TENNIS SENIORS ACT INC AUTUMN ISSUE MARCH 2016

PREFACE

VETSET is the newsletter of Tennis Sen-

iors ACT Incorporated. However the

views expressed in the newsletter are not

necessarily those of the committee.

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 Report 2

TSA AGM 2

Next Round Robin Tournament 2

TSACT Awards 3

Adelaide 2017 3

Welcome to New Members 3

Shepparton 2016 4

Shepparton 2016 Captains reporting 5

Christmas Dinner 6

Anne Haycock 6

Senior Tennis Tournaments 7

Sunday Round Robin Tournaments 7

Twilight Pennant 7

2015 ACT Resident Champs 7

2016/17 ACT Calendar 8

Country/Interstate Calendar 8

Charity Day 8

Easter Tournament 8

Closing date for June Vetset

Monday 2 May 2016

jgreenup@bigpond.net.au

Congratulations to Ros Balodis on

being named the Player of the Year

by TSA President Reg Travaskis on

15 January 2016 in Shepparton at

the Presentation Dinner for the

Teams Carnival for her outstanding

performances at both Australian and

World level in 2015.

Our 6th

Life Member

Gail outlined the significant contribu-

tion Anne made and is still making.

Bob confirmed the contribution Anne

had made as well as giving his side of

the story of playing handicapped singles

with Anne in the ACT Resident C grade

Mixed Doubles. Go to page 6 for more

on Anne’s contribution.

“So I am proud tonight that TSACT

can recognise another valuable contri-

bution and award Life Membership to

Anne Haycock.”

In announcing Anne's life member-

ship, the President of TSACT, Pat

Moloney said that “after I was re-

minded last year that we have not

presented any life memberships for

some time, we presented Life Mem-

bership to Bob Thornton and deserv-

edly so. It was remiss of me not to

have recognised the significant contri-

bution Bob and others have made to

Seniors Tennis in the ACT. So we

looked around again to see who else

had made a significant contribution to

seniors tennis in the ACT and we did-

n’t have to look far.”

Pat called on Gail Jones who has been

administrating much longer than Pat

has and Bob Thornton to actually ver-

ify in more detail the valuable input

Anne had made.

TSA Player of the Year

Success at Shepparton 2016

The 2016 Australian Seniors Tennis

Championships were held in Sheppar-

ton with the Opening Ceremony on 10

January prior to the Teams Carnival

from 11-15 January and the Individual

Championships 17-22 January. To

find out about ACT’s successes, near

successes and what finger nails have

to do with success, turn to pages 4 and

5.

Page 2

Again ACT missed it by 'that' much (as

Maxwell Smart says in his TV show).

ACT came a very close second to

Queensland at the Australian Champi-

onships in Shepparton (if only I hadn’t

dropped that serve to win the set!!). A

very good effort from our teams and my

congratulations goes to all those play-

ers. Since winning the teams trophy in

2011 ACT has come in second three

times and third twice. A remarkable ef-

fort.

In the Individual Championships in the

second week our players also performed

well. Ros Balodis and Narelle Raftery

both won their singles finals. Also

Leonie Ainsworth won her consolation

event. These 2016 championships were

really Ros Balodis's championships.

Ros won the singles, doubles and

mixed, was part of the winning ACT

womens team and also won TSA's 2015

Player of the Year. More details of the

2016 Championship are on page 4.

Congratulations must also go to the

Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club and the

Greater Shepparton Council for their

excellent work they did in organising

and running the 2016 Australian Cham-

pionships. It was their first time and

with the assistance and guidance from

Tennis Seniors Australia and a couple

of experienced organisers, such as Gail

Jones, everything went as planned and

on time.

The weather provided a real challenge.

It was very hot during the teams’ week

with a few hours lost due to heat. Then

towards the end of the week time was

also lost due to rain. Similar weather

occurred during the second week when

play was suspended due to heat and

rain. Unfortunately most of the finals

on the last day were washed out.

Our 2015 Christmas Dinner had a

change in venue from the previous few

years. This time it was held at the

Yowani Golf Club where the setting

and atmosphere were well received.

51 members and friends attended and

enjoyed a well stocked Buffet meal.

