Gold in World Titles - Tennis Seniors Australia

TENNIS SENIORS ACT INC
PREFACE
VETSET is the newsletter of Tennis Seniors ACT Incorporated. However the
views expressed in the newsletter are not
necessarily those of the committee.
SPRING ISSUE
SEPTEMBER 2015
Gold in World Titles
Membership fees for 2015/16 were due
on 1 July - only $20. A membership
form can be found on the website.
The 2015/16 Committee comprises:
President
Pat Moloney (6262 3727)
Vice President
Graham Smith (6161 5352)
Secretary
Gail Jones (6254 4240)
Treasurer
Peter Breugelmans (6258 4261)
Asst Secretary
Kerry Scarlett (6291 5233)
Committee
John Greenup (6254 5263)
Colin Lyons (0434 531 449)
Barbara McCluskey (6241 4402)
Warren Muller (6231 0825)
Website: www.tennisseniors.org.au/act
Inside
Page
President’s 2014/15 Report
2
Shepparton 2016
3
80th Birthday Lunch
3
Membership Fees Due
3
Upgrade of Tournaments
3
My Story of France
4
Christmas Dinner
4
AGM
4
Welcome to New Members
4
Memories of France
5
Autumn/Spring Twilight Doubles
5
The Champagne World Titles
6
The World Titles and Europe
7
Champagne, Roland Garros, Cruise 8
Tributes
9
Treasurer’s 2014/15 Report
9
Sunday Round Robin Tournaments 10
Forster
10
Senior Tennis Tournaments
11-12
2015/16 ACT Calendar
12
Country/Interstate Calendar
12
Australian Team Closing Dates
12
A New Generation
12
Colin Holgate started the ball rolling
for the ACT when he was part of the
winning Australian Von Cramm Cup
(60+) team - from left to right above,
Wayne Pascoe, Andrew Rae, Michael
Collins and Colin.
Ros Balodis then followed it up in the
Individuals winning the 55+ womens
singles and the 55+ womens doubles
with Leanne Swaysland from NSW picture to right. This added to the
silver medal from the Teams.
The Seniors World Team Championships were held in La Baule, France
from 8-13 June and followed by the
Individual competition taking place
also in La Baule from 14-20 June.
Canberra had 4 players in the teams
events, Ros Balodis, May Howard,
Narelle Raftery and Colin Holgate.
The Von Cramm Cup team won the
gold medal defeating the USA team 3
-0 in the final. The Australian team
had defeated a strong French team 2-1
and a German team 2-1 to reach the
final.
The Maureen Connelly Cup team (55+)
of Ros (as captain), Wanda Howes,
Leanne Swaysland and Fiona Walker
finished with a silver medal after losing
the final 2-1 to a strong French team.
The Australian team had caused an upset in the semi-final defeating a powerful USA team seeded one 2-1. (cont on
page 3)
Closing date for December Vetset
Monday 2 November 2015
[email protected]
PRESIDENT’S 2014/15 REPORT by Pat Moloney
2014/15 was a big year with the main
focus being on hosting the Australian
Championships at the newly redeveloped tennis centre at Lyneham. Thanks
to John Stark and his Championship
Committee the Championships were
considered a success. TSACT received
favourable comments and appreciation
for the organisation and running of the
championships. An added bonus to this
was TSACT came third in the overall
Teams Trophy competition.
From a courtside viewpoint it was interesting watching the redevelopment of
Lyneham into a world class tennis centre. I would like to thank TACT for ensuring the centre was completed in time
for the Championships.
Our membership to 30 June totals 174
which includes 2 VetSet subscribers
and 3 life members. This is up from
last year and mainly resulting from the
recommencement of the twilight competition which was suspended due to
the redevelopment of Lyneham.
Overall 2014/15 has been a successful
year for TSACT with our teams and for
a number of our members.
As mentioned above the ACT came
third in the Australian Teams Trophy.
A good effort from our twelve teams
and my congratulations goes to all those
players. In the second week in the individual championships, ACT seniors
won 4 events and were runner up in another 4 events. At the teams presentation night Gail Jones was awarded
TSA's 2014 Administrator of the Year.
Remarkable performances from our
ACT players and representatives.
35+ Tennis Senior’ which included
both men and women. This was announced and presented at a gala presentation night in Melbourne. A great
achievement and my congratulations
go to Ros.
ACT players have also successfully
competed in our local ITF Easter tournament and the various interstate ITF
tournaments held over the year. Details of these successes have been covered in the various editions of VetSet.
Members of TSACT also hold positions on TSA committees. At TSA's
last AGM in Canberra Ros Balodis
and Colin Holgate were re-elected as
Australian Selectors. Their duties
also include doing the seedings for the
main ITF Category tournaments.
Enid Besant-Ryan was re-elected as
Vice President, Peter Breugelmans
was re-appointed as TSA's Public Officer and I was re-elected as Secretary.
All these representations and wins are
seen as important as they maintain a
high profile for TSACT with the major states and other sports.
Our scheduled list of events for the
year was completed with satisfying
degrees of success. These included
the ACT Open Seniors Championships; Sunday Round Robins; Twilight Competition and two dinners.
The Seniors Residents Championships
were held in conjunction with the
ACT Resident Championships and
again proved successful with 40 entries in the seniors events.
On the international scene Narelle
Raftery, Ros Balodis, May Howard,
Colin Holgate and Neville Rodwell represented Australia at the ITF Seniors
World Team Championships. Colin
was part of the winning Von Cramm
Cup team while Ros captained her team
to second place. Ros followed this up
in the second week by becoming the
world champion in the womens 55 singles and doubles. Tennis Seniors ACT
continues to support ACT representative’s chosen in Australian teams and
my congratulations go to Narelle, Ros,
May, Colin, and Neville.
The Easter Championships, after 13
years at Weston Creek, returned to
Lyneham as a Claycourt Championships. The tournament attracted 130
entries which was similar to last year
but this year was of a higher standard.
The tournament was a success with
the new courts being the winner. The
favourable comments received should
result in an increase in numbers for
next year. The tournament is essentially now in two groups – the IPIN
group and the non-IPIN group. The
trend over the last few years is that
our local players tend to play the nonIPIN events.
In December Ros Balodis won, for the
second time, the prestigious Australian
Tennis Award for ‘Most Outstanding
The Twilight competition which was
put on hold last year due to the rede-
velopment of Lyneham recommenced
in February and was favourably received even though only one round was
possible.
Ten Sunday round robins were successfully held over the year in various
weather conditions and with various
numbers at Weston Creek and Belconnen Tennis Clubs.
