16 players from across the area made the snow invisible as they took to the courts for a fun touchtennis event at Queens Campus Sports Centre on Saturday!
With Carol the BBC 'weather girl' predicting blizzards and icey conditions we wondered if an event would even take place. Amazingly 16 out of the 17 entries did not let the snow spoil their super Saturday and in fact blew the forecast into a different stratosphere with sizzling shots and 2 hours of giggling!
It was the second event of it's kind at the Durhami University venue near Stockton and the entry had doubled since the first event pre-Christmas. Matthew Wigham who is the University Tennis Coordinator at Sunderland University brought a mini bus of students down to put their touchtennis to the test. And their journey down the A19 was rewarded with both the Oz and USA group titles! Angela and Liam won their initial groups and then clinched the final against really tough opponents, Alex and Paul in their respective play-off finals. The husband and wife (Paul and Alex) combination proved their eye for all racket sports by reaching the same stage as each other. Their 2 boys, Seb and Jacob aka the 'Superfans' were proud of what Mum and Dad achieved. Jacob even kept on doing a Wayne Rooney celebration dive on the lovely hard, shiny floor in the sports hall, whilst Seb clapped in between playing on his new notebook on the sidelines! However their great play was to face tough opposition in the finals where they lost to players who simply were too good.
The touchtennis was really fun to watch and there were some Simon v Monfils length rallies with Alex and Aisling recreating the mammoth exchanges, with their match reaching to 24-22. The only difference was that there was no ice bath on hand afterwards to cool them both down!
Following the matches the presentation wrapped up a great event with various Oz related prizes for the winners, runners up and player of the day! Both Peri and Jo couldn't decide between Jade and Natalia who should have the accolade of player of the day. However Jade just clinched it by laughing the most out of the pair....both had not stopped giggling and laughing all day, which epitomises what the event was all about! We gave Natalia some M&M chocolates and Jade took home a new mini tennis racket!
Here is one of the videos from the event.
There are going to be regular touchtennis sessions starting in March 2013 and should you wish to to hear more about the weekly opportunities please contact NEandCumbria@LTA.org.uk.