Vernon’s Ray Kimoto and Murray Bennetto, both of the Kalamalka Country Club, reached the semifinals in singles and the finals in the doubles at the Canadian Seniors Tennis Championships last weekend in Vancouver.
Kimoto, playing on clay courts at the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club, placed fourth in the 75+ category. After grounding Irvel Mackie of Nova Scotia 7-6, 0-6, 6-1 in the third round, Kimoto defeated No. 2 Rene Roptin of Montreal 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Kimoto then lost 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to Gordon Verge of Vancouver Island in the semifinals to place fourth.
Bennetto, playing at the Arbutus Tennis Club, placed third in the 50+ category.
Bennetto, seeded eighth, defeated Pat Macken of Vancouver 6-1, 6-2 and stopped Greg Kruger 6-1, 6-0 in preliminary rounds before icing No. 4 Robert Excell of Vancouver 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
The former Hong Kong pro then lost to Tony Macken of Vancouver, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals to place third.
In doubles, Kimoto and his partner Verge, ranked third, were finalists in their age category.
Kimoto and Verge defeated Vancouver’s Bernard Gregoire and George Smith 6-4, 6-0 in first-round play and then brushed back Howard Lowe and Norman Hughes of Vancouver 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
They upset No. 2 Adrian Grice and John Swinden of Toronto, 6-0, 6-3, in the semifinals and fell 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a thrilling final to top-ranked Roptin and Gaston Blais, both of Montreal.
Bennetto and his partner, Stephen Kimoff, of Vancouver, seeded No. 2, lost 6-3, 6-3 in the finals to No. 1 Pat and Tony Macken.
Earlier, Bennetto and Kimoff downed Chris Shay (Manitoba) and Kim Jow (B.C.), 6-0, 6-0, stopped Tom Brown (Manitoba) and Paul Keith (Ontario) 6-4, 6-0 and then outsted Mohsen Harandizaden (Ontario) and Oliver Kraut (Florida) 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the 102nd annual Labour Day Open goes this weekend at the Kal Country Club with 90 players beginning matches Saturday at 8 a.m.
Bennetto will be favoured in men’s singles, where there are 15 entries.
