02-10-2017
Des Windsor Mc Glynn was beaten by Brian Crofton in the singles A final last Sunday at the Tullamore open. He was also unlucky to lose to fellow Athlone player David Manser in the B final.
Laura Hunt was successful in the ladies C singles final, her first open win, a great achievement in her first season playing tennis. She defeated Lisa Kelly, a member of both Moate and Athlone tennis clubs. Paula Dowling teamed up with Deborah Mc Keown but were narrowly defeated by the Mullingar ladies in the ladies doubles final.
Autumn Leagues
Signing up for the autumn leagues is now open with the deadline this Thursday 5th October. Members can register on the form in the clubhouse.
Rider Competition
Athlone had a team competing in Mullingar last Friday. Mullingar and Cavan teams provided the opposition and after a round robin series of matches team Athlone had accumulated the greater number of points and consequently are in the final this Friday. The Athlone winning team members were Paula Dowling, Michele Culligan, Jacinta Digby, Deborah Mc Keown, Sean Raftery, Des Windsor Mc Glynn, John Galvin and George Bodor.
Junior Coaching
Clem Higginbotham continues coaching every Saturday for children under 7 at 10am. Children ages 8 to 11 have coaching at 11 and coaching for older children will start at 12. Clem can be contacted at 0864022490.
Derek Stenson’s coaching sessions started Tuesday 13th and are on every Tuesday and Friday at 4 and 5pm. He caters for children from 4 to 17 and for more details contact him at 0851080013 or to get his time table and registration form email Derek at rallyvolleysmash@gmail.com
Social Tennis
Men compete every Monday, the ladies play every Tuesday while mixed doubles competitions are held every Thursday. These nights are opportunities for new potential members to come along and play a few games.
Laver Cup
The inaugural Laver cup competition between Europe and The World was played recently. Six of the better players from Europe and six from the rest of the world competed for the cup, named after the great Australian player Rod Laver. Prague was the city for the initial final.
The most interesting aspect of the tournament was witnessing the two managers Bjorn Borg and John Mc Enroe prancing on the side line as they encouraged and cajoled their respective players to victory. It was compelling to witness Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal team up to play in a doubles match against Sam Querrey and Jack Sock. With thirty 35 grand slams between them there could only be one winner.
After winning Roger, no doubt thinking of adding to his 19 grand slam titles said, “We will always be rivals as long as we are active. And after this we will be rivals again.”
Team Europe triumphed 15-9. Next year’s the competition moves to Chicago.