At the Christmas dinner our two major
awards were presented. Ros Balodis
won the Frank Thornton award for
achieving the most notable tennis success over the past year, and Julie Howe
won the George Henshilwood Award
for making a significant contribution to
ACT Seniors over the past 20 years.
Life membership of TSACT was also
given to Bob Thornton one of the
founding members and for his significant contribution over the years.
The Presidents of the State and Territory associations met with the Executive of Tennis Seniors Australia twice
over this last year. Among the items
under discussion were the Australian
Championships in Canberra and the upcoming 2016 Championships in
Shepparton, Australian Championships
survey, Service Agreements, generating
new members, membership fees, Player
Participation levy, tournament schedule,
TSA's Business Plan, ITF trends and requirements with respect to tournaments
and IPINs and discussions between
TSA and TA. The details, implications
and progress of these issues have been
covered in past VetSets and will continue to be covered in future VetSets.
Another item of interest this year was
the addition of colour into Vetset. This
has greatly enhanced the newsletter and
has been well received.
While this year we celebrated two
OBE’s (over bloody eighty) we also
sadly saw the passing of nine well
known identities, founders and supporters of Tennis Seniors ACT. Five of
these members were over 90, the others
in their 70s and 80s. Truly seniors.
Finally I would like to thank all members of the committee for their support
and contribution during 2014/15. The
good work they all put in enables for
the successful running of Tennis Seniors ACT. 2015/16 will continue to see
change requiring much work and a full
committee to handle it.
Page 2
Shepparton 2016
The 2016 Australian Seniors Teams
Carnival and Individual Championships
will be held in Shepparton from 10-22
January. The Teams Carnival will have
the Opening Ceremony on Sunday 10
January with matches from 11-15 January. The Individual Championships
will run from 17-22 January.
Nomination forms for the ACT teams
have been sent to members. If you did
not receive a form, a copy is available
on our website. Nominations close on
Tuesday 29 September. If you have
any questions contact Gail Jones.
So start encouraging other players in
your age groups to think about playing
in a team. Men will be in five year age
groups (35/40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70,
75, 80) while ladies will be in ten year
age groups (35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74,
75+) to try and have more than one section in each age group so teams are of
similar standard.
Teams in all age groups will play at
least 8 matches during the teams week.
The fee remains at $120 per player.
All players in ACT teams will be required to wear the latest ACT Seniors
uniform. The uniform contact is Peter
Breugelmans on 62584261.
The main host venue will be the
Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club boasting
22 top quality grass courts. It is adjacent to the recently developed Victoria
Park Lake and alongside the Goulburn
River and within walking distance of
many motels, hotels, apartments, caravan parks and Shepparton’s CBD.
The secondary venue for the Teams
Carnival will be the Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, located within 10
minutes of the Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club. 40 grass courts will be set
up on the sports ovals which have
recently undergone major reconstruction.
Accommodation is still available.
Graham Smith has pre-booked some
motel rooms. There is one twin room
and 5 double (queen size beds) rooms
left at
Paradise Lakes Motel
7685 Goulburn Valley Highway
Shepparton South (Kialla) 3631
Twin
Double
$129 per room per night
$109 per room per night
Contact Graham Smith on 6161 5352
or email [email protected].
This a three and a half star Golden
Chain motel with a guest laundry, free
WiFi, free Austar, a swimming pool
and a large BBQ area.
Otherwise information on accommodation can be found at
www.discovershepparton.com.au.
The closing date for the Individual
Championships is not yet available.
Gold in World Titles (cont from page 1)
Narelle was a member of the Maria
Esther Beuno Cup team (50+), which
finished 7th out of 21 teams. May was a
member of the Alice Marble Cup team
(60+) which finished 8th out of 14
teams. Both teams had credible performances throughout the week.
The mens Fred Perry Cup team (50+)
finished 5th out of 25 teams and the
Austria Cup team (55+) finished 6th out
of 23 teams. Again excellent efforts.
Overall, USA won three cups and Australia, France and Italy winning one
each.
All our 4 representatives played in the
Individual Events. Ros was most successful winning gold in the 55+womens
singles and the 55+ womens doubles
with Leanne Swaysland. This follows
their third 50+ doubles title in 2014.
Colin reached the semi-finals of the
60+ mixed doubles with Sara Goddard from Sydney.
In total 7 Australian players won 8
gold medallions and one won a silver
medallion in the Individual events.
Glenn Busby, Leanne Scott, Eddie
Myers, Lyn Mortimer (with Carolyn
Nichols, USA), Ros Balodis (2),
Leanne Swaysland, and Brenda Foster
(with Ingrid Gutmann-Resch, Aut)
won gold medals. Wanda Howes
(with Paul 'Blue' Smith, USA) had to
be content with a silver medal.
Wanda, Sara Goddard and Bruce Ferguson won their respective Consolation Singles.
See the players stories on pages 4-7.
80th Birthday
Lunch
12.30pm
Sunday
27 September
SOUTHERN CROSS
CLUB WESTS
Catchpole St, Macquarie
Celebrate David Burke’s
and Richard Parker’s
OBEs
Cost $50.00
Names in by
Sunday 20 September
to
Gail Jones
ph 6254 4240 or email
[email protected]
Upgrade for Australian
and ACT Tournaments
The ITF has upgraded the Australian
Championships at Shepparton in January 2016 from ITF 1 to a Grade A tournament. More detail will be forthcoming from the ITF as to the international
ranking points that will be on offer, but
they will certainly be higher than those
for an ITF1. This will actually be the
first A grade Seniors event to be played
in the world.
The ITF has also advised the TSA Executive that the ACT Championships at
Easter has been upgraded from an ITF3
to an ITF2 for 2016. This will mean
that players will receive more international ranking points which in turn
should attract more players.
Membership Fees were
due 1 July.
The fee remains at $20.
Membership Form is available
on our website
at
www.tennisseniors.org.au/act
Page 3
My Story of France by Narelle Raftery
I got the option to provide a report on
my trip to La Baule, France for the
World Championships 2015. I did seriously think that it was a lot of work to
remind myself of it. However, I then
thought, 18 months ago, it was not necessarily an option I would have possibly
had to take up or opt out on. So here it
is.
It was a different scene on the travel for
me. I was travelling alone; it was the
first long haul trip following surgery
and treatment; and I had all the worst
scenarios rolling around in my head. I
made sure I saw all my family before I
left just in case one of those worst scenarios came to fruition.
Anyway apart from getting caught up in
the rolling train strikes in France and
having to catch 4 trains, not getting my
ride from the station to the Hotel and
not speaking a word of French, after 36
hours I arrived at my Hotel! Luckily, I
got a nice room with a balcony overlooking the Marketplace.