It was a very pleasant night topped off

by our Vice President Graham Smith

telling some ‘vice’ jokes. Many

thanks to Graham Smith and his

helper Gail Jones for arranging our

yearly highlight.

Our Tennis Seniors Awards for 2015

were announced and presented during

the evening. Leonie Southwell won

the Frank Thornton Award for the

member judged to have achieved no-

table tennis success over the past year.

John Stark won the George Henshil-

wood Award for being the member

judged to have made a significant

contribution to the Administration of

ACT Seniors this being for the suc-

cessful running of the 2015 Australian

Seniors Championships. Two very

worthy recipients and two very sur-

prised members. More details of

these presentations are on page 3.

Following the Seniors Awards, a spe-

cial presentation of Life Membership

was awarded to Anne Haycock. Anne

has provided valuable and dedicated

service to Tennis Seniors ACT over

the years and has always offered and

helps out at all seniors events and

functions. Gail Jones and Bob Thor-

ton provided a good summary of

Anne’s contribution to ACT Seniors.

Bob enjoyed providing his summary

as he was on the receiving end from

Anne last year. A well deserved life

membership.

While on the subject of dinners an-

other very successful one was held in

Shepparton. This was the ACT Teams

dinner organised by Graham Smith at

the Cellar 47 Restaurant. 47 players

PRESIDENT’S REPORT by Pat Moloney

Round Robin Tourna-

ment

9.15am Sunday 20 March

Venue to be advised

Entry fee is $10.00

Entries to Colin Lyons on 0434 531

449 or seejaylyons@gmail.com or

Warren Muller on 0407 916 868 or warren.muller@internode.on.net.

and friends attended and thoroughly en-

joyed the evening.

The Presentation Dinner Dance held on

the Friday night of the teams’ week was

well attended by our players. This was

a good night during which the team

winners, the overall Team Trophy (to

Queensland) and the 2015 TSA Awards

were presented. These Awards went to

Ros Balodis for Player of the Year,

Julie Pratt for the Player Recognition

Award and to Mick Bruton for Admin-

istrator of the Year.

During the Teams’ Championships

week in Shepparton TSA’s AGM was

held. Graham Smith, Gail Jones and

Peter Breugelmans were our delegates.

(Refer page 2 below for a report on the

AGM). Other meetings I attended dur-

ing the teams’ week were the Presidents

and Secretary’s Meeting and the Execu-

tive Meeting.

The ACT Seniors Resident Champion-

ships were held last November in con-

junction with the ACT Residents Cham-

pionships. This has occurred over the

last few years and has proved to be a

successful format with a number of our

senior players participating. However

there is some talk of the Resident

Championships moving to an earlier

month to avoid early Christmas com-

mitments. Results of the 2015 Champi-

onships are listed on page 7.

While on tournaments I would like to

remind members of our main event, the

Easter Tennis Tournament. The tourna-

ment will again be conducted under the

ITF regulations of the requirement of an

IPIN for particular events. However the

tournament will also include non-IPIN

round robin singles, doubles and mixed

events.

Happy tennising.

TSA held their AGM on 16 January

2016 at The Aussie Hotel, Shepparton.

The existing Executive was re-elected

unopposed. These being Reg Trevaskis

(President); Enid Besant-Ryan (Vice-

President); Pat Moloney (Secretary);

Peter Froelich (Treasurer) and Peter

Dighton (Committee Member). Also

Peter Breugelmans was reappointed as

the Public Officer.

A couple of issues were raised, the

first being continuing the champion-

ships in January. The meeting fa-

voured continuing in January; how-

ever the matter would remain on fu-

ture agendas for further discussions.

The second issue being the lack of

matches for the six team age groups

on the last day, Friday. This to be

reviewed.

Tennis Seniors Australia (TSA) AGM

Page 3

To the left is the front page of

the flyer for the next Australian

Tennis Seniors Championships

to be held in Adelaide.

The dates are there so you can

start planning your holiday,

accommodation and team. I

hear a rumour that our success-

ful womens team has already

started practising for Adelaide.

