On 21st & 22nd November, Deaf Tennis Australia held the 2009 NSW Junior Deaf Tennis Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.

The Event, run by Deaf Tennis Australia and supported by Tennis NSW was played on a weekend with extreme weather conditions with temperatures reaching 42 degrees on the Sunday.  Due to the extreme conditions the organisers were forced to change formats and reschedule matches to protect the children from serious illness and heat stroke, as well as allowing the completion of the event.

The organisers John Lui and Andrew Klusman, along with the assistance of several parents and eagerness of the juniors to compete, managed to complete the 2 day event and crown some new NSW junior champions.

The Boy’s Singles was a hotly contested event with a clear champion, James Sowter, winning through all his matches with a powerful serve and punishing forehand. The runner up was much more closely contested with Daniel Prasad fighting into the final with great control and consistency, just beating out defending champion Olwyne Ho.  The final was a hard fought affair with James’s greater power proving the difference on the vital points.

The Girl’s Singles final was a battle of Consistency (Heather Bowie) versus Power (Billie Rasmussen) with Heather winning though in a tense battle 6-4 6-3.

The Boy’s Doubles again saw some great tennis in very difficult conditions. Daniel Prasad emerged as the Champion making up for his finals loss in the singles. Hasan Cinar showed great fighting spirit to finish runner up in his first ever tournament.

The Girl’s Doubles unfortunately was cancelled.

Congratulations to all the champions and all the competitors for making this a successful event and for the continued generous support of Tennis NSW. 

2009 NSW Junior Deaf Champions and Runner-ups.

Boy’s Singles

-          Champion           James Sowter

-          Runner up           Daniel Prasad

Girl’s Singles

-          Champion           Heather Bowie

-          Runner up           Billie Rasmussen

Boy’s Doubles

-          Champion           Daniel Prasad

-          Runner up           Hasan Cinar