Ice stopped the final set of the Ladies Winter Cup second round tie between Hockley and Wickford.

But Wickford had already caught a cold as they had lost too many sets for it to matter.

Pat Townsley and Nicola Edwards set up the win by beating Hockley pair Kathy Abbott and Isobel Crawford 6-2 6-3 in the first rubber.

Wickford's Claire Bullman and Nicky Thaine won their first set against pat Bladon and Ilean Eley 6-3.

But Hockley took the second set 6-1 and the match was abandoned with the third set standing at 6-5 in Wickford's favour.

Kent Elms progressed to the semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over Hadleigh Park in another Cup tie that was affected by ice.

With Hadleigh's courts slippery, the game was switched to Kent Elms, where Marilyn Sharples and Brenda Lincoln won the first rubber 6-3 6-1 against Hadleigh's Linda Bowler and Margaret Gabe.

Sheelagh Mayhead and Pam Cole gave Park some hope by winning their first set 6-4, but Mandy White and Gail Webster came back to win the other two sets 6-4 6-1.

Invicta went out of the Cup without playing a game. They had a bye in the first round and were due to face Rayleigh in the second round.

But they were unable to raise a team for the tie and Rayleigh - Nicky Savage, Judy Barham, Lesley Moores and Sharon Scarfe - were awarded the walkover.

Leigh saw off Thorpe Bay with a 3-1 win which mirrored the other second round games.

Stephanie Haddrell and Sophie Ayling convincingly won their rubber 6-1 6-0 against Bay's Judith Bremner and Louise Bremner.

Like the other games the opposition bounced back in the first set of the second rubber and this time it was Elizabeth Hoare and Margaret Tubbs who won.

They took the set 6-4 against Wendy Thrale and Jo Hancock, but the Leigh pair won the second set 7-5 to prevent Thorpe Bay from winning.

The semi-finals see Hockley host Leigh and Rayleigh travel to Kent Elms during the second week of March.

Melanie is top of the ratings

Basildon tennis player Melanie Hall will be serving up treats in the kitchen as well as on court after winning a national competition.

The 16-year-old from Langdon Hills received a trophy and a microwave oven after defeating Hertfordshire's Stephanie Chu in the Clearview Christmas Whirlpool LTA Winter Series Ratings Tournament.

Melanie, a sixth former at Billericay School, was one of more than 100 players from as far as Australia, Cornwall, Hampshire and Sussex who competed in the tournament at Little Warley's Clearview Tennis Centre.

She was presented with her prize by Brentwood and Ongar MP Eric Pickles.

"My congratulations go to Melanie on her achievements and the high standard of tennis she played to win this trophy," said Mr Pickles.

Melanie plays her tennis at Clearview, as does Essex County player Gavin Bradford, 25, from Upminster, who won the men's tournament and has been a coach at Clearview for six years.

Jonathan Knight and Tom Appleby defeated Barry Page and Blair Kiernander 2-1 to take the men's doubles honours at the Thorpe Bay Tennis Club winter handicap finals.

The ladies' doubles was won by Tricia Bancroft and Sally Margerison. They beat Pam Metcalf and Rosie Wright two sets to nil.

Tricia also came up trumps when she won the mixed doubles partnering Mike Gray. They defeated Chris Porter and Elaine Beverley in two straight sets.

Westcliff Lawn drew 2-2 when they played Gidea Park in Division One of the Essex Winter League.

Lawn were represented by Steve Wynn, Roger Peters, Bryan Rivers and Dave Lamb, while Julian Lewis, Richard Stephens, Cary Willson and Andy Lawson played for Gidea Park.

Westcliff Lawn's ladies third team travelled to Chelmsford to play Grove and came away with a 2-2 draw.

Lesley Pitt, Nicola Hopkins, Sarah O'Sullivan and Fiona Fisk made up the Lawn team.

Recipe for success - Melanie Hall receives her microwave from Eric Pickles (left) and Clearview owner John Tucker

Hard and Leigh secure semi-final spots

Westcliff Hard and Leigh are the first teams to book their places in the semi-finals of the Men's Winter Cup.

Westcliff got home advantage for the game against Leigh after defeating Kent Elms 3-1 in the second round.

Pat Taylor and Terry Savage took the early advantage for Kent Elms by winning the first set 7-6, but opponents Darren Bertola and Bernard Horwood squared things in the second set with a 6-2 win.

Dave Bishop and Simon Sharp ensured the Hardcourts went through by defeating Bryan Bone and Graham Evans 6-1 6-1.

Leigh and Hockley's game was a closely-fought affair which eventually saw Leigh win 3-2.

Rob Hunter and Eddie Lamb got things off to a fine start with a 6-4 6-4 win over Hockley's John Stokes and Paul Fountain.

Then Leigh's Paul Ward and Ben Oakes faced a three-set thriller against Roy Bickell and Jan Thorpe.

Ward and Oakes took the first set 6-4 and Bickell and Thorpe won the others 6-1 7-5.

The other semi-final will see either Invicta or Westcliff Lawn play Thorpe Bay or Hadleigh Park.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.