A full version of the flyer can be

found on TSA’s website at

www.tennisseniors.org.au. It

gives information on the attrac-

tions found around Adelaide

and its surrounds, the venue, the

Teams Carnival and the Individ-

ual Championships.

Further information will be pro-

vided through the websites, Vet-

set and emails as it becomes

available.

dowment from the Henshilwood family

in memory of their father. George Hen-

shilwood passed away in 2003 just

short of his 90th birthday.

John received the award for his work as

Chair of the Organising Committee for

the 2015 Australian Seniors Champion-

ships. He demonstrated good manage-

ment skills, good organization skills

and good negotiation skills and didn't

get stressed out – well not too often.

His significant contribution to ACT

Seniors over the previous year and into

this year resulted in the successful run-

ning of the 2015 Australian Seniors

Championships.

John with his wife Helen and the trophy

The trophy John received was hand-

crafted by Greg Holcombe who unfor-

tunately was not able to come to the

presentation of the award. Greg’s fa-

ther lives in Queensland and is not too

well and Greg is spending a lot of time

travelling. Woodworking is now

Greg’s favourite pastime and 2nd career.

Tennis Seniors ACT

welcomes the following

new members:

Gail Aiken

Nick Cram

Gail Cram

Don Fraser

Mark Hardy

Helen Nealer

Tuan Pham

David Pruckner

Peter Tucker

Nicole Tucker

Adelaide 2017

TSACT Awards

2015 Frank Thornton Player of

the Year

Congratulations to Leonie Southwell on

winning this award.

The award is given to the ACT member

judged to have achieved notable tennis

success over the past year. This award

was first presented in 1981. It was

given by Kath Thornton in memory of

her husband. Frank Thornton was the

inaugural Treasurer from 1970 to 1978

of Tennis Seniors ACT which was then

known as the Senior Branch of the ACT

Lawn Tennis Association. The trophy

has been awarded 33 times to 27 dif-

ferent members.

Leonie has achieved notable tennis

success although not so much from

winning matches but from persever-

ance to stay on the court and play

through pain. A couple of years ago

Leonie could not hold a racquet to

return serve. The arthritic pain was

too great. So to overcome the pain

problem the right handed player be-

came a left handed player and also

mastered double handed strokes ---

quite effectively.

Apart from the hand problem the

knees also became a problem and

requires much support bandaging to

enable movement around the court.

Leonie has shown, and is still show-

ing, a fighting spirit and determina-

tion to stay in the game she loves.

2015 George Henshilwood

Award

Congratulations to John Stark on win-

ning this award.

The award is given to the member

judged to have made a significant

contribution to ACT Seniors. The

award is made as a result of an en-

Page 4

First the ACT successes. - the womens

55 division one team and Ros Balodis,

Narelle Raftery and Leonie Ainsworth

in the Individual Championships.

The near successes were the State Tro-

phy, the mens 60 division 2 and 70 divi-

sion 2 teams and John Stark with Alan

Wilmshurst in the Individual Champi-

onships.

The 2016 Australian Seniors Tennis

Championships were held in Sheppar-

ton. It started with the Opening Cere-

mony on 10 January prior to the Teams

Carnival from 11-15 January and the

Individual Championships 17-22 Janu-

ary. Helen Holcombe carried the ACT

flag at the Opening Ceremony.

Play was on natural grass courts at the

Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club with 22

courts and another 40 courts were set up

at the Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.

However players did need to be aware

of the cows.

In the Teams carnival there were 89

teams and 530 players participating in

Shepparton 2016

various age groups and sections. All

States and Territories were repre-

sented. There were also a team from

New Zealand and players from Japan,

Great Britain and Thailand as well as

other players from New Zealand play-

ing in other teams.

The weather for the first part of the

week was very hot reaching some-

where between 42 to 45 on Wednes-

day depending on who you asked (44

according to BOM) when matches

were stopped. Thursday was 19 with

a little rain.

The ACT had one winning team - the

womens 55 division one team of

Betty Smith, Helen Holcombe(c),

Marilyn Walter, Chris Fraser, Leonie

Ainsworth and Ros Balodis (above).

Two of the mens teams finished sec-

ond - 60 division 2 and 70 division 2

(below). The two other ACT teams

finished 4th (mens 65 division 2) and

7th (womens 55 division 2).

