Exciting finals in Enniskillen
ENNISKILLEN Lawn Tennis Club held their annual Senior Closed Tournament last week which was generously sponsored by Lakeland Veterinary Service.
Played out all week in fine weather, there was plenty of action from the 62 local competitors from the Club.
Given the recent increases in membership since Covid, for many players, it was their first time participating in a tennis tournament and it was great to see the tennis play at the Club going from strength to strength with Finals Day on Saturday displaying lots of dazzling tennis.
Many of the matches were fought hard over with either two tight sets or three set matches.
Matthew Mcgann, the Club’s Coach, was busy on the courts over the course of the week reaching the finals of the A/B Men’s Singles Final but losing in a great match to in-form John Slowey who deservedly won at 6/3 6/4.
Matthew, however, won the A/B Men’s Doubles alongside partner Jonny Dixon at 6/1 5/7 10/6 beating Donal Burns and Nick Finlay.
This match was one of the highlights of the tournament with many exciting rallies being played by all four men.
In the A/B Mixed Doubles Matthew along with partner Josie Gillen also went on to win this match at 7/5 6/4 beating Declan Mcbride and Leslie Campbell.
The C/D Men’s Singles proved to be another exciting match between Sean Bradley and Matt Dillon but Sean took the title at 6/4 5/7 and 10/5 in the deciding championship tie break.
The A/B Singles Ladies final was between Vanessa Mcbrien and Janice Smyth with Vanessa winning the event at 6/1 6/3.
The C/D Ladies Singles was played between Fiona Balfour and Diane Bell with Fiona winning the event at 6/4 6/3.
One of the most thrilling matches of the tournament was undoubtably the A/B Ladies Doubles between Martina Boyd and Helena Stirling and their opponents Helen Kettyle and Vanessa Mcbrien.
All four ladies played fantastic tennis with lots of great rallies but the closely fought match was eventually won by Martina and Helena at 7/6 7/6.
The C/D Men’s Doubles was won by Sean Bradley and John Callaghan beating Cyril Boyd and Jurgen Hoogerboord at 6/4 6/3.
The C/D Ladies Doubles was won by Leslie Campbell who had a very successful tournament and her partner Lucy Gannon winning the event at 6/1 6/4 and their opponents were Fiona Balfour and Sheila Colville.
The C/D Mixed Doubles was won by John Callaghan who won two C/D Doubles events in the tournament and took this title with partner Leslie Campbell at 6/2 6/2 beating Cyril Boyd and Maria Burns.
The presentation of the prizes took place in the Clubhouse on Saturday evening and Mark Cousins, who made the presentation along with Club Chairperson, Maxine Leary, remarked on a very successful week of tennis, with many of the participants being newcomers to the sport.
Mark, once again, thanked Lakeland Veterinary Service, Derrygonnelly for their generous sponsorship.
He also thanked Sonja Hateboer, who did a fantastic job as Tournament Director, alongside making lots of mouthwatering soups and salads for the event.
Behind the scenes, Mark thanked Maxine Leary and Evelyn Cousins for all their hard work at the Club and to all the players who participated in a hugely successful event.