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