Robert Read, Alan Henderson,, David

Coutts(c), Peter Breugelmans, Col

Power, David Sprott

Queensland won the States Trophy.

ACT was a very close second. All the

final standings in the age groups and

s e c t i o n s c a n b e fo u n d o n

www.92computing.com.au.

Graham Smith organized a great team

dinner on the Monday night at Cellar

47 – the food was excellent and

TSACT put on some drinks for play-

ers as there was a profit of $400 from

entries. Graham also organised a BBQ

at the motel for Tuesday night with the

help of the owners who supplied plates

and bowls for salads.

The following week 299 players partici-

pated in the individual events. All

States and Territories were again repre-

sented. There were also players from

New Zealand, Great Britain, USA,

France, Germany, Austria, Sweden,

Thailand, Ireland, Canada and Japan.

The oldest age group event was the 85

mens singles with 6 entries.

Again the weather at the beginning of

the week was hot with no play during

the middle of the day on Wednesday.

Then rain on Friday washed out some

of the finals. All the results can be

found at www.92computing.com.au.

There were 12 players from the ACT

entered in the Individual Champion-

ships. Ros Bolodis was again our most

successful player continuing her unde-

feated run in singles winning the 55

womens singles, the 55 womens dou-

bles with Leanne Swaysland(NSW) and

the 55 mixed doubles with James Coul-

son(Vic).

Narelle Raftery won the 50 womens

singles (one better than last year) and

was in the finals of the 35/45 womens

doubles with Julie Golightly(Vic). This

final was washed out.

Our only other winner was Leonie

Ainsworth in the 55/60 womens conso-

lation singles. John Stark and Alan

Wilmshurst(GBR) were runner up in

the combined 110 aged mens doubles.

Hung Kha lost in the semi-finals of the

35 mens singles. Colin Holgate and

Leslie Walton(Qld) reached the semi-

finals of the 60 mixed doubles..

More photos courtesy of Ian Somers on

www.tennisseniors.org.au .

Page 5

Shepparton 2016 - Captains reporting

Womens 55 Division 1

Helen Holcombe

Captain Helen marshalled her team into

bi weekly practices from November

onwards. This strategy paid dividends

as Helen, not having played for 18

months, got lots of valuable court time

and she got to experiment with different

pairings. Thanks to Tim Harris, Greg

Holcombe, Graeme Ainsworth, and

Narelle Raftery for joining us on occa-

sions.

So we arrived at Shepparton well prac-

ticed and team bonded! Team bonding

even extended to our wearing blue and

yellow nail polish (ACT colours!).

It was a tricky week for a captain. Tem-

peratures during the week ranged from

45 to 22 degrees with rain, and Helen

had to make sure our prime asset, Ros,

was not exhausted in the heat from cov-

ering her partner's lobs and being over-

played.

We began the week strongly with a win

over New Zealand who were potential

finalists and had solid wins over all the

other teams except NSW who defeated

us by two games. By the end of the

rounds we managed to come in first in

spite of the heat rule depriving us of

sets where Ros was serving for the

match. Along the way, new ace pair-

ings had developed - Ros with "take no

prisoners" Betty and Marilyn with

"steady eddy" Helen.

In the final against NSW, Helen Wor-

land and Adrienne Avis played like the

world champions they really are, and

split sets with Ros and Helen. Mean-

while, Leonie and Chris got valuable

games against Carol Campling and Kay

Nealon.

At 3 sets to 1 down at the change over,

Chris and Ros won convincingly while

Leonie, ably supported by Helen,

played in the zone to take the first set

from an overconfident Carol and Adri-

enne. After Leonie and Helen had es-

tablished an unbeatable lead in the sec-

ond set, the match was abandoned.

ACT had snatched victory from defeat

from arch rivals NSW! Using our es-

tablished pairings in the final, having a

great team atmosphere and full team

effort during the week was the winning

formula.

Shepparton turned out to be a memora-

ble week. It was a privilege to play on

real grass, lovely accommodation

thanks to Smithy, nice restaurant eve-

nings and pleasant company. The

numerous "cows" strategically placed

about the town was a nice touch. And

it helps to come home a "winner"!

