Charity Pro-am Doubles and Adult Doubles Tournaments Saturday 18 February 2012
Saturday 18th February was an exhausting but fun filled day at Exeter Tennis Centre. The eagerly anticipated pro-am
doubles tournament attracted 21 mini tennis red players and 14 ‘pros’. Hot off her win at the over 35s World
Championships in California, Lucie Ahl took her place as a pro alongside Oskar Wynne, Jack Findel-Hawkins, Sally
Langford, Pete Underhill, Sunny Parker, Tia Sloman, Marc Sillifant, Georgie Treen, Antoni Gomez, Alex Parry, Rhianna
Hemmings and George Cann. A few parents also dusted off their tennis shoes and took to the courts as their child’s
pro – Jake Upsher also helped Finn to win his last couple of matches and win the 5th placed players draw.
The winner of the event, partnering his dad was Damien Cole who walked away with a £20 voucher which was kindly
donated by Tony Pryce.
Winner:
Damien Cole
2nd placed qualifiers winner:
Oliver Cockram
3rd placed qualifiers winner:
William Blum
4th placed qualifiers winner:
Ed Sowden
5th placed qualifiers winner:
Finn Upsher
All the players had a great time and there were lots of smiles from everybody, start to finish. This event raised
over £250 for Bowel & Cancer Research – a big thank you to everyone who participated and helped on the day.
After the children had finished their event, the adults took to the courts to play in their own tournament. We had
a fantastic turn out with 23 players turning up on the night. Victoria Park Club was very well represented along with a
strong coffee morning contingent too!
Gayle’s patented playing card system for choosing opponents, courts and partners was put into operation and after
the first couple of rounds everything ran very smoothly. Players competed throughout the evening and when play
finished at 9.20pm, scores were added up with the following players winning a prize... Max Goss – racket re-string
donated by Jon Wills, Nick Garrett – bottle of wine – donated by Gayle and Katherine Bell – an individual lesson with
Gayle.
The adult doubles event raised almost £400.
“The total raised from these two events was £643, pushing my current total to £2410. My original
£2,000 target has been achieved so I’ve now got my sights on raising £3,500! The indoor courts were
donated for free for both of these events, so I would like to say a big thank you to Will McNally and the
Senior Sports Park Management for this support.”
Gayle Vaughan.