Canterbury Tennis News - Archives

ASB Tran-Tasman victory to Canterbury

January 26, 2010: The Canterbury team recaptured the ASB Trans-Tasman Trophy last evening with a comprehensive but exciting win over Queensland in front of a near capacity crowd.

Katherine Westbury got the evening underway on a positive note with a 6 - 4 win over Queensland's Tyra Calderwood. Michael Look pulled one back for Queensland with a 6 - 3 win over Logan MacKenzie which proved to be Queensland's only win of the evening.

Local hero Ellen Barry recovered from a slow start and a 1 - 4 deficit to win five games in a row and a popular home victory. Rubin Statham kept the momentum for Canterbury beating John Millman in a tiebreaker.

With the team victory already in the bag MacKenzie and Statham entertained the crowd with a thrilling doubles win 6 -4 over Millman and Look.

Teams named for Monday's ASB Trans-Tasman Challenge

January 21, 2010: Fed Cup and Davis Cup players Ellen Barry and Rubin Statham head a solid Canterbury Team for the annual ASB Trans-Tasman match against Queensland.

Ellen Barry made a return to the WTA Women's circuit late last year after a break for a wrist operation and still has a protected world ranking of around 250.

She has played several times previously in the event which will be her last New Zealand appearance before heading away for another year on the circuit.

Rubin Statham is making his first ever appearance in the event which follows his excellent form in making the last 16 at the recent Heineken Open in Auckland.

The number two men's position will be taken by 19 year old Logan MacKenzie who will be making his first appearance in the event. Logan is a product of the Canterbury Tennis elite player development programme and is currently making the transition from the international junior circuit to the senior circuit.

The second Canterbury woman is Katherine Westbury, just 16 years of age and already the 5th ranked woman player in New Zealand.

The Queensland team announced by Troy Ayres, Athlete Development Manager for Queensland Tennis, is John Millman, Michael Look, Alison Bai and Tyra Calderwood.

The ASB Trans-Tasman Challenge is a unique quick fire event developed by Canterbury Tennis seventeen years ago and spectators see five one set matches in just over three hours. For almost all of the seventeen years the event has attracted a capacity crowd and this year is likely to be no different. The event starts at 4.15pm on Monday afternoon, Centre Court, Wilding Park.

National Tennis Open Day 2010

January 21, 2010: The 2010 National Tennis Day will be taking place over the weekend of 13th and 14th February at local participating clubs throughout Christchurch and New Zealand. It's free to participate and the event welcomes all ages and ability of player to give tennis a go!

Clubs will be welcoming visitors onto their courts to experience tennis in a friendly and encouraging environment. Some equipment will be available at clubs for visitors to borrow. Contact your nearest participating club for more information about their Open Day.

Click here to view details and contacts for all participating clubs (updated Feb 11th).

World Seniors Tennis Event for Christchurch

December 16, 2009: The International Tennis Federation has awarded the 2011 ITF World Seniors Team and Individual Championships to Christchurch.

In announcing Christchurch as the location for the 2011 Championships, Francesco Ricci Bitti, President of the International Tennis Federation, said:

"Canterbury Tennis and the Christchurch City Council with the endorsement of Tennis New Zealand submitted a bid for the 2011 Championships and given Canterbury Tennis' excellent track record at running, very professionally, previous official championships the ITF has great confidence in awarding the event to Christchurch".

The Championships for players 35 years and over will run for two weeks from February 21, 2011 and is expected to attract over 700 players and supporters from all corners of the world. It will be based at Wilding Park with some of the teams events during the first week to be held in Ashburton and Timaru.

"We at Canterbury Tennis enjoy hosting ITF events and we are sure that the 2011 World Seniors Championships will create a wonderful festival of tennis for our region" said David Blackwell, CEO of Canterbury Tennis.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has also welcomed the tennis announcement.