Womens 55 Division 2

Lyn Robbins

I felt the ladies enjoyed the trip to

Shepparton and had some good ten-

nis. The team was made up of 8 la-

dies - 7 from the ACT and one from

WA. By the time we arrived in

Shepparton we were down to 6 unin-

jured ladies which made the juggling

of combinations a little easier.

Daphne Kennedy, Lynette Sebbens,

Merle Coutts, Karenn Layne, Lyn

Robbins, Lazora Pringle (WA), miss-

ing Gail Jones

At the completion of the rounds we

were placed 6th out of 7 having won

our first match against SA. The

cooler temperatures on the last two

days were a relief. Our final two

matches on these days against SA and

WA were closely fought with several

tiebreaker sets.

The Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club

did a great job of running the tourna-

ment. The presentation dinner was a

nice way to end the tournament and

allowed us to wind down and kick up

our heels.

Mens 60 Division 2

Graham Smith

This team had great success only los-

ing two matches both of which were

against the Queensland team.

So on Friday we went into the final

against Queensland as the underdogs.

It was a closely contested final same

as in the rounds but the Queensland

men were determined to win their first

ever medal and so their competitive

streak overpowered us. They won 5

sets to 3 .

Greg Holcombe, Alan Wilmshurst, Greg

George, Pat Moloney, Kerry Scarlett,

Graham Smith

All players got through the week with-

out any serious injuries which was a

great thing. We only missed one sched-

uled match on Wednesday afternoon

when the temperature reached 45 de-

grees. Greg George and his partner

Kerry Smith (who came to support our

team) and Greg Holcombe tried out

some of the golf courses around

Shepparton while the rest of us re-

treated to the swimming pool and air-

conditioning for drinks.

I enjoyed being captain of this team and

would like to thank them for their great

team spirit and sportsmanship.

Mens 65 Division 2

Pat Hanrahan

Our team in section 2 of the 65 mens

competition came fourth overall, which

was a pleasing result as most of us had

not played this event in recent years.

Anthony Connell, Gary Buchanan,

Doug Williamson, Pat Hanrahan, miss-

ing Don Masters

We were very impressed by the work

invested in the Mooroopna complex for

Page 6

Christmas Dinner The TSACT Christmas Dinner was held

at a new venue on Saturday 5 Decem-

ber. The venue was the Yowani Coun-

try Club. The change was made due to

the increasing cost at University House.

The new venue proved a success with

51 members, partners and friends at-

tending - compared with 39 and 34 over

the two previous years.

Frank and Jan Marris, Lynette Sebbens

and Ross Findley

It was good to see some new faces at

the dinner - Doug Williamson and his

wife, Andrew Chalken, John and Helen

Stark, Rick Genge and Sue Willis. Gra-

ham Smith did a great job organising

the dinner. There was plenty of food at

the buffet. The music again came cour-

tesy of Betty and Graham Smith. Gra-

ham couldn't let the night go without

some of his jokes.

Pat Moloney presided over the eve-

ning giving a resume of events in the

last 12 months and announcing the

winners of the 2015 Frank Thornton

Player of the Year and the 2015

George Henshilwood Award. Con-

gratulations to Leonie Southwell and

John Stark. For more on their awards,

go to page 3.

Before the end of the awards, Pat

made one further important presenta-

tion - TSACT Life Membership to

Anne Haycock. Anne was completely

overwhelmed and speechless for some

time. It gave Gail Jones and Bob

Thornton a chance to outline her con-

tribution to ACT senior tennis..

There were also several door prizes

drawn. The winners were Wilma

Bingley (all the way from Bookham

in between alpaca shearing and

Christmas cakes), Terril Strahan (took

a bottle of red), David Coutts (was

awake for this one), Ross Findlay

(one up on Lyn this year), Graham

Smith (had to check with Betty what

to take), Frank Marris (back on the

winning list again), Kath Hethering-

ton ( no one was going to take her

bottle of wine - see below), Warren

Muller (reward for his good work)

and Helen Stark (has never won any-

thing in a raffle).

