After a rain out last week the Stratford Tennis League finally got underway this week. This season the league is being sponsored by La DEBONAIRE SPA and HAIR DESIGN, SNAP, DONKERS AGRI and SUNRISE HEALTH SERVICES.
The early game had DONKERS AGRI facing LaDEBONAIRE HAIR DESIGN. Donkers took a big lead after the men’s doubles matches as Bob Tamblyn and Tom Warnock of Donkers downed Richard Bast and Grant McPherson of LaDebonaire 6-4 6-3 in the #1 men’s doubles. Mike Furlong and Todd Chisholm of Donkers took out Jack Watson and Sing Chung of LaDebonaire 6-4 6-1 in the #2 men’s doubles. LaDebonaire began its comeback in the ladies doubles. The #1 ladies doubles was a split as Donkers Marta Andrekovic and Maria Donkers took the first set 6-4 while LaDebonaire’s Krista Plociennik and Sandie Ennett scored a 6-2 win in the second set. LaDebonaire’s Ginny Smith and Sandra Hofing took both ladies #2 doubles sets defeating Heather Henke and Michele Thomson 6-4 6-1 . Donkers took a 5 sets to 3 sets heading into the mixed doubles matches.
The #1 mixed doubles match had LaDebonaires’s Plociennink and Bast edging Andrekovic and Tamblyn 6-4. Ennett and McPherson also scored a win for LaDebonaire with a 6-4 win over Donkers and Warnock in the #2 mixed match. LaDebonaire took the #3 mixed match when Smith and Watson blanked Henke and Furlong 6-0. Thomson and Chisholm salvaged the night for Donkers scoring a 6-4 victory over Hofing and Chung in the #4 mixed match. This left the first match of the season a tie with both teams winning 6 sets.
The late game was a battle between SUNRISE HEALTH SERVICES and SNAP. Snap took the #1 men’s doubles with Shannon Dyke and Chris Parson downing Sunrise’s Spencer Trachsel and Pat McCarroll 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) 6-3. The #2 men’s doubles was a split of sets with Sunrise’s Jagdish Patel and Paul Barclay taking the first set 6-4 and Snap’s Jim Wilson and Gary Henry taking the second set 6-2. Sunrise took the ladies #1 doubles as Claire Scott and Debbie Murphy scored a 6-2 and 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) win over Linda Doig and Johanna Billings. Nancy Rheaume and Marilyn Leasa of Sunrise took the first set in ladies #2 doubles 6-3 while Nancy Chung and Liz Yundt of Snap took the second set 7-5. The teams entered the mixed matches tied 4 sets each.
Snap took the #1 mixed match 6-2 as Doig and Dyke downed Scott and Trachsel. Sunrise won the #2 mixed with Murphy and McCarroll defeating Billings and Parson 6-4. The #3 mixed also went to Sunrise with Rheaume and Patel scoring a 6-4 victory over Chung and Wilson. Sunrise completed the comeback when they took the #4 mixed as Leasa and Barclay doubled up Yundt and Henry 6-3. The mixed success gave Sunrise a 7 sets to 5 sets win for the night.
Week 2 will see Sunrise Health Services face Donkers Agri in the early game and Snap take on LaDebonaire Hair Design in the late game.
Heather Henke keeps her eye on the ball as she prepares to hit a backhand.
Bill White