Monday night hitting program is continuing through February and March.  Click here for details.

Go to www.changingends.com.au and check out a short (90 sec) video from the Aust Deaf Tennis team at the Taipei Deaflympics (you will probably have to navigate to the 3rd page) - many thanks to Jamie Zafir for producing this small taster of a huge event!

The earlier report on our trip is here.

Deaf Tennis Australia was kindly invited by Tennis NSW to attend the Medibank International Sydney Showcase on Wednesday 13th January. The Showcase was held at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Homebush Bay. The purpose of the Showcase was to create awareness and highlight Deaf Tennis Australia during the Medibank International to the general public.

The Showcase took place on Court 3 situated next to Centre Court and went from 4pm to 6pm. Deaf juniors of different hearing levels and playing abilities were invited to participate in this Showcase and they were provided with free ground passes courtesy of Tennis NSW. Over the two hours, the juniors participated in training drills involving everything from groundstrokes to their serves ending with point play in singles and doubles.

It was a fantastic day to be had by all and a big thank you to Michelle Clarke from Tennis NSW who kindly invited us to take part in the Showcase; Laurel Payne for taking photos of the day; Joshua Sealy for directing the Showcase session and to all the juniors who took part.

Hopefully next year is even better and we look forward to seeing you there!

Juniors:
Chris Makin
Heather Bowie
Poreia Millad
Billie Rasmussen
Joshua Sealy
Shirley Liu

Hi Folks,
Monday night hitting is starting up again on Jan 11th, same time, same place as before.  Details here.
The 5-6 sessions we have over Nov and Dec went well, with 5-13 people attending each Monday, with some of us going to a nearby restaurant for food after - all are welcome to join us for this!  We have as many courts as we need so no need to RSVP - just turn up on the night.  The Australian Open is on so there is heaps of interest in tennis at the moment, and we hope to see a few new faces coming along in the next few weeks!

On 21^st & 22^nd 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