More pho-

tos from the

dinner, can

be found on

our website.

this Championship, and also by the

great spirit in which most matches were

played. Notwithstanding the Wednes-

day temperature of 42 degrees, we were

not troubled by the warm weather al-

though we did take the opportunity to

return to our accommodation for a

shower and change of clothes between

matches.

Peter Breugelmans did a great job ar-

ranging ACT team shirts on loan from

other members of ACT Seniors; the

availability of shirts for loan must de-

cline with the years, so perhaps we need

to revisit the question of ordering a

new batch from the supplier, well

ahead of January 2017.

Mens 70 Division 2

David Coutts

The mens 70 team had a very good

tournament. We came a very close

second to long time rivals WA. It was

a first past the post group where we

played each team twice. We narrowly

shaded them in the first round and the

last match was a virtual final. How-

ever they had a few more set points

Shepparton 2016 - Captains reporting (cont)

Anne Haycock

Drawn from Gail Jones’ words at the

life membership presentation.

Anne first joined the then Tennis Veter-

ans committee in 1990. She must have

been inspired by the Newcastle Teams

Championships where the ACT group

put on a revue on the Canberra Raiders.

In 1991, at a small cafe, at a meeting

between Anne and some of the commit-

tee members, she was asked to be Presi-

dent as this position had not been filled

at the AGM. The 1995 Australian Vet-

erans teams and Individual Champion-

ships were held in Canberra under

Anne’s guidance and proved to be very

successful. Anne then undertook the

task of being chairperson for the Tennis

Veterans World Cups (Maureen Con-

nolly and Austrian) committee held in

Canberra in 1997.

During 1997 and 1998 Anne worked

hard for Tennis Veterans ACT to be-

come a separate body from Tennis

ACT. She achieved this and in 1998

the first AGM of Tennis Veterans ACT

Inc was held with Anne being re-

elected as President.

In 2000 Anne received the Tennis Sen-

ior Australia award for Administrator of

the Year. In January that year Anne

again over saw the Tennis Australian

Championships held in Canberra.

Since giving up the presidency Anne

has involved herself with all the Senior

tournaments held in the ACT. Each

Easter you’ll find her rounding up the

players to get them on to courts ensur-

ing the tournament runs as close to time

as possible. In this her 25th year with

the administration of Tennis Seniors

ACT she deserves to be acknowledged

with the Life membership award.

than us so we had to win 6 sets to 2. In

the end it was 4 to WA and 3 to us with

one unfinished (which I am sure we

would have won).

Apart from that the team fitted very

well together and all had a good time in

spite of some challenges with the heat.

The temporary grass courts at

Mooroopna were actually remarkably

good to play on. Everyone contributed

with winning sets and there were, re-

markably, no injuries. Shepparton im-

pressed as a nice town and region to

visit.

Page 7

Senior Tennis Tournament Results

The 2015 Victorian Seniors Grasscourt

Championships (ITF) were held in Yar-

rawonga beside the Murray River and

Lake Mulwala from 23-27 November.

Leonie Ainsworth, Ros Balodis, John

Greenup, Colin Holgate, Pat Moloney

and Neville Rodwell carried the flag for

Canberra amongst the 138 players en-

tered (down from 147 last year).

The grass courts at the Yarrawonga

Lawn Tennis Club were in excellent

condition. If you stay at the Caravan

Park you can roll out of bed on to the

courts. The weather for the first few

days was good but Wednesday was hot

(max 35 degrees) and windy (gusts up

to 59 km/h) and Thursday cool (max

23) and windy with gusts up to 70

km/h.

Ros again had a very successful tour-

nament winning the womens 55 sin-

gles (without losing a game), the 55

womens doubles with Sara Goddard

from NSW and the 55 mixed doubles

with James Coulson from Victoria.

Colin won the 60 mens doubles with

Rod Wurtz from Albury and was run-

ner up in the 60 mixed doubles with

Sara Goddard. Pat had a win in the

70 mens doubles with Rob Hughes

from Melbourne.

