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Former Davis Cup player Adam Thompson was one of many high calibre competitors to place at the Lower Northland Seniors Tennis Competition at Warkworth this month.
The competition saw doubles played on May 19 and mixed doubles on May 20 at both the Warkworth Tennis and Squash Club and Mahurangi East Tennis Club.
Thompson took out the men’s doubles top prize with partner Pranil Ranchhod in a hard fought tie-break victory, after opposition Mike Clapshaw and Terry Mitchell came back from 8-4 down.
Thompson won the men’s singles and men’s doubles in the 35-plus category at nationals in January and came third in the World Masters Games singles last year.
In the women’s doubles, national 60-plus singles and doubles champion Helen Litt partnered with Lyn Langsford. They were dominant and took out first place.
Runners-up were Jane Geldard and Karlene Magill and third place went to Lower Northland’s Robin Denton and Keiko Pogoni.
Other Lower Northland players to win titles were Penny Smith and Sandy Tritt in A section and Matthew Buchanan, John Dunn, Neville Stevenson, Bryn Williams, Don Matheson, Rob Denton, Des Freeman and Mike Bleasdale in B section.
In mixed doubles, Peter Hunter and Sue Jamieson placed first, while Wendell Wylde and Debbie Martin of Lower Northland were runners-up.
Other title winners from the local region in the mixed competition were Matheson, Tritt, Stevenson, Joanne Palmer, Williams, Joyce Pyle, Freeman and Sue Drinnan.
Lower Northland Seniors president Murray Billington says although the numbers were down to 83 players this year, the competition was very strong.
“We had some top players and probably our strongest ever ladies field in 34 years of the competition being run at Warkworth,” Murray says.
There are 52 tournaments on the seniors calendar for players 35 and over played throughout New Zealand. The Warkworth tournament attracts people from Wellington to Kerikeri.