"This is another wonderful opportunity to showcase Christchurch as a first class sporting tournament venue," said Mayor Bob Parker. "I am delighted that the International Tennis Federation has chosen Christchurch and Canterbury for this important tournament," said Mr Parker. "We very much look forward to welcoming the participants and their supporters."

Clean Sweep for Elmwood in Senior Interclub

December 14, 2009: Elmwood proved too strong for Cashmere in both the ASB senior men's and senior women's grades held at Wilding Park on Saturday 12th December.

Elmwood won the men's championship 5-1, leading by three matches to one at the completion of the singles. Remi Feneon and Logan MacKenzie had competitive matches before overcoming the Meredith brothers, Tim and Matthew, respectively. The third and fourth singles matches both went to three sets with Andrew Cochrane defeating Johnny McHarg (photo, right) and Tim McHarg putting Cashmere on the board by defeating Brendon Furness. Elmwood went on to win both doubles matches to clinch the title.

The women's final came down to the wire. Respective Number 1s Robyn Legge-Hunt, of Elmwood, and Jennifer Poskitt, of Cashmere, battled windy conditions as Poskitt prevailed in three sets after Legge-Hunt claimed the first. The three other singles were each won in two sets by Elmwood. Cashmere fought back in the doubles winning both encounters and levelling the score three matches all, but on a countback of sets Elmwood won by eight sets to six to win the women's ASB Premier Trophy.

Canterbury Tennis powered by Kia

December 9, 2009: Canterbury Tennis has announced a sponsorship package with fast-growing car company Kia Motors, to help drive the sport in its region.

Announcing the sponsorship, Kia Motors New Zealand General Manager, Todd McDonald says: "Canterbury Tennis is one of the leading regional sporting organisations in New Zealand and we at Kia Motors are delighted that they have chosen Kia Cars as the 'official vehicle of Canterbury Tennis'".

"Canterbury Tennis' vision 'to be recognised as a world class organisation, developing innovative, quality programmes and events for the tennis community' fits very nicely into the vision we have for the Kia brand" said Mr McDonald.

Kia Motors already have a major role in tennis in Australasia with the Australian Open and the ASB Classic and Heineken Open in Auckland.

"We are delighted to have Kia Motors join our elite family of sponsors here at Canterbury Tennis and the fit between our two organisations seems perfect" said David Blackwell CEO of Canterbury Tennis. "Kia is an active brand commensurate with the healthy Canterbury lifestyle".

In addition to being the official vehicle of Canterbury Tennis, Kia will have naming rights for several of Canterbury Tennis' activities and will become associate sponsor of the ASB Trans-Tasman Challenge.

Swindell, Coates and Argus off to Melbourne

November 19, 2009: A stellar year for three Canterbury Juniors has been capped with naming in the New Zealand teams to compete in the Australian Inter-state Teams Event and Championships to be held at Melbourne Park in December.

Rachel Swindell has rocketed through the ranks in the Girls under 14 grade this season moving from 1380 Top Dog points 12 months ago to 2190 currently to gain her place.

Gabby Coates (centre) secured the Canterbury Primary Schools Girls title with a fighting win over Chezle Phillips at Show Weekend and also performed well at the recent Tennis NZ Masters event to gain a spot in the 3 person Girls 12's team.

And Finbar Argus who narrowly missed travelling with the NZ team earlier this year secured his spot in the Boys 14's team with a solid showing in the Tennis NZ Masters held at Labour Weekend in Auckland. Canterbury Tennis wishes all three best of luck in Australia.

Stoica and Coates take Primary titles

November 19, 2009: Second seeds Edward Stoica (pictured) and Gabby Coates triumphed in the Canterbury Primary and Intermediate Tennis Championships held at Show Weekend.

Stoica won in straight sets over 3rd seed Young Il Baek to take the boys title with Coates coming from being down 0-6, 0-4 to win in 3 sets over top seed, Southbrooks Chezle Phillips.