Neville and John had to play each

other in their first round 65 men sin-

gles match. Neville proved too strong

for John before losing his semi-final to

Max Bates from Queensland. Neville

and John did manage to combine in the

65 mens doubles making the semi-finals

before losing to the eventual winners,

Graham Wurtz (Albury) and Terry

Smith (Bendigo). Leonie spent a lot of

time on the court frustrating players but

unfortunately with few wins.

There was also a good social program

with all the local clubs and hotels mak-

ing their facilities available. Ros and

Colin had sussed out a good coffee shop

and of course John found the bakery,

ice creamery and lolly shop.

2015 Victorian Seniors Grasscourt Championships

Twilight Pennant

The twilight doubles pennant is now

nearing the finals stage. The points

after 8 rounds are very close. Basically

any of 4 teams could reach the final

with two rounds to go. Only Marris

and Spain appear to be out of the race.

Ainsworth is clinging to top spot with

Hunt the big mover in 2016 with three

wins.

Brooker has a hard last two rounds

playing Hunt and Ainsworth, Brooker

had a win over Hunt in round 4 but lost

to Ainsworth in round 5.

Reid plays Ainsworth and Marris in the

last two rounds. Reid lost to Ainsworth

in round 4 and had a close win over

Marris in round 5.

Hunt plays Spain in the last round, a

team they have beaten previously.

Based on results in rounds 4 and 5

Ainsworth should have 2 more wins to

keep top spot while Hunt should have

one win to keep them in second spot.

Teams Points

Ainsworth 76.5

Hunt 75.5

Brooker 68

Reidr 66.5

Spain 53

Marris 44.5

Despite very warm weather, we had a

big roll-up for our first tournament of

the year on 14 February at Belconnen

Tennis Club with 19 players, 13 men

and 6 women. While an odd number

is not ideal, we can cater for such a

situation with draws which work for

most numbers. A big imbalance in the

sexes is also a challenge as some men

must become honorary (if not honor-

able) women on the day.

So we split the players into 2 groups

with 10 in the first division and 9 in

the second. We also had 5 new start-

ers of unknown ability so that necessi-

tated the need for some diplomatic

questions.

In the first division, Linda Valente

with 22 games was very consistent in

recording a narrow win over Leonie

Southwell on 21. The stewards are

closely examining complaints by

some players that Linda benefitted

handsomely by a very lacklustre per-

formance by husband Bill when pitted

against her. Leonie was also in good

touch and sounded a warning to her

rivals in the big money events at Ulla-

dulla.

Anthony Johnston, came in third with

19 games. Now a leading citizen at

Magnetic Island in the winter months,

he showed no ill-effects of elbow

problems which took him off the elec-

trical circuit for 6 months.

In the 2nd division, Warren Muller and

newcomer, Errol Neish with an aver-

age score of 5, shared the six figure

prize money and an all expenses paid

trip to Lyneham. Errol reckons he will

definitely be back chasing a win in his

own right. Tui Allison kept the pressure

on these two men with an average of

4.6.

Our next round robin tournament on 20

March will probably be held at Weston

Creek but details will be confirmed

closer to the date. We look forward to a

big roll-up again.

Sunday Round Robins by Colin Lyons

ACT Residents

The 2015 ACT Resident Senior Cham-

pionships were combined with the ACT

Resident Championships for the sixth

year. Numbers were well down on last

year. Overall 133 players (185 in 2014)

competed in the junior, adult and senior

events. There were 16 entries (40 in

2014) in the senior events. All events

were round robin. The results of the

Seniors events were

35+ Mens Singles - Ross Andel d Miro-

slav Pisa

35+ Mens Doubles - Neville Rodwell/

Tim Harris, r/u Eduard Cisar/Miroslav

Pisa

Some of the seniors also had good re-

sults in other events. Wayne O'Connell

and Cameron Steele won the A grade

mens doubles and Anthony Connell and

Bill Scott won the B grade mens dou-

bles. Scott Smith was runner-up in the

Resident mens singles.

Page 8

TENNIS SENIORS ACT CALENDAR 2016/17

DINNERS AND

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

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 Ten-

nis Seniors ACT.

SUNDAY ROUND

ROBIN

TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments are scheduled for a

9.15am start on 20 March, 10 April,

15 May, 19 June, 24 July, 14 August,

11 September, 23 October, 13 No-

vember and 11 December 2016.

