The 2015 Stratford Tennis League champions have been crowned. The ‘A’ champions are Auto Works who finished fourth in the regular season standings but caught fire in the playoffs and took the season’s title. 

Auto Works faced Donkers Agri in the ‘A’ championship final. Play opened with Auto Works’ #1 Ladies Doubles team of Johanna Billings and Deb Murphy sweeping Linda Doig and Maria Donkers 6-2 6-4. The #2 Ladies Doubles split sets as Donkers team of Lindsay Murray and Nancy Chung took the first set 7-5 before Auto Works’ Carmen Miron and Sandra Hofing responded by taking the second set 6-4. 

The #1 Men’s Doubles had Richard Bast and John Noble of Donkers win the first set 6-2 and Grant McPherson and Pat McCarroll of Auto Works rebounding to take the second set 6-4. The #2 Men’s Doubles also saw a split of sets as Larry Shurrie and Mike Schiedel won the first set for Donkers 6-4 and John Fischer and Stuart Arkett scored a 6-2 victory in the second set for Auto Works.

The #1 Mixed Doubles went to Auto Works as Billings and McPherson edged Doig and Bast 7-5. Donkers took the #2 Mixed Doubles as Donkers and Noble took down Murphy and McCarroll 6-2. Miren and Fischer doubled up Murray and Shurrie 6-3 to give the #3 Mixed Doubles to Auto Works. The #4 Mixed Doubles went to Donkers as Chung and Schiedel shut out Hofing and Arkett 6-0.

Auto Works won the match and ‘A’ championship with a close 7 sets to 5 sets victory to complete their impressive playoff run.

Earlier in the evening the ‘B’ championship match was played with Sunrise Health Services facing Snapd. Sunrise opened with a sweep of the #1 Ladies Doubles as Sandie Ennett and Naomi Lange dominated Erma Weernink and Cox Wensink 6-0 6-1. Snapd responded by taking the #2 Ladies Doubles with Monica Eickmeyer and Cathy Mowbray downing Marilyn Leasa and Marilyn Holmes 6-0 6-3.

The #1 Men’s Doubles went to Snapd as Chris Parson and Murray Schiedel edged Luke Fischer and Paul Coates 6-4 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). There was a split of sets in the #2 Men’s Doubles as Ryan Lay and Landon Hoare of Snapd won the first set 7-6 (7 points to 3 in the tie-breaker) while Jared Larder and Wayne Carney of Sunrise took the second set 6-4.

The Mixed Doubles opened with Ennett and Fischer of Sunrise scoring a 6-3 victory over Weernink and Parson in the #1 match up. The #2 Mixed Doubles match went to Sunrise as Lange and Coates took out Wensink and Schiedel 6-2. Eickmeyer and Lay won the #3 Mixed Doubles for Snapd by edging Leasa and Larder 7-5. The #4 Mixed Doubles went to Sunrise as Holmes and Carney scored a 6-1 win over Mowbray and Hoare.

 The 7 sets to 5 sets victory gave the ‘B’ championship to Sunrise Health Services.  

Stratford Tennis League 2015 ‘A’ Champions Auto Works

(l to r) Stuart Arkett, John Fischer, Pat McCarroll, Grant McPherson, Johanna Billings, Deb Murphy, Sandra Hofing, Carmen Miron.    

The Stratford Tennis League completed its regular season schedule this past week.

The third leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam was played this weekend at the Stratford Tennis Club. The ‘Wimbledon’ event had participants in two age groups for the boys and one age group for the girls.

The Boys Under 18 final saw 2015 ‘Australian Open’ champion Matt Vandewiel face Luke McCarroll. Vandewiel continued his impressive summer as he scored an 8-4 victory to claim the ‘Wimbledon’ title. 

The Boys Under 15 championship match had Michael Vandewiel take on Declan Feore. The younger Vandewiel came into the match with the ‘Australian Open’ and ‘French Open’ titles to his credit. Michael continued his championship play taking the ‘Wimbledon’ crown with an 8-2 win over first time finalist Feore. Michael will attempt to complete the Grand Slam in the US Open, to be held on August 1.

The Girls championship final had Mackenzie Dumais face youngster Grace Glosnek. Dumais, who won the ‘Australian Open’ championship, added the ‘Wimbledon’ title by shutting out Glosnek 8-0.  