Teams week: I was playing number 1
in the Maria Esther Bueno Cup Team
(Dianne Cassel, Fiona Medina, Leanne
Scott and me). We were fortunate to
get a good pool draw, but also knew
France was waiting for us when we got
through the pool matches. The Turkish
team and Estonian teams were lovely
people and could quite easily have
given us a much harder time. But we
got through both of them by winning
the two singles in each tie.
Viva Le France! Well a huge step up
from our pool matches straight into the
ocean! Di lost her singles and so it was
up to me to keep the tie alive.
I felt pretty good and played really well
Sunday Round Robin
Tournament
9.15am for 9.30am
on
Sunday 13 September
at
Weston Creek Tennis Club
Entry fee is $10.00
Entries to Warren Muller on
0407 916 868 or
[email protected].
in the first set and won it 6-4. I don’t
handle rest breaks particularly well
now (well probably never did), and
found it hard to get my intensity back
to the level, after they bagged and
watered the courts. I lost the second
and third sets. The only consolation
was that I was on the offensive the
whole time and was seriously, just
missing the lines that would have put
the match on my plate. However, my
opposition was fighter, fit as! And a
very good player to boot. So we lost
to the French. That relegated us to the
playoffs for 5th-7th spots.
We played Argentina for 5th spot. Di
lost the first match and again I had to
win to keep us alive. I went out their
playing quite well, made 5-2 up in the
first, then decided to go on walk
about. Lost the first set in a tie
breaker, how ridiculous was that.
Regrouped myself and won the next
two sets pretty comfortably. A bit
tired at the end of that. Got enough
time to have a cup of tea and then
went onto play the live doubles tie.
Di and I teamed up. It was a tough
match, we lost the first set 7-6 and
then went onto to even the match with
a 7-5 win. However, by the time I got
to the third my tank was running
pretty low. However, the Argentineans hung in there and won the third 63. We ended up 7th out of the 21
teams. Not a bad effort.
The next week was the individuals
and probably not worth writing about.
Well I don’t want to write about
it.
Thanks everyone in the Tennis community particularly TSACT for your
support.
AGM
The Tennis Seniors ACT AGM was
held on Wednesday 19 August. Ten
members attended. The President's
Annual Report (see page 2) and the
Treasurer's Annual Report and Draft
Budget for 2015/16 (see page 9) were
tabled.
The Committee was reelected with the exception of Mary
Gormly and Leonie Ainsworth both
not standing again. Mary had been on
the committee for 14 years and
Leonie 4 years. Barbara McCluskey
has joined the committee.
Christmas Dinner
7.00 for 7.30pm
Saturday 5 December
YOWANI COUNTRY
CLUB
455 Northbourne Ave,
Lyneham
Pre-dinner drinks will be
available from 7.00pm
Lucky door prizes
Come and Celebrate
$45 per person
Presentation of
the Frank Thornton Player of
the Year
and
George Henshilwood Award
Get your tables together
(8-10 per table)
Contact Graham Smith
ph 61615352
or email
[email protected]
Names and any dietary requests to Graham by
Friday 27 November
Tennis Seniors ACT
welcomes
the following new members:
David Kelly
Zoltan Lukacs
Svetlana Sharapa
Peter Terwee
Page 4
Memories of France by May Howard
It was an exciting two weeks of my life
to be participating as part of the Australian Women's 60's team at the World
Senior Tennis Championships in La
Baule, a four hour train trip southwest
of Paris on the coast, from 7-13 June.
The players in my team were from left
to right Lesley Walton (Qld), May, Sara
Goddard (NSW) and Sue Walter (Vic).
I was fortunate to spend some time in
Hungary in the days just prior to travelling to La Baule in a hope to adjust to
the time zone of Europe after the daunting 38 hours of travel from Canberra.
My husband, John had organised a
work visit to Budapest and was delivering a presentation there. The beautiful
city straddles the Danube River and was
exceptionally pleasant to visit for a few
days especially when the climate at that
time of year was so opposite the minus
degrees of mornings back in Canberra.
The standard of tennis took me a bit by
surprise. We were placed in a pool with
USA, who were the ultimate winners of
our age division and a strong team from
Argentina. USA demonstrated their
dominance on the first day of the competition playing Argentina who were
only able to take two games off USA
out of the three matches.
We were beaten by USA the following
day but were most relieved when our
number 2 singles player, Lesley Walton
secured two games in her first set. Lesley and Sue never gave up in their singles and looked competitive despite
playing such strong opponents and Sara
and I enjoyed the tussle of our doubles;
in fact felt it possible to take the second
set, but they closed us out 6-3.
It was a close contest the following day
when we played Argentina and we
were very happy to beat them 2-1.
This secured a position between 5th-8th
out of the 14 countries in the competition.
Unfortunately we lost to a formidable
German team and a strong South African team, thus ended in 8th spot. But
the experience of playing at such a
level and adapting to conditions of red
clay courts and swirling winds were
invaluable. We had a team practice
each day, even the first day when we
had a bye. It was most worthwhile as
we practiced certain routines and
gained confidence from the enthusiasm of our team members.
I roomed with Sara Goddard, my doubles partner, the first week and our
team generally dined together. We
hired bikes to get back and forth to Le
Sporting tennis complex on one day
as it was difficult to catch the organised buses between the four tennis
venues and appointed hotel accommodation. Apart from a few close calls
with the French traffic rules and negotiating the strong gusts of wind threatening to turf me off the bike (I was
certainly out of practice in this regard)
the exercise and benefit of having our
own transport was worth it.
Lesley's husband Jim and Sue Walter's husband John were our great supporters, encouraging and celebrating
our tennis with us the whole week.
Sue was an excellent captain and we
were extremely proud to have the
honour of representative tennis
The second week, which was the individual championships, was also a
great thrill. I played with Rosemary
Davis from Melbourne in the doubles
and we had one great win in the first
round before meeting Lyn Mortimer
(Aus) and Carolyn Nichols (USA) in
round 2. We were seriously ahead in
every game in the first set but they
still beat us, champions that they are.
They were the eventual winners of the
event so we can say we were beaten
by world champions.
Similarly, my Estonian partner, Vello
and I were beaten by world champions from France in the Mixed. In the
singles, I encountered some excellent
opponents and did manage a win or
two in the consolation plate (one albeit a walkover) until a Dutchwomen,
Autumn/Spring
Twilight Doubles
Pennant
5.00-7.30pm
Monday 26 October
2015 to 21 March 2016 At Canberra Tennis
Centre, Lyneham
Break for Christmas/
New Year/January.
Entries close on Friday 9
October 2015.
Ball fees will remain at
$10.00 each week,
All players will need to
be members of TSACT.
Names (preferably as
pairs) and any queries to
Graham Smith on
61615352 or email
[email protected].
au.
Matches will need to
commence at 5pm sharp
as play will finish at
7.30pm sharp.
Any hit ups will need to
be before 5.00pm.
Players need to be committed to the Twilight
pennant and not commit
to any other Monday
night pennants.
taller than me, finished me off.
Now, back in Canberra and freezing at
this time of year, I can still remember
the warmth on my face and the great
people I met or got to know better during the time away.
Many thanks to Tennis Australia for the
excellent opportunity and also to Tennis
Seniors ACT for their support and well
wishes. It was an experience I will always cherish.
Page 5
The Champagne World Titles by Ros and Juris Balodis
We set out for France on Wednesday 3
June and had an uneventful plane journey to Paris and then to Nantes. In
Nantes we were picked up efficiently
by the local volunteers and bussed to
our hotel in La Baule on the north side
of the Bay of Biscay.
The roads around La Baule are often
awesomely narrow with tight corners
and what with cars also parked on those
narrow roads, the drivers of buses, public and private, do wonderfully well.
Our Australian team played in the
women's 55s teams (Maureen Connolly
Cup), the format of the matches is two
singles then a doubles. Our team as
shown in the photo with their silver
medals was Wanda Howes No 2 singles, Leanne Swaysland No 4 and Fiona
Walker No 3 (Fiona and Leanne also
played doubles together when we won
the first two singles), and Ros Balodis
No 1 singles.
We had the Opening Ceremony with
champagne, the Official Dinner with
champagne, the finish of the final of the
teams with champagne, and the Presentation Ceremony with champagne.
[Editor’s note: the wife is very envious]
Our Cup was played on clay at the Ninon Club in nearby Pornichet. In the
round robin stage we beat Switzerland 3
-0, Turkey 3-0 and Germany 3-0, which
put us into the semi-final.
and was very ready to win for France.
She came out determined to win
quickly and did just that, hitting dozens of memorable winners for a 6-0, 6
-2 win. Catherine put in so much
effort that she damaged her left thigh
stretching for shots during the first
set, received medical attention three
times but kept going to win as quickly
as she could manage. Ros played
very well but Catherine was too good
on the day.
Fiona and Leanne won the doubles so
we lost 2-1 and came away with the
silver medal. We were consoled by
the Ninon Pornichet volunteers who
plied the finalists and spectators with
some very fine champagne and strawberries.
We very much enjoyed our stay at the
Hotel La Concorde in La Baule. The
proprietors were friendly and helpful,
our room had a view to the ocean and
the breakfast has converted us to
croissants and baguettes.
The fruit and bread in La Baule was
very fine. The bakers and patisseries
have a wonderful range of delicious
cakes for 2 to 3 euros. They would
cost much more than $5 in Australia.
Our local baker put the cakes into
beautiful boxes with pictures of cherries and butterflies and solid and dripping chocolate, a delight.
The closing ceremony followed shortly
with speeches and medals and (surprise)
champagne.
After the tennis we caught the TGV fast
train to Paris and had a very enjoyable
four days exploring the gardens and
museums and galleries. We visited
many of the iconic attractions, including the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, and the
Mona Lisa.
Best of all we liked the Cluny Museum
of the Middle Ages with its amazing
Roman thermal baths frigidarium and
its glorious suite of six huge and beautiful tapestries titled 'The Lady and the
Unicorn'.
Then we went on a week's Trafalgar bus
tour in West France, and saw chateaux,
cathedrals, Mont Saint Michel (photo
below), the Bayeux tapestry, and some
of the Normandy D-Day (6 June 1944)
landing beaches and cemeteries. Our
international tourist group were mainly
Australians from around Sydney and
Melbourne.
After the Teams competition came the
Individuals competition.
In short, Ros and Leanne Swaysland
from Sydney won the 55s women's
doubles final (against Christine
French Great Britain No 1, and Susan
Wright USA No 2), 6-1, 4-6 and then
romped in a super-tiebreaker 10-2.
This followed on from their three consecutive world titles in the 50 doubles.
In the semi-final we had to play against
the USA, which reportedly had won the
W55 competition for past 8 years. We
won 2-1, losing the No 2 singles, but
winning the No 1 singles and the doubles Ros and Leanne Swaysland.
And then we played France. We lost
the No 2 singles, and then Ros played
Catherine Suire (previous record of
matches 3-1). Catherine is a former
professional player who is a delight to
watch when she has prepared for the
matches. Unfortunately this year she
had trained and played and lost weight
winner) - photo in previous column.
Ros won the first set 6-1 and then
Christine withdrew due to multiple injuries from the teams and individuals
competitions.
On the flights home we had some problems with plane delays and missed connections, but our carrier Singapore Airlines (free advertisement) put us up in a
hotel and re-booked all our connections.
Then we returned to our house and everything inside was freezing cold for
much too long before the heaters
warmed the house up.
Recycling at
Roland Garros
(page 8)
Ros made the singles final and played
Christine French (last year’s singles
Page 6
The World Titles and Europe by Colin and Kim Holgate
We left Canberra mid-afternoon on 5
June looking forward to some warmer
weather in La Baule France and to compete in the Von Cramm Cup (M60). La
Baule is a small century old seaside
town in southern Brittany with beautiful
stone buildings, cobblestone streets and
luxury hotels. It also boasts a 12 kilometre long sandy beach.
We thought we would be adventurous
and travel with Malaysian Airlines. As
expected the flight was long with delays
in Kuala Lumpur and we had a minor
problem with catching the fast train
from Paris to La Baule. We tried to
evict two old ladies who were sitting in
our seats. They were in our seats but
unfortunately our tickets were for the
previous day. After on and off loading
I looked after the luggage and Kim
went off to purchase new tickets and
subsequently we missed that train.
Finally we arrived in La Baule late afternoon on 6 June. The hotel we stayed
in (Le Concorde) was straight out of
Fawlty Towers complete with Basil
Fawlty and staff and had a slight lean to
one side. Unlike Basil, the manager
was not inept but very obliging and
helpful.
The following day was the opening
ceremony and our team practice. The
members of my 60 mens team were
Andrew Rae and Michael Collins from
Melbourne and Wayne Pascoe from
Sydney. There were 20 teams in our
competition and we were seeded No 4.
This was a bit of a surprise as Austria,
(who we had never previously lost to)
were seeded above us. The teams competition was played at 4 different venues. Our venue for the first week was
the La Baule Country Club Barrie`re.
This picturesque club was the largest of
the centres with 18 outdoor clay courts.
Play commenced on Monday 8 June
and we had two other countries in our
group Sweden and Norway. Over the
next two days we played and beat both
Sweden and Norway. Sweden were
particularly strong with their No 1 beating Andrew Rae in a wind affected
match. Wayne Pascoe our No 2 won 61 6-2. This set up a live doubles with
Andrew and Wayne winning 6-2 6-4.
Norway were also quite strong with
Andrew and Wayne both winning their
singles. Mike Collins and I lost the
dead doubles rubber 7-5 in the third set.
After winning our group we played
Germany in the quarters. Wayne got
things off to a good start winning 6-0
6-3 and Andrew with a 6-2 6-4 win
sealed the match. Mike and I lost the
doubles 6-2 in the third set. The semifinal was against the No 1 seeds
France. This was a very tough match
played at an exceptionally high standard by both teams. Wayne and Andrew were required to call on all their
experience and tenacity to win both
singles. Wayne won 7-6 6-4 and Andrew 6-4 6-2. With both Mike and I
carrying elbow and shoulder injuries
we lost the doubles 6-2 6-2.
Amsterdam however before that we did
some of our own sight-seeing.
We left France for Belgium and spent a
day visiting Ghent and Bruge. Bruge
was all we had heard it would be - its
canals, cobbled stone streets and medieval buildings. We enjoyed walking
around Brussels and then we got on the
fast train for Amsterdam.
We both loved Amsterdam with its canals, museums and of course bikes.
Here you have more chance being run
over and injured by a push bike than a
car, truck or tram.
Now for the USA who beat Brazil in
their semi-final. Again it was a high
quality final with Wayne continuing
his great form to win the first rubber 6
-4 6-4. Andrew clinched the final
with another complete display winning 6-3 6-3. Wayne and Michael
teamed up for the doubles and completed a clean sweep with a 6-2 6-3
win. It had been an enjoyable week
with good team camaraderie and it
was the first time for many years Australia had won the Von Cramm Cup.
The individual’s week for my 60 age
group was played at a smaller centre
the Garden La Baule Tennis Club .
My first singles was against the USA
No 1 player Bill Ashley. This was a
tough ask. I was happy with how I
played, losing 6-3 in the third set.
The doubles was next and with my
Victorian partner, Russell Watts we
had a close 10-5 super tie break win
against a South African pair. Luckily
we received a walkover in the next
round and that brought us up against a
strong German and Danish combination. We lost convincingly 6-2 6-0.
Sara Goddard (from Sydney) and I
fared better in the mixed doubles. We
were seeded No 5 and received a bye
first round. We had two good wins
before losing in the semi-finals to a
crafty French pair. That was the end
of two enjoyable weeks of tennis.
We joined the rest of our tour and left
Amsterdam travelling past windmills
and the flat countryside bound for Germany. We bought a cuckoo-clock in
the Black Forest which is now a constant sound in our house. We then travelled onto Lucerne. The walk in the
Swiss Alps followed by drinks on the
lake was a highlight of our trip.
After Switzerland we saw all that Venice has to offer. Then onto Rome and
Florence. The places in Italy were better than we had thought they would be.
We then pretended to be rich and famous in Monaco. The tour continued
onto Beaune and finished in Paris.
I would like to thank Tennis Seniors
ACT for their support and best wishes
and to the Coffee Has Beanz whose
friendship keeps me playing tennis.
With the tennis over it was now on to
the part of the trip Kim had been waiting for, our European experience. We
were to join our organized tour from
We saw so much that Kim wants to go
back and spend longer.
Page 7
Champagne, Roland Garros and River Cruising
by Helen and John Greenup
After leaving foggy and cold Canberra
in mid May and after several hours of
flying we arrived at Charles De Gaulle
airport. We then caught a train to Reims, 143kms east of Paris. Reims is the
unofficial capital of the Champagne
region of France.
Reims itself has a long history going
back to Roman days. Several French
kings were crowned in its gothic cathedral. However our main reason for visiting Reims was to taste and see where
Champagne is made. We had two very
pleasant days touring the region with
French Bubbles Tours visiting the various villages and towns with quaint
names like Epernay, Ay and Bouzy and
tasting numerous champagnes from mid
morning on. And a taste was a glassful.
After Reims it was onto Paris. Our rest
day was spent at the Eiffel Tower queuing and viewing. The Tower had a big
tennis ball hanging from it with Roland
Garros on it. There was also a big
screen showing the tennis with the
Tower as a back drop.
However after another 20 minute
queue we got two tickets for the first
Tuesday on the Philippe Chatrier
court. Basically all the tickets for the
two weeks including ground admission passes were sold that first day.
We later picked up another two tickets for Court No 1 for the first Monday from another website where people can sell tickets they no longer
needed. The website is endorsed by
the French Federation.
The hardest part was getting tickets in
the first place. We didn’t have any luck
in the Tennis Australia ballot. When
the seats for the public became available on the official French Open website John pressed the wrong button and
lost their bookings after waiting two
hours in a queue.
The white panama hats appeared to be
the official headwear for Centre Court
see page 9 (bottom right).
All courts were efficiently bagged, watered and lines swept after each set on
all courts by teams of baggers, sweepers
and waterers.
You then converted your e-ticket into
a real ticket as you entered Roland
Garros - the bag search, ticket printing
and face check took about 10 minutes.
Helen spent the first day ensconced
on our seats at the top of Court No1
while John chased around the courts
and the crowd to support the Australian players - almost all the Australian
players were drawn that day.
Roland Garros has the three main
courts - Philippe Chatrier, Suzanne
Lenglen and Court No1. There are
two show courts as you come through
the entrance, then Court No1 (which
by some of the names and years
etched into the concrete the first centre court) plus two more courts on the
other side. There are then another 6
courts between the two main stadium
courts and 6 more on the other side of
the Suzanne Lenglen court.
It was then onto Roland Garros to complete our own Grand Slam. Two days
of superb tennis on red clay. Two days
of petit dejeuner on the way to the
metro, a short train trip and a short walk
to the complex.
We were also intrigued by the French
fashions for the officials - from the ball
boys and girls to the people at the stadium entrances and the usherettes - see
page 9 and 12 (bottom right).
It was often a tight squeeze getting to
courts between the crowd and queues
for courts and food. John spent 45
minutes in a queue to see Nick Kyrgios’ first match.
The next day, our tickets were almost
at the top of the Philippe Chatrier
court but the view was still good both on to the court and also to the
courts behind the stand. We spent the
day there watching Petra Kvitona,
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and
Serena Williams.
