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Report: NSW Deaf Tennis Championships 2011

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:25:35 +0100

The NSW Deaf Tennis Championships took place Sunday 23^rd October 2011 at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush.

Under clear blue skies, warm sun and temperatures in the high 20s, 6 men and 6 women battled long and hard for the right to be crowned NSW Deaf Tennis Champions.

After waiting for a few latecomers to arrive the tournament officially began at 9am with the kick-off of the round-robin stages of the Singles events. This year saw a mixture of new and old faces some of who were playing their first tennis tournament in over 15 years!

Men:

In the Men’s, the top seeds in their respective groups, Andrew Klusman and Joshua Sealy enjoyed a straightforward progress to the semifinals. Mark Theodossiou and Vince Terlizzi put in a sterling effort to reach their first ever semifinals but the gulf in playing ability was too great to overcomer as Mark went down 6-3 to Joshua and Vince 6-0 to Andrew.

Jamal Ahmadi also impressed in his first ever tennis tournament after just a few months of starting in the sport, going down 6-4 to Liam Hodgson in the 5^th/6^th playoff.

With the top two seeds facing off in the final, it was an interesting contrast between the two players. The young powerful Joshua who has already represented Australia in Taipei 2009 Deaflympics against the older experienced Andrew who has only just started to be involved in deaf tennis.

Andrew handled the windy conditions better at the start, limiting his unforced errors and racing to a 6-1 first set lead. In the second set, it was the same story with Andrew leading 4-1 until Joshua began to find his range after doubling his concentration and was eventually dominating the rallies with his powerful groundstrokes. He managed to claw back a break of serve but Andrew held on to close it out 6-3 for his first ever NSW Deaf Tennis Championships singles title.

In the doubles, there were 3 teams consisting of Andrew Klusman and Liam Hodgson, Vince Terlizzi and Mark Theodossiou, Joshua Sealy and Jamal Ahmadi.

It turned out to be a close affair between the bottom two teams for the right to compete in the final against Klusman/Hodgson who won both their doubles matches in a clear-cut fashion. Ahmadi/Sealy and Terlizzi/Theodossiou ended up with 4 games each after their two round-robin matches but as Terlizzi/Theodossiou had actually won their match against Ahmadi/Sealy, they were through to the final.

Terlizzi and Theodossiou put up a brave fight but could not stop Klusman/Hodgson from steamrolling to a 6-2 victory, completing a sweep of the Mens events for Andrew.

Women:

The women’s round robin singles consisted of last year’s champion, Ayami Sato, two new players and 3 returning players who used to play under the old Deaf Tennis NSW club.

Karen Paterson displayed continued improvement since taking up the game a year ago and acquitted herself well against her counterparts who have been playing for many years. Her efforts were rewarded with a 3^rd place finish in the round-robin group.

Ayami progressed through the round-robin stage without losing a single game, winning all matches 6-0. Maria Jordan, returning from her battle with illness, won her two remaining singles to progress to the final where Ayami awaited. True to form, Ayami was too strong for Maria in all aspects of the match storming to a 6-0 win and the title of NSW Champion for the 2^nd year running.

In the doubles, there was a round robin of three teams – Ayami Sato and Heather Bowie, Maria Jordan and Tania Palmer, Laurel Payne and Karen Paterson.

Again, the true test of the round robin proved to be which of the lower teams would earn the right to face off against Ayami and Heather, who comfortably won their matches, in the final. That honour went to Maria and Tania after they saved 2 match points against Laurel and Karen en route to a tiebreak win 9-7 despite a gallant effort from Laurel who played through a foot injury.

Maria and Tania were able to play better in the final than they had in their round robin match against Ayami and Heather. There were some great rallies as Maria and Tania sought to use their experience but could not complete the task as Ayami and Heather proved too strong with their groundstroke consistency. As a result, Heather secured her first ever deaf tennis title and Ayami joined Andrew as a deserving dual champion of both singles and doubles.

All in all, it was a great day in beautiful weather at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre. A special thanks must go out to Michelle Clarke at Tennis NSW for helping to organise the court bookings and letting us use their BBQ for a fantastic lunch.

I hope next year will be just as successful and on a larger scale with more participants!

See you next year!

John Lui

Vice President

Deaf Tennis Australia

NSW & Vic Champs - Enter now

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:57:07 +0100

Details for NSW and Vic champs are finalised, both will be held starting Oct 23rd, so get your entries in now. For more details & online entry go to http://www.deaftennisaustralia.org/tournamententry.php

Australian Deaf Games - Register now!

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:52:29 +0100

Folks, preparations for the 2012 Australian Deaf Games in Geelong, January 14th-21st, are well under way. Tennis will be at the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club, and it promises to be a week full of tennis and other fun things! Our aim is to play the tennis in the mornings & finish up early afternoon, so everyone is free to enjoy all that the ADG and Geelong have to offer! There will be plenty of tennis for all standards of play, and everyone will get the opportunity to earn team points for their state/region. We firmly suggest you get your entries in soon & also sort out your accommodation - the later you leave it the harder it will be to find!

Official event website is http://www.austdeafgames.org.au/, and if you have queries about the tennis please send an email to info@deaftennisaustralia.org.

2011 Vic Champs - Oct 23rd and Nov 20th

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:41:30 +0100

Hi Folks, this year we are splitting our tournament across 2 days. On October 23rd we will have the doubles event at Melbourne Park, then on November 20th we will have the singles event in Pakenham. For kids & beginners of all ages, there will be some coaching on a nearby court at noon and 1pm - friends & family deaf & hearing all welcome! See here for a flyer, enter online here.

Anyone from interstate or overseas who wants to play is welcome.