The ROYAL LE PAGE HILLER REALTY Junior Grand Slam continued at the Stratford Tennis Club. The “French Open” , rained out earlier this month was held this week with two age groups for the boys and one for the girls.

The Boys Under 18 event saw tight competition in all rounds. The championship match was no different as Jared Larder edged Evan Moorehead 8-6 to take the title. The consolation final saw Marcel Lundrigan overpower Luke McCarroll taking the match 8-1.

The Boys Under 15 event saw 2015 “Australian Open” champion Michael Vandewiel take on tournament rookie Joshua Zelek in the final. In a match highlighted by many long rallies, the experience of Vandewiel eventually took over as he scored an 8-6 victory to add the “French Open” title to his resume. The consolation title went to Marcus Nicholson who took out Ethan Misener 8-6 in the final.

The Girls final was a rematch of the “Australian Open” final with Mackenzie Dumais facing Ashley Humphrey. Dumais had beaten Humphrey in their previous final this season, but Humphrey turned the tables in the “French Open”. With long rallies highlighting the match, Humphrey outlasted Dumais and took the championship 8-4. The consolation champion was Issy Thibeault who downed Megan Furlong 8-2 in the final.

The Grand Slam schedule continues with the “Wimbledon” event to be played on Saturday, July 18.

Bill White

(l to r)  Evan Moorehead (boys under 18 finalist), Jared Larder (boys under 18 champion), Michael Vandewiel (boys under 15 champion), Joshua Zelek (boys under 15 finalist) (l to r)  Mackenzie Dumais (girls finalist) , Ashley Humphrey (girls champion), Issy Thibeault (girls consolation champion), Megan Furlong (girls consolation finalist)  

(l to r)  Ethan Misener (boys under 15 consolation finalist), Marcus Nicholson (boys under 15 consolation champion) , Marcel Lundrigan (boys under 18 consolation champion), Luke McCarroll (boys under 18 consolation finalist)

The Morning Group held its second annual Canada Day Tournament on Wednesday, July 1, which was followed by a barbecue and pot luck lunch in the park. 32 participants took part in the tournament with over 40 attending the lunch in the park. View more photos in the Photo Gallery.

     

L to R   ‘A’ consolation winners Karen Janzen and Michele Thomson, ‘A’ champions , ‘A’ champions Cathy Mowbray and Linda Hollinger, ‘B’ champions Pat Koch and Peter Stam, ‘B’ consolation winners Doreen Lloyd and Wayne Carney  

Week 5 of the Stratford Tennis League opened with a match up of the top two teams in the standings, as first place Donkers Agri faced second place Sunrise Health Services. Play began with Sunrise Health Services taking the #1 Men’s Doubles as Bob Tamblyn and Paul Coates  took out Richard Bast and John Noble 6-3 6-3. The #2 Men’s Doubles also went to Sunrise as Luke Fischer and Jagdish Patel scored a 6-0 6-4 victory over Larry Shurrie and Mike Schiedel.

Donkers Agri got on the board by winning the #1 Ladies Doubles as Linda Doig and Maria Donkers downed Naomi Lange and Erma Weernink  6-1 6-3. The #2 Ladies Doubles went to Marilyn Leasa and Marilyn Holmes of Sunrise who scored a 6-4 6-1 win over Lindsay Murray and Nancy Chung.

The #1 Mixed Doubles went to Lange and Tamblyn of Sunrise with a 6-2 win over Doig and Bast. Weernink and Coates beat Donkers and Noble 6-4 to give the #2 Mixed Doubles to Sunrise. Sunrise continued its run taking the #3 Mixed Doubles with Leasa and Fischer downing Murray and Shurrie 6-2. The #4 Mixed Doubles went to Donkers as Chung and Schiedel put away Holmes and Patel 6-1.

The dominating 9 sets to 3 sets victory by Sunrise Health Services had them leap past Donkers Agri into first place in the season’s standings.

The late game was a match up between Snapd and Auto Works. Auto Works got off to an impressive start as Grant McPherson and John Fischer took the #1 Men’s Doubles by blanking Chris Parson and Murray Schiedel 6-0 6-0. Snapd responded by taking the #2 Men’s Doubles with Steven Schwartzentruber and Ryan Lay downing Stephen Fischer and Stuart Arkett 6-2 6-2.

Johanna Billings and Deb Murphy of Auto Works defeated Marta Andrekovic and Cox Wensink 6-3 6-4 to take the #1 Ladies Doubles. The #2 Ladies Doubles went to Snapd with Monica Eickmeyer and Michele Thomson taking out Ginny Smith and Sandra Hofing 6-2 6-2.

