A new south-coast sporting sensation has potentially been born after the Boscombe’s Honeycombe Beach welcomed the International Beach Tennis Tour over the weekend of the 18th and 19th of August.
The weekend’s action was a huge hit with locals and visiting tourists with sizeable crowds gathering to watch the high-quality matches on the centre court and four neighbouring courts. Several tournaments were run over the course of the weekend with separate draws for; Men’s Doubles, Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles, with consolation events for both the Men’s and Mixed first round losers.
As well as being a success for the area for hosting an international event, there was also reason to celebrate for a Dorset player in the tournament itself. Brett Townsend and his partner Sophie Butland from Somerset were the winners of the Mixed Doubles consolation tournament after being knocked out in the opening round of the main draw.
Beach Tennis, which originated in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, is a variation of Tennis and is fundamentally similar to the “bat and ball” style game which is commonly played on beaches around the globe. With elements from; Tennis, Badminton and Beach Volleyball, Beach Tennis is fun and exciting sport that can be played on the beach or on sand.
The sport requires specific equipment to be played in its purest form; the court is the same size and layout as a Volleyball court (16mx8m), with the net standing at a height of 1.7m. Specially designed string-less rackets made from carbon or carbon fibreglass are used with low-pressure orange-grade tennis balls. The scoring system is the same as in regular Tennis but there are some small variations in serving and returning serve. A basic list of the rules is available on the Beach Tennis UK website: http://www.beachtennisuk.co.uk/beach-tennis/.
The atmosphere of the event was popular with all who were watching and/or taking part. Unlike regular Tennis, quiet is not compulsory. Music and stalls set up by local businesses like; Sorted Surf School and Urban Reef Bar and Restaurant among others helped create a lively demeanour.
Staff at the event assisted with the tournaments, gave free starter lessons to keen members of the public and also ran Beach Fitness sessions throughout the weekend. According to staff and volunteers at the event, the future of Beach Tennis in Dorset is dependent on the success of this year’s tournament.
With the help of Bournemouth Borough Council the International Beach Tennis Tour was able to use the area of the beach next to Boscombe Pier free of charge. Popular demand for the sport to continue in the area has meant that plans for introducing Beach Tennis into the Bournemouth University Freshers week have begun and the possibility of public group sessions being run on Honeycombe Beach could become a reality.
To find out more about Beach Tennis Click Here
To view the Beach Tennis UK Twitter page Click Here
By Harry Lund