The French are very avid supporters
of their players. John tried to give
Jarmila Gajdosova some support
when she was in a third set against a
French girl but was a lone voice.
Your food came in large paper carry
bags and your drinks in cups to be recycled. It cost two euros for the cup but
this was refunded if you returned your
cup - see page 6 (bottom right).
After each day at the tennis, it was the
walk back to the metro station, the train
and a meal on the way back to the hotel.
The next day, it was onto the fast train
from Paris to Amsterdam to board our
Viking Cruise down the Rhine, Main
and Danube Rivers to Bucharest. The
whole trip was very interesting. Apart
from the scenery along the river there
tours to places away from the river
which gave you a chance to see other
parts of the countries.
The 23 day cruise went through 68
locks and 9 countries - the Netherlands,
Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary,
Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.
Maximum temperatures went from the
high teens when the cruise started to the
high 30s when we finished.
We had a further 4 days in Romania
visiting Transylvania (including Dracula’s Castle) and Constanta on the
Black Sea.
We then headed home arriving a day
late after an unexpected stop in Istanbul. But that’s another story.
Page 8
Tributes
Two of our more recent members have
passed away in the last two months.
They will be sadly missed by their fellow members. Our condolences go to
their families.
These tributes are drawn from various
editions of Vetset.
Jocelyn Thompson
23 May 1956 to 17 August 2015
J o c e l y n
Thompson
passed away at
home on 17
August aged
59. A memorial gathering
will be held at
11am on Sunday 30 August
at
Canberra
North Bowling
Club,
54
McCaughey Bowling Club, Turner across the road from Turner Tennis
Club.
Jocelyn joined Tennis Seniors ACT in
2005. She was an active supporter
playing in a number of ACT teams in
the Australian Teams Carnival, the first
one in Perth in 2007 in the 50+ ladies
with Margie Fitzpatrick, Helen
Greenup, Jan Joyner, Betty Smith and
Marilyn Walter. Her last Teams Carnival was also in Perth in 2013 when she
captained a 50-59 team with Kim Holgate and 4 ladies from WA, NSW,
Queensland and Victoria - photo below.
Julie Anne Burke
20 October 1950 to 9 July 2015
Julie Burke
passed away
peacefully at
Jindalee Care
Home
on
Thursday 9
July after a
long illness.
She was aged
64. A funeral
service
for
Julie was held at at the Chapel of Norwood Park Crematorium on Tuesday
14 July.
Peter Breugelmans tabled this report
at the AGM.
Tennis Seniors ACT Inc. experienced
an improved financial performance
during the twelve months ending 30
June 2015, within its Income and Expenditure statement, reflecting a surplus of $1,423. In comparison to the
previous financial year 2013/14 when
there was a downturn of $520.
Julie joined Tennis Seniors ACT in
2003. She was very supportive playing in the Sunday and Easter round
robin tournaments as well as reserving
in the twilight pennant. She was also
often seen at the country tournaments
as well as our Christmas dinners.
Membership subscription for the year
reflected a good increase (possibly
due to the Australian Championships
being held in Canberra). It would
appear that all income items reflected
an increase and likewise expenditure
was also up. It was disappointing to
see that the two major tournaments,
the Australian Championships 2015
and the 45th ACT Seniors Tennis
Tournament, unfortunately, ran at a
loss.
Julie played in the ladies 50+ ACT
team in Christchurch in 2006 (back
row, Helen Greenup, Daphne Kennedy, Julie, Betty Smith; front row,
Jan Joyner, Leonie Ainsworth).
The membership subscription and
Vetset subscription fees have been
reviewed and it is not proposed to
change the existing fees 20
(Membership) and 5 (Vetset) dollars.
I have prepared a budget for 2015/16
which I present for your consideration.
In conclusion, I thank those members
that have assisted me in performing
my duties as treasurer. I hope that we
will continue to improve our financial
position in the financial year 2015/16.
She thoroughly enjoyed her tennis
both on and off the court.
She also played in several Easter Tournaments having success in a number of
the round robin events. She also supported the Sunday round robin tournaments and when work permitted some
of the country tournaments such as
Merimbula.
Treasurer’s Report
2014/15
I hereby table the Tennis Seniors ACT
Inc's audited financial statements for
2014/15 financial year.
A copy of the statements and the
budget for 2015/16 can be found on
the website.
The fashions at
Roland Garros
page 8
Page 9
Sunday Round Robins by Colin Lyons
We enjoyed great weather for our May
Round Robin at Weston Creek held on
24 May. With an unexpected addition
to our numbers on the day, we ran a 13
person, one division event thanks to
Warren Muller’s skill with compiling
formats for an odd number of players.
It was a hotly contested contest for runner up with three players all tying on
4.6 game average over the 5 sets
played. Anthony Johnston was the winner with 5.25 games, while Daniel
Tang, Leonie Southwell and Wayne
Kelly dead heated for runner-up on 4.6
games. The average score comes about
because we split the 13 players into 2
sections with some players in the 7 section group only playing 4 sets.
The day for our June tournament at
Belconnen Tennis Club held on 28 June
started with fog and a heavy cloud
cover but fortunately no rain or chilly
winds.
The sun eventually broke
through mid-morning and it was very
pleasant and sunny thereafter. It was
nice to see a new face on the day in
Svetlana Sharapa Zazo who is a friend
of the Pisas and the wife of the Italian
Ambassador.
right to left and hit plenty over from
both sides, it seemed. She took out
the 7 figure prize money with an average of 5.8 from her 5 sets, with newly
returned from holidays Czech Davis
Cupper Miroslav Pisa collecting the
runner-up cheque for half that amount
with 5.4. He clearly got in plenty of
practice with Tomas Berdych while
home in Prague.
In accord with our sponsor’s wishes,
these amounts are paid in Zimbabwe
dollars to make the winners feel even
more overjoyed.
The tournament at Weston Creek on
26 July was played under frequently
changing weather conditions with
some rain, sun and chilly winds all
part of the mix. With 17 players, we
ran two divisions. The downside of
an uneven number (9 in one group
with 5 men) is that every man had a
bye. Still it was reassuring to have
enough players to run two divisions as
it gives the opportunity to give all
players a better chance of winning
than with just one division.
We unexpectedly, at short notice had to
deal with an odd number of players but
with Warren’s man for all season’s ability to derive formats for odd and difficult numbers, we managed to play with
our 13 starters. This however meant
that the 7 men had 4 sets and a bye
while the 6 women played 5 sets.
The first division was again won by
The Rt Hon Miroslav Pisa, the occasional Mayor of Prague who clearly
had been getting in some sly practice
during his recent holiday in Europe.
