Salmon Arm’s Askew Tennis Centre. (Marianne VanBuskirk photo)

Salmon Arm Tennis Club hosts COVID-friendly championships

Ken Hecker and Don Macpherson win inaugural Men's 65 Men's Doubles event

The Salmon Arm Tennis Club recently engaged in some COVID friendly competition at The Askew Tennis Centre.

From November 14 to 22, the club hosted its closed championships, with matches held in respect of health and safety requirements, sans spectators.

The Ladies A Singles Final was a very exciting match, with Shannon Hecker coming from behind to win the title in a long, tightly contested final against Marietjie Bonthuys , tallying 4-6, 6-4,10-5. Bob Langford took the Men’s A Singles by displaying effective strategy and experience over all of his opponents throughout the event, winning yet another Club Closed Championship. Langford defeated defeated Winston Pain with scores of 6-2, 6-3.

Emily Wark won both the Ladies B Singles and Ladies B Doubles against and with her mom Debbie Wark, completing a successful week by winning two events. Emily defeated Debbie 6-4, 6-2.

The mother and daughter team of Marietjie and Yana Bonthuys competed in the Ladies B Doubles and showed they are a team to watch for many years to come. The fell short to the mother/daughter Wark duo, 7-5, 6-2.

Ron Donatelli took the Men’s B Singles in a physical match-up against Bill Spencer, 6-1, 6-4.

Loree Boyd and Maddie Dickie played aggressively and took the title by taking over the net in their Ladies A Doubles final versus Shannon Hecker and Lisa Marie-Patterson, 6-1, 6-4. West Martin Patterson and Al Davis dominated the Men’s A Doubles final over Winston Pain and Bob Langford with superior serving and net play, 6-2, 6-0.

Ken Hecker and Don Macpherson won the inaugural Men’s 65 Men’s Doubles event by outlasting their far younger opponents, Brian Waring and George Elamatha, in the round-robin section to win by walkover in the final.

Tournament organizers Langford and Pain thanked everyone for making the 2020 club championships a truly unique experience in light of planning around COVID-19 concerns.

Submitted

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