Thrilling finish to men’s doubles
ANDREW Stuart teamed up with Conrad Hurter to win a thrilling final in the Wembley Men’s Doubles tennis tournament when they edged defending champions Chris Loock and Helgard Zietsman in Saturday’s final.
The seventh edition of the event at the PE Lawn Tennis Club saw high-quality tennis played, which tournament director Gavin Cullen described as some of the best competition since its inception in 2012.
The opening game of the A section final was a microcosm of what was about to unfold because Loock trailed 40-15 on his serve before fighting back to take the game.
However, Stuart and Hurter then reeled off the next five games of the pro set (first to eight) final to seemingly take complete control.
Loock and Zietsman were not about to give up and, using all their considerable skill and experience, they came back to level at 5-5.
From there it developed into a dingdong battle, with Stuart and Hurter going 7-5 ahead before losing the 13th game.
However, they kept their cool in a tight situation and eventually edged home 8-6.
This was Stuart’s third title in the tournament after winning in 2014 (with Zietsman) and 2016 (with Richard Bulbring).
In the B division final, Mike Bladen and Wayne McCay took the honours with an 8-4 win over George Holloway and Peter Sale.
Wembley used the occasion to raise funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation in Port Elizabeth (CHOC) and Cullen said the charity was delighted with the final donation.
“Thanks to the support of many parties, we were able to raise a total of R5 000 for CHOC during the day,” he said.
“So from that point of view and from a tennis perspective, it was another excellent day for the Nelson Mandela Bay community.”