Thrills and spills at Madhatters’ Mixed
There was wonderful camaraderie between the players from the various clubs.
Mad hats were the order of the day at an Ugu Tennis Association fun mixed tennis tournament held at Umtentweni TC last Sunday.
While Jannik Sinner was beating Alexander Zverev in Melbourne to win the Australian Open, locally, players from Tweni, Uvongo, Douglas Mitchell and Southbroom tennis clubs all took part in the Madhatters’ Mixed on what was perhaps not the coolest day of the year!
It was played as a handicap event, which made for some interesting matches and entertaining moments, with some players scratching their heads, trying to remember the score and which side to serve from.
In between all this, there was some fine tennis played and friendships renewed. There was wonderful camaraderie between the players from the various clubs.
There were six groups of four pairs each. Groups were named Crowns, Peaks, Helmets, Top Hats, Bonnets and Cheese Cutters.
So, each pair played three round robin games, which comprised seven games with sudden death deuce used.
Once these were complete, the pairs then played against their corresponding qualifying number from a different group.
The pairs with the most games were declared the winners (followed by runners-up) of positions one, two, three and four.
There was a prize for best hat, going to Alan Hurlbatt and Pauline Lee, plus some lucky draw prizes.
Delicious snacks kept the hunger at bay, as did tasty wors rolls braaied by Tweni club chairman Chris Connellan.
Results:
1s: 1st James Purdon and Sue Jacobs, 2nd Raj Naganna and Chantelle Donald.
2s: 1st David Rush and Cathy Kirton, 2nd Alan and Karin Collocott.
3s: 1st Alan Hurlbatt and Pauline Lee, 2nd Jordan Bartlett and Heloise Cloete.
4s: 1st Rob Cubbin and Gail Hurlbatt, 2nd Herman Ehlers and Sue Biggins.
Coming up:
Ugu Tennis Association will host a new tournament, the Tiebreak Tee-Off on Sunday, February 23, from 11:00 to 14:00.
It will be held at Southbroom and, if necessary, Douglas Mitchell.
Doubles combinations (men and women) can enter and compete. Each match is the best of three 10-point tiebreaker sets.
It will probably be played as a round robin, but larger entry numbers would mean a knockout draw.
To enter, contact Sharon van der Schyff on 083 2631398 or email ugutennis@gmail.com.
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