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)

TOURNAMENTS

AND PENNANTS

11 Nov 2015-9 Mar 2016 Twilight

Doubles Pennant

25-28 March, ACT Open Seniors

Tennis Championships (ITF2)

26 Oct 2016-15 March 2017 Twi-

light Doubles Competition - closing

date 5 October 2016

8-20 January 2017 Australian Ten-

nis Seniors Championships, Adelaide

Twilight: Contact Graham Smith

(6161 5352)

Australian Seniors Championships:

Contact Gail Jones (6254 4240)

ACT Open Seniors Tournament:

Contact Pat Moloney (6262 3727)

Country and Interstate Tournament Calendar 2016/17

Some of the dates for tournaments are

yet to be confirmed. You will need to

check the relevant State’s website.

2016

4-6 Mar Walcha Seniors R/Robin

11-14 Mar Oceania Regional

Champs, Kooyong

11-13 Mar Gosford Seniors

12-13 Mar Narooma Round Robin

1-4 Apr Tennis Seniors Qld Tenny

son (ITF3)

16-17 Apr Howe Park Grasscourt

Singleton

23-25 Apr Gloucester Seniors

30 Apr-2 May Gold Coast Seniors

29 Apr-1 May Inverell Seniors R/

Robin

29 Apr-1 May Wagga Wagga

13-15 May Picton Seniors R/Robin

13-15 May T’s Tennis Resort Port

Macquarie R/Robin

14-16 May Berri Seniors Teams

Carnival (SA)

28-29 May West Tamworth Seniors

28-29 May Cowra Open Teams (tbc)

10-13 Jun Victorian Seniors Clay

court Champs (ITF5),

Dingley

11-13 Jun Newcastle Mixed Teams

18-19 Jun Lake Macquarie Seniors )

25-26 Jun Cowra Seniors R/R (tbc)

1-4 Jul Tennis Seniors Qld

State Champs (ITF1) , Gold

Coast

1-3 Jul Cessnock Seniors

16-17 Jul Manning River, Taree

29 Jul-1 Aug Forster Seniors R/R

7-8 Aug Forbes Open Teams (tbc)

12-14 Aug Muswellbrook Park

19-21 Aug Eurobodalla (Moruya)

9-11 Sep West Port Macquarie

17-18 Sep Orange Ex-Services R/R

16-19 Sep Tennis Seniors Qld Sun

shine Coast (ITF3), Tewantin

24-25 Sep Gunnedah Seniors

30 Sep-3 Oct Tennis Seniors NSW

State Championships (ITF2),

Pennant Hills

14-17 Oct Merimbula Seniors

22-23 Oct Dubbo Paramount Seniors

28 Oct-1 Nov Victorian Seniors

Champs (ITF2), Kooyong

5-6 Nov Raworth, Hunter Tennis Re

sort

6-8 Nov Tennis Seniors SA State

Championships (ITF3)

12-13 Nov Bathurst Carillion City

Teams

21-25 Nov Victoria Senior Grass

court Champs (ITF2), Yarra

wonga

2-4 Dec Nelson Bay Seniors

2017

8-13 Jan Australian Teams Carnival,

Adelaide

15-20 Jan Australian Individual

Champs (ITFA), Adelaide

10-13 Mar Oceania Regional

Champs, Kooyong

46th

ACT Seniors Tennis Tournament with

Championship Events (ITF2) - IPIN required and

Non-IPIN Round Robin Events

Singles, Doubles and Mixed Double Events at both levels

Canberra Tennis Centre, Lyneham

25-28 March 2016 (Easter Weekend)

Entries close for IPIN events on Wednesday 9 March

and for non IPIN events Wednesday 16 March

Entry forms and entries online at www.92computing.com.au

Enquiries Pat Moloney 6262 3727) email patmol1@bigpond.com

Gail Jones 6254 4240 email b-gjones@bigpond.net.au

Charity Day

Thursday 5 May

Tennis and sausage sizzle

Round Robin Mens, Ladies

and Mixed Doubles

Contact Helen Greenup on

62545263 or email

helengreenup@bigpond.com

before 2 May