Event serves up family fare

A record number of participants from around the region competed in the third annual Lone Star Parent Child Tennis Tournament at the Tasman Tennis Centre yesterday.

There were three categories, 13 to 18 years, 12 years and under, and novice. In the novice category senior representative player Cara Glintmeyer teamed up with daughter Aria Bannister to win the tournament, beating Pauline and Daniel Stock in the final 5-1. Glintmeyer/Bannister came runner-up in the tournament last year. Third place went to Allan and Sam Innes-Walker.

The 12 year and under category was the largest section with some extremely competitive matches. Barry and Cameron Thomas, seeded No1, cruised through to the final where they met Tony and Ben Hazlett, who had played a tough semifinal against John and Nicholas Mellor, winning 9-6. The final was a tough contest but the second seeds of the Hazlett combination won the title 6-4, 6-1. The plate final was won by mother-daughter combination Penny-Sue and Abbey Franklin over Joe and Jarryl Flavell 9-3. The consolation plate final was won by Shane and Max Winterton 9-8 over the other Franklin combination of Chris and George.

The 13 years-plus category had the combination of Stephen and Henry Neas back to defend their title from 2009. They had an easy run through to the final where they met Craig and Natalie Beer. The Beer team was knocked out in the semifinal last year by the Neas partnership so were out for revenge. The Neas raced off to a 5-2 lead in the first set, but the Beers did fight back to 5-4 before the Neas pairing took the first set 6-4. The Neas father and son then dominated the match, winning the second set 6-1.

The plate final was won by Gary and Elliott Le Petit over Tom and Sam Driver. This was one of the closest matches of the day with the Le-Petit team winning 6-4, 6-5.

- © Fairfax NZ News