Under glorious blue skies, this year’s championships were held over a single weekend for the first time on 29/30 June. Paul Hope brilliantly organised the event using the fast-four format (thanks Paul) and the junior section were admirably represented by Rico, Seb, Tom, Olivia and Lily – all just 10 or 11 years old.
The men’s singles was won by Asa Sumner-Keens for the second year with a comfortable victory over his father Gary Keens (11 times previous winner). Asa and Gary then teamed up for the men’s doubles to retain their title in straight sets against Brenton Mattheus and Owen Winsor in a high caliber match full of big hitting from both sides of the court.
The standout player of the tournament was the ladies’ singles winner, Lily Godfrey aged 10. Having fought her way into the final, Lily showed no sign of nerves as she produced some devastating forehand winners to take the deciding tie-break 11-9 against Helen Stacy.
Helen paired up with Jane Hamblin for the ladies’ doubles and took on Judith Pugh and Fiona Barker in a closely contested final. The match, played in excellent spirits, swung back and forth before being won on two tie-breaks by Jane and Helen.
The mixed final was won in straight sets by Gary Keens with Karen Soons. Runners up were Brenton Mattheus and Judith Pugh.
This was the first event to use our excellent new score boards (which you can see in this photo). Bought through the Roy Whitehouse Fund, these allowed the crowd to actually follow the progress of the match for the first time! The crowd were also kept happy with regular supplies from the bar and an excellent barbeque cooked by the lovely Melero family.