Oxfam Open Tennis 2011

Sunday 8th May 2011 saw HML's budding tennis greats take to the courts to fight out the 2011 tennis tournament. Last year saw Joel Dalby beat Emma Yiu in a very entertaining final.

With Emma and Joel seeded, The first round draw for 2011 was as follows:

Joel Dalby v. Adrian Stokes

Hollie Burgin v. James Robertson

Emma Yiu v. Jez Lamb

Sian Jones v. Selvah Rasappah

Worried about the prospect of sleeping on the sofa, James kicked off the tournament by narrowly beating his fiancée, Hollie 6-1, 6-0 who put in a gutsy performance. Emma eased past Jeremy, who was struggling a little from a recent 40 mile Trailtrekker training walk (you can see their donation page here!!). A shaky start saw Joel progress through into the semi finals, overcoming Ady 6-4, 6-0. Unknown quantity, Sian, gave Selvah a run for his money, but ultimately lost out 6-2, 6-1.

Sian returns one of Selvah's shots:

Ady :

Jeremy:

Hollie:

By this time, the sun had burnt through the morning cloud and the competitors were bathed in sunlight for the rest of the day. The first semi final saw Joel breeze past James 6-0, 6-0 and Emma progressed through to the final after beating Selvah, setting up a tasty repeat of last year's final.

Joel lunges:

An exhausting three-set 3rd place playoff saw Selvah overcome James 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to take the bronze medal.

James serves:

Selvah stretches to return the ball:

Nervy at times, the final saw Joel repeat his triumph against Emma, who was carrying a knee injury from her badminton/running activities, comfortably taking the gold medal.

Joel concentrates whilst preparing to receive Emma's serve:

Emma:

The Q-Team would like to thank all those who supported this year's competition, specifically the 8 entrants and Nick Cave who kindly volunteered to help on the day! Big thanks also to Aireville School for lending us the tennis courts again in 2011.

Ever-present Nick helps with the smooth running of the tournament: