Davey Thompson American Tournament

Davey and the winners

A large crowd of 30 members turned up for last Thursday night’s American Doubles Tournament sponsored by local man and popular tennis enthusiast, Davey Thompson. Many of the club’s stalwarts turned out for the occasion, notably Ken and Maura Newman, Geraldine Millar, Seamus Carron and Dympna Slowey (who was seen without her golf clubs for the first time in many months). It was also particularly pleasing to see some former junior members of the club now participating in the senior events. James Wilson, Donal Burns and Jack O’Reilly have continued to improve significantly since leaving the junior ranks and by the end of the evening they had convinced everyone that they were not just there to make up numbers.

Most of the matches proved extremely close and were decided by a single game. Those who put in inspired performances during the evening included the regular club nighters, Neville Crawford, Maxine Leary, Angela Sangwine and Sonja Hateboer. Neville won all his early rounds in the competition, with Maxine and Sonja also enjoying considerable success during the evening. Jack O’Reilly and Donal Burns enjoyed a big success over Roger Howe and Dominic Burns which put them both in contention. One has a feeling that Roger will benefit immensely from this outing since he was returning to competition for the first time in three years. He will undoubtedly be a force in the upcoming autumn competitions. Others who performed with distinction on the night include Jenny Cruickshank, Liz Murphy and Geraldine Millar.

The final saw Neville Crawford and Maura Newman take on Jack O’Reilly and Liz Murphy. The unlucky Donal Burns only just failed to make it through to the final, but having won events already this year, it shouldn’t be too long before he captures more prizes. Jack’s accuracy and hard hitting proved decisive in the final and ably supported by the consistent Liz Murphy, they ran out comfortable winners in the end.

Tribute was paid to Sonja Hateboer for the phenomenal spread that was provided on the night. She was ably assisted by Conor McMahon and barbecue maestro Clive Bruce, who proved he could take the heat both on and off the court. Prizes were presented to the finalists by the sponsor Davey Thompson, who received one of the loudest receptions of the night.