He finished with an average of 5.75
from his 4 sets, closely followed by
May Howard, newly returned from
the French Open with 5.6, during her
own Tour de France.
Leonie Southwell belied any handicap
with her forced change of hand from
Marg Sellwood used her vicious slice
to good effect to easily win the 2nd
Forster
At the Forster Seniors tournament held
from 31 July to 3 August, ACT was
represented by the fit, the semi-fit and
the not-so-fit.
Leonie Ainsworth
showed remarkable staying power by
competing in six events with success in
a mixed with not-so-fit Greg Holcombe
and in a doubles with Robyn Castle.
Leonie also scored a runner-up result in
a Ladies doubles event with semi-fit
Helen Holcombe who was returning
from shoulder surgery - a credible result
against some younger hard hitters who
punished Helen's underarm serving.
Greg, still suffering from shingles
came straight from his sick bed to put
away some crunching volleys to support Leonie in their mixed win. Greg
was quoted as saying he prefers doubles to shingles. The next day the not
-so-fit and the semi-fit did well to
come third in their mixed against
players 20 years younger.
The Forster tournament was most
enjoyable and a great place to recuperate physically. All Seniors with
their aches and pains appreciated the
warm playing temperatures of 23 degrees. A pleasant break from the
Canberra freeze.
Division with 29 games, with Greg Burgess taking home the big cheque for
runner-up on 25 games.
Our August tournament was held only 3
weeks later as we decided to avoid a
clash with the Moruya Seniors tournament being held the following weekend.
While we try to avoid clashes with
other tennis events in the region which
attract our members, it is not always
possible. These clashes do affect our
numbers on the day. Hopefully, we will
attract healthy numbers for our tournaments throughout the remainder of
2015, enabling us to run two divisions
(at least).
This proved to be the case for our 16
August tournament at Belconnen Tennis Club. We enjoyed good weather
and had 16 entries, enabling us to run
two divisions. There were 5 women
and 11 men so this required us to dress
two men up as women in the 1st division and one man as a dashing female
in the 2nd division.
This sex change can produce favourable
outcomes for the men concerned as our
results demonstrated. In the second
division, Charlie Modrak returned to
our ranks after quite a break as Charlene Modrak and took out the big
money on 30 games from his 5 sets.
Second across the line was Greg Burgess on 25 games, while Doug Williamson took out the bronze on 23 games.
In the top division, Adrian Blackeby
passed the drug test after a nervous wait
and again wrested the championship
silver comfortably on 31 games from 5
sets, with Eric Barco bringing his consistent South American-honed game to
the fore with good effect to come home
second on 24 games. Wayne Kelly and
Daniel Tang were next on 23 games.
We were affected by two unfortunate
late withdrawals but Allyson Gell very
obligingly answered the call for a late
replacement to give us an even number
of players.
Our next tournament will be held at
Weston Creek on 13 September. Your
correspondent is soon to leave on an
eagerly awaited trip to Africa and
Europe so I will look forward to seeing
all our regulars again in November.
I wish you all great tennis in the meantime.
Page 10
Senior Tennis Tournament Results
Queensland
Victoria
Berri
The 2015 Tennis Seniors Queensland
Championships were held from 3-6 July
on the Gold Coast. Neville Rodwell
was the only player from Canberra to
make the journey north to play in this
tournament. Some of our other players
who often make the trip were overseas
at the time or injured. Unfortunately
Neville had to retire injured in his first
match. Neville had driven up on his
own and such was his injury he had to
send for reinforcements to get him back
to Canberra.
The 2015 Victorian Seniors Claycourt
Championships (ITF2) were successfully staged at Dingley Tennis Club
from 5-8 June. The tournament was
under the supervision of referee Ande
Hutchinson and the organizing committee lead by Graeme Heath and
assisted by Rob Hughes and Paul
Kleverlaan,
This popular Seniors teams event held
in Berri, South Australia from 16-18
May was in its 28th year. There were 95
teams (94 in 2013 and 95 in 2014) and
over 500 players, a remarkable consistency. It was also worth noting there
were 51 womens teams and 43 mens
teams. Probably the only tournament
where there are more women players
than men. Although most of the players
were from South Australia other States
such as Victoria, NSW, Queensland and
the ACT were all represented. This
year only Pat Moloney represented the
ACT. John and Helen Greenup thought
cruising down the Danube was a better
option than Berri.
Cowra Seniors
Cowra Tennis Club ran their Seniors
tournament on 27-28 June with a good
number of players attending from Canberra, Sydney, the South Coast and surrounding areas. Both days started off
very foggy but cleared up to be nice
sunny days.
Dinner was held at the Bowling Club on
Saturday evening for any players wanting to attend.
Results are
Saturday American doubles
Ladies
Div 1 Joanne Adams r/u Pauline Downs
Div 2 Daphne Kennedy r/u Louisa
Mortimer (Sydney)
Div 3 Lyndy Cannon (Forbes) r/u
Wilma Bingley
Mens
Div 1 Andrew Bartlett (West Wyalong)
r/u Wayne O’Connell
Div 2 Gordon Elliott (Qbyn) r/u Brook
Lynch (Bathurst)
Div 3 Chris Adam r/u Greg Hunt
Sunday Doubles
Ladies
Section 1 Leonie Ainsworth/Helen Holcombe r/u Chrissie Kjolle/Kathy Penrose
Section 2 Jan Aubrey/Pauline Honeyman
Mens
Section 1 Graham Smith /Russell Wilson (Sydney) r/u Greg Hunt /Greg
George
Section 2 Greg Holcombe /Tim Harris
r/u Andrew Boneham/Andrew Bartlett
Section 3 Brook Lynch/Stewart Palmer
(Bathurst) r/u Peter Terwee/Stephen
Rees (cont on page 12)
Weather conditions were sunny with
light breezes on days one and two of
the tournament, however, on Sunday
and Monday extremely strong winds
tested the patience and skill of the
participants. On the Sunday, gusts in
excess of 60 kph swept across the
State. Many of the players said it was
dreadful as it was the strongest winds
in which they had played tennis.
Neville Rodwell was Canberra's sole
representative at this tournament.
Neville had a good tournament winning the 65+ Mens Singles.
Cowra Open Teams
Cowra held their teams tournament on
30-31 May attracting 17 teams. The
weather was overcast for much of the
weekend. There were teams from
Cowra, Canberra, Nowra, Orange,
Blayney, Sydney plus players from
Bathurst, Tumut, Lithgow and surrounding areas. Dinner was held at
the Bowling Club on Saturday night.
