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25 March 2015 | Tennis Tasmania

Well what a time it’s been in seniors’ tennis during 2013 and 2014! The lead up to the Australian Seniors Championships in Hobart in January 2014 was extremely busy for all concerned. The successful running of the Championships were a credit to all local club administrators, volunteers and staff at Tennis Tasmania, especially Simonne Allwright who did a tremendous amount of work during 2013 leading up to the Championships.  Also thanks go to our State Selector, Jon Aufder-Heide who did a great job in selecting and rating the ten teams to compete in the first week.

Congratulations go to all teams who competed in the championships. It was a great competitive effort by all involved with great sportsmanship and a high quality of play on offer.  A special thanks to Jon Aufder-Heide for organising the teams’ dinner and entertainment on the Monday night at the Best Western Hotel. There was around 200 attendees and the Western Australian contingent of 120 enjoyed the night along with all the Tassie players. The second week saw some outstanding efforts by Richard Wynwood and Max Byrne who both got to the final of their respective singles categories.
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This years’ Australian Seniors’ Championships were held in Canberra and we were represented by Jon Aufder-Heide’s team in the over 60’s. Other players in the team included Graeme Holloway, Nigel Ricketts, Jim Arthur, Doug Robinson and Neville Milne. The team performed admirably and had a win over a Queensland side during the week. Next year’s team’s championships are at Shepparton, Victoria and 2017 is in Adelaide. Anyone interested in competing please contact Trent or Jon.

On the local Tournament scene over the past few years we have held championships at Riverside, Sunshine, Glenorchy and the Domain (Tasmanian Champs). Numbers declined in 2014 and only three were held, at Glenorchy, Riverside and Domain. Congratulations go to the Arthur Matthews Player of the Year for 2013, won by Jon Aufder-Heide and Gunnar Pusta Most Improved Encouragement Award won by Rod Turner.


Jon Aufder Player of Year

The 2014 awards were a close affair and the Player of the Year competition came down to two players who were neck and neck following their success at the  Riverside Championships. It came down to the last day of the Tasmanian Championships in November and both players were in their respective finals. In the 40’s Shaun played Clayton Graham-Jones and in the 50’s Jon played Barry Titmus. Shaun lost to Clayton in a long and tight contest whilst Jon won on a walkover, thus winning the award again. A close and high standard over 40’s doubles final featured Clayton and Shaun against Jon and Tony Kerslake and Jon and Tony prevailed 6/3,7/5. It was good to see a former champion, Paul Graham-Jones (Clayton’s father) make the trip and compete in the singles.

With Tony having so much doubles success in recent years and Shaun in singles, it was decided that they should share the most improved encouragement award, named in honour of our past President, Gunnar Pusta.
This year there will be two main tournaments, Riverside in September and the Domain in November so we look forward to plenty of entries. The food and overall catering at Riverside is unsurpassed so let’s hope for a good turnout there!