2011 Australian Deaf Tennis Championships Report

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:20:41 +0100

In early April, deaf tennis players from all around Australia gathered in Canberra for our national championships. We had a mix of old and new faces, and it was a particular pleasure for us to welcome Japanese international representative Ayami Sato, who is currently living in Sydney, and her high standard of play was always going to be a big challenge for the Aussie women! This is the first time in many years that we've had a national championships separate from the Australian Deaf Games, and our approach is that all deaf people in Australia are welcome to come and play - regardless of age, standard of play, etc.

Before competition began on the Saturday we were briefed on how to look after the clay courts - by bagging (smoothing) and watering them at the end of each set. Then play got underway, starting with the singles. For the events that were not round robin, first and second round losers entered a consolation event, so there was lots of tennis to be played!

On Sunday, we woke to find that it was raining. So some matches were shifted indoors, on to a very fast court surface, which was a major challenge for all! Fortunately, by early afternoon the rain cleared, so we moved back to the outdoor venue, but since the clay courts were still flooded we played on the hard courts. It was fantastic that despite the
difficult weather and repeated changes of venue there were so many spectators!

The last few matches were finished on Monday. It was an action-packed weekend with lots of tennis, some very close matches, and some fun social events. Congratulations to all competitors on their fine efforts and sportsmanship during the weekend. Special congratulations the event winners. Many thanks to Tennis Australia, Tennis ACT and the Australian
Institute of Sport for their support during the event.

After a great weekend of tennis we are looking forwards to the next big event on the deaf tennis calendar, which after our international event in Turkey in June this year will be the Australian Deaf Games in January next year. In the meantime keep up to date with events in your state - email to info@deaftennisaustralia.org and let us know you're interested!

Results

Women's Singles
Winner: Ayami Sato
Runner-up: Carolyn Nixon (nee McKnight)
Consolation event winner: Kathy Sakellarios

Men's Singles
Winner: Glen Flindell
R unner-up: John Lui
Consolation event winner: Michael Louey

Women's Doubles
Winners: Carolyn Nixon & Kathy Sakellarios
Runners-up: Renuka & Laurel Payne

Men's Doubles:
Winners: Glen Flindell & Stephen Swann
Runners-up: John Lui & Jamie Zafir

Mixed Doubles:
Winners: John Lui & Ayami Sato
Runners-up: Joshua Sealy & Carolyn Nixon
Consolation event winners: Albert Nguyen & Lauren Payne

2011 Dresse & Maere Cup Report

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 02:46:06 +0100

Well done to the Aussie fellas just returned from competing in Izmir, Turkey, in the Dresse & Maere Cup. Drawn into Pool B (otherwise known as "the Pool of Death" due the quality of our opposition), Australia's first two pool matches were against seeds France and Austria, and we fought hard but wins were hard to come by and we lost both ties 0-3.  The remainder of the pool matches against Russia (3:0), China (2:1) and Slovenia (2:1) were much more productive, and we finished third in Group B.

This saw us through to the playoffs for 5th to 8th.  After a clean sweep of the singles and doubles vs Chinese Taipei (3:0), we fronted up against China again in a final playoff for 5th. After being one rubber all after the singles, and losing the opening set of the doubles things were looking grim, then good second set saw us square the ledger, only to lose the match in a third set super tie break! Congratulations to John Lui (player), Jamie Zafir (player), Stephen Swann (player/manager) and Penny Gillett (Physiotherapist) on a fine performance, especially bouncing back after a difficult couple of days to start with.

Many thanks also to the event organisers - our Turkish hosts did an excellent job of looking after us, the venue was top notch, the event was well organised and went very smoothly, and the officials did a great job sitting in the chair for as much as 8 hours in a day! Thanks also to our many supporters for their moral support, and especially to those who helped out with our fundraising or managed to get themselves to Izmir to cheer us on.

Full results at http://www.deaflympics.com/pdf/Results/2011-WC-DresseMaere.pdf

2012 Asia Pacific Deaf Games - EoI due NOW!

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:49:41 +0100

Want to play tennis a the 2012 Asia Pacific Deaf Games, in Seoul, Korea, in May next year?! Deaf Sports Australia have requested that everbody who is interested need to fill in an Expression of Interest form now (due date August 19th). Click here for the form. More info at www.deafsports.org.au, or www.seoul2012.com. We are keen to see a healthy contingent of Australians compete, and if you have a strong interest in tennis we encourage you to put your hand up for selection!

Australian Deaf Games - Early Bird

Sun, 29 May 2011 13:17:21 +0100

Come and play tennis at the Australian Deaf Games in January 2012! The tennis event promises to be a fantastic week with lots of tennis at the Geelong Tennis Club (in Victoria), and plenty of time to enjoy the other sports and activities that are part of the ADG. The event will cater to all ages and standards of play from beginner through to the serious competition player. Register now for the early bird entry fee. Any queries email info@deaftennisaustralia.org
Click here for info & to register

Entertainment Books

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:19:15 +0100

Buy yourself an Entertainment Book, help yourselves save some money, and help raise some funds for DTA all at the same time! https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/210653

2011 National Champs - Canberra April 9th & 10th (&11th)

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:02:45 +0100

The 2011 national champs will be held in Canberra. Enjoy a weekend of tennis, meet other deaf tennis players, stay at the Australian Institute of Sport, and possibly use the weekend as an opportunity to put your hand up for selection for international events. For the first time we are offering junior events at the national level - so it is an exciting opportunity for the juniors to get involved.

Click here for a flyer.

You can enter online here, or fill in the form in the flyer and fax/email your entry, and we will be in touch to finalise your entry.