The first division in the ladies was
won by a team called Bathurst - Gail
Windsor (Bathurst), Pam Crawford
(Tumut), Joanne Adams and Lucy
Gormly (Canberra).
Second was
Betty’s Pals - Betty Smith, Helen
Worland (Orange), Marilyn Walter
and Bev Roberts. Val’s Girls came
third. In the second division there
was a draw between Orange and Mixtures. The Mixtures team was a combined team with players from Canberra and Penrith.
In the first division mens, the ACT
team won from team Kiss My Ace
from Nowra. The ACT team was
Graham Smith, Tim Harris, Mark
Spain, Ben Sterland and George
Penny from Sydney. In second division, the winning team was Camden,
second was Blayney with the ACT
third. The ACT team was Wayne
O’Connell, Greg Hunt, Greg George
Each team has two matches (consisting
of four 9 game sets of doubles) on each
of the three days. Matches are played
on natural grass at four venues - Berri,
Barmera, Loxton and Renmark. All
grades are catered for with mens and
ladies teams in either an age group or
the open event.
Again the weather for the three days
was great with temperatures in the low
to mid twenties with some cloud and
little wind. There is a great social atmosphere with most teams playing in
bright team colours. The womens
teams outdid the mens teams in this
category. Maybe that’s why there are
good women numbers, they can exercise their dress up abilities.
Pat teamed up again with his usual team
mates of Mike Horsman from Barmera,
George Penney from NSW and Len
Little and Rob Hughes from Victoria.
Mike was again banned from umpiring
football so the team remained in tact for
the three days.
After giving away a far bit in the weight
for age stakes in the Open event in the
past years, the team entered the 45+ but
ended up in the 40+. The team managed to win 3 of its 5 matches and unfortunately missed out on the finals.
However a good time was had by all
with promises of better things next year.
The dates for 2016 are 13–15 May.
Cowra Open Teams (cont)
and John Chapman from Harden also
Robert and Paul.
Once again a good weekend was had by
all players .
Page 11
TENNIS SENIORS ACT CALENDAR 2015/16
TOURNAMENTS
AND PENNANTS
26 Oct 2015-21 Mar 2016 Twilight
Doubles Pennant - closing date 9 October 2015
10-22 January 2016 Australian Tennis Seniors Championships, Shepparton, Victoria
Twilight: Contact Graham Smith
(6161 5352)
Australian Seniors Championships:
Contact Gail Jones (6254 4240)
ACT Open Seniors Tournament:
Contact Pat Moloney (6262 3727)
SUNDAY ROUND
ROBIN
TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments are scheduled for a
9.30am start on 13 September, 18
October, 15 November and 13 December 2015.
Dates and venue may change, so
please check the website.
If you put your name down and find
you cannot play on the day, please
notify one of the organisers so that the
other players are not inconvenienced.
Contact: Colin Lyons (0434 531
449) or Warren Muller (0407 916
868)
DINNERS AND
SPECIAL FUNCTIONS
80th Birthday Lunch - 27 September see page 3
Christmas Dinner - 5 December - see
page 4
Members booking for the dinners
should be aware that if they cancel after
the closing date they may be required to
pay the cost if the caterer charges Tennis Seniors ACT.
Contact Gail Jones (6254 4240)
MIDWEEK TENNIS
Canberra Tennis Centre,
Lyneham
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays
Contact: Tennis ACT (6160 7800)
Country and Interstate
Tournament Calendar
You will need to check the relevant
State’s website in case dates or details
change.
`
11-13 Sep West Port Macquarie
(Nat7)
19-20 Sep Gunnedah Seniors
18-21 Sep Tennis Seniors Qld Sun
shine Coast (ITF3), Tewantin
2-5 Oct Tennis Seniors NSW State
Championships (ITF2)
12-15 Oct Merimbula Seniors (N6)
17-18 Oct Dubbo Paramount Seniors
31 Oct-1 Nov Raworth, Hunter Ten
nis Resort
8-11 Nov Tennis Seniors SA State
Championships (ITF3)
14-15 Nov Bathurst Carillion City
Teams
23-27 Nov Victorian Seniors Grass
court Champs (ITF2),
Yarrawonga
4-6 Dec Nelson Bay Seniors
Cowra Seniors
(cont from page 11)
Sunday Mixed
Section 1 Joanne Adams/Adrian
Blackeby r/u June Langfield (Cowra)/
Andrew Boneham West Wyalong
Section 2 Betty Smith /Wayne O’Connell r/u Pauline Downs/Peter Boyle
(Narooma)
Section 3 Allan Hubband/Chrissie
Kjoller r/u Valerie Gavin / John Chapman(Harden)
Forbes Teams
Fifteen ACT Seniors went to Forbes
for their annual Teams Tournament
held on 1-2 August. The weather was
overcast for most of the weekend with
no delays from rain. There were 23
teams competing in 4 divisions, 8 in
A grade mens, 5 in B grade mens, 5 in
C grade mens and 5 in A grade ladies .
A grade ladies winners were; TumutPam Crawford (Tumut), Gail Windsor
(Bathurst), Joanne Adams and Lucy
Gormly. Runner up were Canberra;
Betty Smith, Helen Worland
(Orange), Marilyn Walter and Bev
Roberts. The Canberra mens A grade
team found the going a bit tough.
However the C grade mens team
called “Old Chaps” came runner up;
John Chapman (Harden), Ross
Findlay, Don Masters and Chris Nisik
(Vikings).
A good weekend of tennis was had by
all including happy hour on Friday
night at Valerie Gavin’s motel room.
However Valerie has booked a different motel for 2016.
Don Masters maybe should have let
his wife pack his pack for the tournament as he turned up with 2 tennis
shoes but they were both for his right
foot. Hence a quick trip to the shops
Saturday morning. We didn’t ask
Don to dance with 2 left feet Saturday
night!
Australian Team
Nominations
Closing Dates
Nomination will close at 8pm on the
following dates for Australian teams for
the World Team Titles in 2016.
Young Seniors - Rovinj, Vrsar and
Umag, Croatia (clay) 1-6 May 2016 close 4 December 2015
Seniors - Helsinki, Finland (indoor
hardcourt) 19-24 June 2016 - close 2
February 2016
Super Seniors - Antalya, Turkey (clay)
23-28 October 2016 - close 1 April
2016
A New Generation
Our successful 35+ mens team at the
Teams Carnival in Canberra in January
are already making sure there will be a
new generation of Seniors in 35 years
time.
David Horsfall already had 2 girls supporting him in January. Nathan Price
and Kristine have just added a boy
(Eddie) to the support group. Michael
Tabisz and Cristy went straight for the
double with twin girls (Zoe and Ellie) in
July.
Page 12