The Big 4 Bungalow Park Seniors Tennis Tournament held on February 19, 20 and 21 was a success for the Milton-Ulladulla District Tennis Association Inc. and the many local businesses which benefited from the large number of people attending the tournament.
This year we had 200 competitors participating in seven events with a large number coming from the ACT and Sydney, including the president, treasurer and secretary of Tennis Seniors NSW.
Several players travelled from Forster, Harden and Shoalhaven in the north and from Batemans Bay and Narooma in the south.
The fun started on an extremely hot Friday with the gruelling Ladies and Men’s Singles events. There were nine ladies and 29 men who entered the singles events.
Saturday saw the Ladies and Men’s Age Doubles played across 14 courts in the morning, as well as the Combined Age Ladies and Men’s Mixed Doubles played in the afternoon.
The day was cooler with a number of light showers, but by late afternoon play needed to be suspended as the rain had set in. Most groups did not finish their round robin.
Consequently names were ‘drawn out of a hat’ to determine the winners and runners-up for the Combined Age Ladies and Men’s Mixed Doubles events.
Sunday saw a late start as the super soakers did their job to help dry out the courts and by 10am the courts were ready for play. The Combined Age Ladies and Men’s Age Doubles were played with a few changes due to some injuries from the previous day.
While the majority of the players are from out of the area, there were a few locals who were invited to help make up the numbers to fill events and provide a partner for a visitor. Our most successful local was our new coach Kevin Murphy who has well and truly proven his ability on the court by winning each of the events he entered - the men’s singles, men’s age doubles and men’s combined age doubles.
Other locals included, Deb Loves and Kerri Cassidy in the Ladies Combined Age Doubles who were runners-up in the 95-age group. Herb Chee was runner-up in the Men’s Age Doubles, 65/70 age group, with John Whittaker and runner-up in the Combined Age Mixed Doubles with May Howard in the 120/130 (section 1) age group. Lara Bennett and Barry Thompson were winners in the Combined Age Mixed Doubles in the 120/130/140 age group. Doug Parker, who partnered with Sydney’s Marianne Lions, were also winners in the Combined Age Mixed Doubles in the 12/130 (section 2) age group. Paul Woodcock whose partner was from Canberra won the Men’s Combined Age Doubles event for the 130/140 age group.
Continued in sports notes.
