out that his first tournament was the Prince’s Cup three years ago and was sure that he would have enjoyed the Prince’s company (if only for some easy money from endless games of spoof!)
So an excellent end to a wonderful weekend of tennis, camaraderie and gourmet cuisine watched from the bar by the ghosts of Keyvan and David Bryant who were no doubt arguing about something totally inconsequential. It was grand that Jon Farmanfarmai played in the tournament carrying his father’s great friend Jonnie Cook as best he could and that Sara’s Ben behaved immaculately throughout the weekend and showed a great eye for a ball and superior mobility to his grandfather! Marilyn thanked us for a great weekend in Keyvan’s memory.
