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Welcome to the Tennis Nelson Website

Nelson Bays Tennis Association is a not for profit sporting organisation, and has the responsibility for the promotion, development and administration of tennis in the Nelson Bays Region, incorporating its 13 affiliated clubs.

The 13 clubs affiliated to Tennis Nelson, represent 1143 members.

Nelson Bays Tennis manages an extensive inter-club competition, runs numerous tournaments for both juniors and seniors, and facilitates the development of Junior tennis through a 'Tennis in Schools' programme.

 

 
Lodestone Classic 2nd year success

 (winner of division 1 Nigel Greene and Lyn Broughton)

After all the cold southerly showers on Saturday, the Moutere sun shone strong and warm on the Moutere Hills Community Centre tennis courts on Sunday (13 June) for the Lodestone Classic Tournament.

The damp courts were soon dry enough for play to start, for the sixteen mixed doubles pairs, against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains.

The Lodestone Classic, first run in 2009 by the Upper Moutere Tennis Club, invites two teams from Motueka, Mapua, and five other clubs in the Nelson area.

We split the draw into two divisions this year, to accommodate a mix of competitive and social players, and then split each division into two pools. Some close games were contested during the first six rounds of pool play. Then we had a break for the delicious lunch, that Shirley Santos-Burt, and helpers, had done an excellent job of preparing. Many requests for receipes were overheard, as players refuelled, especially for the sweets and the focaccia bread. Play resumed with the semi-finals after lunch, and then we went straight onto the two action-packed finals.

Results:

Division 1

Winners        Lyn Broughton & Nigel Greene - Wakapuaka

Runners-Up  Maxine Clapshaw & Richard Fry - Motueka

Division 2

Winners        Trish Wehner & Rodger Croft - Tasman

Runners-Up  Jan Dobson & Brendan Spence - Tahuna

A large part of the Lodestone Classic Tournament is inviting all the other clubs out to the country for a fun day of tennis, and we are generously supported by our local Moutere businesses. The Upper Moutere Tennis Club would like to thank these sponsors, who have helped make this tournament such a success: Lodestone Wines; Neudorf Olives; Moutere Motors; Neudorf Cheese; Moutere Gold; Owen Bartlett Pottery; Upper Moutere General Store; and Abel Tasman Outdoors.

 

 
Ash & Alex are off overseas to compete

The region's two best young tennis players are set to take their first steps into the highly competitive world of international tennis.

Alex Hunt and Ash Calder, both 16, who play at the Tasman Tennis Centre in Richmond, are off to New Caledonia and Australia respectively for tournaments on the Junior ITF circuit.

Ash has previously played two events on the ITF Tour in New Zealand, but this is Alex's debut, and he is understandably excited about his first foray into international tennis.

He has entered the qualifying draw for the singles in Noumea, where 24 hopefuls will be whittled down to 12, who will join 36 other players in the main draw.

Alex, who attends Nelson College, said his aim was to first get through qualifying and then to win a match in the main draw, which would see him earn points that would allow him to take part in higher-ranked ITF tournaments, including the five held in New Zealand.

He is also likely to play doubles with partner Benji McGillivray, but that won't be confirmed until he arrives.

Alex is modest about his talent, which has him as the highest-ranked active senior player in Nelson, but is quietly confident of doing well at the Noumea event, which begins on Monday.

Even more remarkably, he plays with the aid of a carbon-fibre prosthetic, as he was born without his lower left arm from just below the elbow.

He can move the silver fern-emblazoned prosthetic by moving his right side, and can easily rest the ball on the fingers when serving.

"To be fair, it's probably just as easy as doing it with a normal hand," he said. "It's not really a disadvantage."

Alex said his opponents were often so focused that they did not notice the unique addition to his game, and he never used it as an excuse for not doing his best, on or off court.

It does, however, force him to play one-handed ground shots. As a youngster, he suffered because he did not have shots as powerful as those playing two-handed backhands.

However with the help of Neil McPhee, an ex-Scotland-ranked player living in the region, and his coach John Gardiner, he is gradually improving.

"As I get stronger, my backhand is getting better."

Ash – who, like Alex, is from the Wakefield area – has also been working hard on her backhand after an operation on her wrist affected her "weapon".

Next month, the Waimea College student will be travelling to Queensland to take part in two ITF events.

She was able to enter the slightly higher-ranked events because she earned a ranking point in Wellington last year. She said she was looking forward to testing herself against the different styles used by players from the Asia and Pacific regions.

"The Chinese that we usually play, they're runners. They just run – they don't have the nicest technique, but they chase everything down and just annoy you."

Ash is the number one-ranked women's player in Nelson, but she said she was expecting some challenging matches in Australia, as the level of opposition would be a big step up from under-16s.

She is unsure whether she will have to qualify for the main draw, as the first tournament is still just over three weeks away.

She will be partnering Heidi Stewart, one of New Zealand's highest-ranked juniors, in the doubles.

"It was nice of her to ask me," Ash said with a laugh

(story & photo courtesy of the Nelson Mail)

 
Nelson Veterans bring home the Houston Cup

The Nelson Veterans Team have returned home from Blenheim with the Houston Cup for the first time since 2005.

A strong Nelson veterans tennis team travelled to Blenheim on Sunday to compete in the fixture and came through with a great 20-16 win.
  
Nelson dominated in the middle age group category of 50+yrs winning 11 out of the 12 matches, however in the 35+ category the team struggled only able to win 2 out of the 12 matches.
The 60+ category Nelson won 7 out of the 12 matches.
The very experienced team featuring a number of past Nelson senior representative players were thrilled with the win which featured doubles, mixed  doubles and reverse doubles.
The team was:
35-49 age group:  Cara Glintmeyer, Tania Erskine, Jo Coman, Sandra McKenzie.
50-59                    Susan Rooney, Kate Prebble, Ngaire Calder, Lyn Broughton.
60+                       Penny Molnar,  Phyllis Wood, Irene Hickford, Fay Rangi.
35-49                    Ross Harvey, Phil Lee, Stuart Dixon, Mike Hodgson
50-59                    John Skelton, John Dunlop, Philip Stevenson, Ian Dahlberg.
60+                       Steve Molnar, Nori Kobayashi, Geoff Nalder, Jim Tompkins

 

 

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