Andrekovic and Parson doubled up Billings and McPherson 6-3 to give the #1 Mixed Doubles to Snapd. Snapd also took the #2 Mixed Doubles as Wensink and Schiedel scored a 6-4 win over Murphy and J. Fischer. Snapd’s run continued in the #3 Mixed Doubles as Eickmeyer and Schwartzentruber scored a 6-4 victory over Smith and S. Fischer. Thomson and Lay completed the sweep of Mixed Doubles matches for Snapd as they downed Hofing and Arkett 6-4 in the #4 match up.

With Snapd scoring an 8 sets to 4 sets victory they jumped closer to second place in the standings after week 5.

Week 6 will see Donkers Agri and Snapd face off in the early game, while Sunrise Health Services take on Auto Works in the late game.

Bill White

Week 4 of the Stratford Tennis League kicked off with Donkers Agri facing Auto Works. The match opened with a split of sets in the #1 Ladies Doubles as Linda Doig and Maria Donkers of Donkers took the first set 6-1 before Johanna Billings and Nancy Rheaume rebounded to take the second set 6-2 for Auto Works. The #2 Ladies Doubles also split sets with Donkers’ Lindsay Murray and Nancy Chung winning the opening set 6-4 and Auto Works’ Ginny Smith and Sandra Hofing taking the second set 6-0. 

The split of sets continued in the #1 Men’s Doubles as Pat McCarroll and John Fischer took the first set for Auto Works 6-4 before falling 6-2 in the second set to Donkers’ Richard Bast and John Noble. Donkers’ won both sets in the #2 Men’s Doubles as Shannon Dyke and Neil Maddock scored a 6-3 7-5 victory over Wayne Carney and Jared Larder.

The Mixed Doubles saw Donkers win the #1 match up as Doig and Bast doubled up Billings and McCarroll 6-3. Auto Works won the #2 Mixed as Rheaume and Fischer dominated Donkers and Noble 6-1. Donkers scored another win in the #3 Mixed with Murray and Dyke downing Smith and Carney 6-4. Chung and Maddock defeated Hofing and Larder 6-4 to give the #4 Mixed match to Donkers.

The 8 sets to 4 sets victory for Donkers Agri raised them to first place in the standings.

The late game was a match up of Snapd and Sunrise Health Services. Play began with a split of sets in the #1 Ladies Doubles as Sandie Ennett and Naomi Lange of Sunrise won the first set 6-4 with Marta Andrekovic and Nicolle Crowley of Snapd taking the second set 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker). Snapd won the #2 Ladies Doubles as Monica Eickmeyer and Michele Thomson downed Marilyn Leasa and Marilyn Holmes 6-4 6-1.

The #1 Men’s Doubles went to Sunrise as Bob Tamblyn and Paul Coates scored a 6-2 6-3 victory over Chris Parson and Murray Schiedel. The #2 Men’s Doubles was won by Snapd as Ryan Lay and Lanny Hoare defeated Jagdish Patel and Eugene Monaghan 6-0 7-5.

Ennett and Tamblyn took the #1 Mixed match for Sunrise with a 6-3 win over Andrekovic and Parson. Sunrise won the #2 Mixed as Lange and Coates scored a 6-1 victory over Crowley and Schiedel. Snapd dominated the #3 Mixed as Eickmeyer and Lay shut out Leasa and Patel 6-0. Thomson and Hoare pounded Holmes and Monaghan 6-0 to give the #4 Mixed to Snapd.  Snapd scoring the 7 sets to 5 set victory knocked Sunrise from top spot in the standings.

After 4 weeks of play Donkers Agri has taken over first place, Sunrise Health Services falls to second place with Snapd right on their heels in third while Auto Works remains in fourth place. Week 5 will see Donkers Agri take on Sunrise Health Services in the early game while Snapd faces Auto Works in the late game.

Approximately 50 young tennis fans took part in the annual Optimist Junior Tennis Day at the Stratford Tennis Club this past weekend. The children, between ages 4 and 14, took part in multiple skill challenges on the courts supervised by Club Pro Greg Vivian and several top junior volunteers. Participants then awaited the naming of winners of the draw prizes which was followed by a pizza party in the park. Many thanks to the Optimist Club of Stratford for their continued support of this event. A wonderful time was had by all who participated.    

Bill White