All 125 players showed great application to deal with tricky conditions with the wind coming from all points of the compass over the 3 days of competition.

Open Doubles winners were the singles finalists in the Boys, Stoica and Baek with top seeds Chezle Phillips and Jessica Shaw taking the Girls title. Attention now turns to the South Island Champs which will be held in Christchurch on the 2nd and 3rd of December.

Open Secondary School Championships winners found

November 12, 2009: St Andrews College took out both Open Singles titles at the recently completed Canterbury Secondary Schools Champs.

Hayden Joblin and Tuscany Hamel (pictured) won their respective finals against Micheal Saunders (Shirley Boys) and Jenny Blackburne (Cashmere HS).

In the doubles Joblin was again to the forefront of the action partnering with Benji McGillivray to win the Boys Doubles for St Andrews over Matthew Parratt and Micheal Saunders from Shirley Boys, with Christchurch Girls' High School's Sarah O'Dell and Hannah Pearce winning the Girls Doubles in a tense super tie-breaker over Rangi Ruru's Brittany Fisher and Brogan Maoate.

Mini Tennis numbers double

November 2, 2009: The new Mini-Tennis competition got underway last Friday night with double the number of teams competiting compared with last year. Lots of parents were involved in supervising these matches for 6-8 year olds with heaps of energy and endevour being displayed.

Cochrane Joins 100 Club

October 2, 2009: Andrew Cochrane has become the latest player to join the Canterbury Tennis 100 Club, with his 100th singles win in senior interclub in September 2009.

Players to watch in the season ahead are the McHarg brothers, Johnny and Tim, who started the season on 93 and 92 points respectively and look sure to join this elite group in the near future.

Canterbury Tennis umpires off to India

September 24, 2009: The two Tonys, Glentworth and Brosnahan, have been selected as umpires at next year's Commonwealth Games in India. They are both very experienced umpires who will add significantly to the team of tennis officials at the Games.

Canty scoops honours at the TNZ awards

August 17, 2009: Canterbury scooped up numerous honours at the Tennis New Zealand awards ceremony on Friday 14th August.

Glenn Wilson took the award for Tennis New Zealand Peak Performance Coach of the Year. Glenn heads the Canterbury high performance programme which is the top Regional Performance Centre in the country and has produced several of New Zealand's leading players.

Jordan Kelly-Houston was named Junior Male Player of the Year 2009 after a successful year competing at an international level and including appearances at the Junior Australian Open and Junior Wimbledon.

Katherine Westbury was named Junior Female Player of the Year 2009, having shown a steady rise in form and excellent results over the past year. Katherine has continued the transition from junior to senior tennis during the year and has performed strongly on the senior circuit with her best result being a semi-final finish in Bangkok.

Bill Ritchie, the President of the Marlborough Tennis Club, was named Club Administrator of the year. The Te Kura Tennis Club was the recipient of the Club Membership Silver Award 2009 for its increase in membership during the year and the Marlborough Tennis Club took the Bronze Award.

Top Honours for Peter Maciaszek

July 30, 2009: Canterbury Tennis Deputy Chairman Peter Maciaszek was presented with the region's highest award at the Annual General Meeting on 29 July - Honorary Life Membership of Canterbury Tennis.

Honorary Life Membership is awarded for exceptional service to tennis in the Canterbury Region on a provincial, regional or national basis.

Maciaszek is recognised by the members of Canterbury Tennis for his outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport over many years. He has had a long involvement with the management component of Canterbury Tennis and umpiring at a regional and national level as well as being a keen tennis player for most of his life.

National Doubles success for Canterbury players

July 24, 2009: Unseeded CT Ampornachariya and Alice Batt (pictured) from the Burnside Park Tennis Club were the only all Canterbury NZ Doubles Champions in the recently held age-group Winter Nationals.

Alice and CT played and won the only round of 16 match, then beat the 3rd, 2nd and top-seeded combinations to deservedly claim their first National titles in the 12's age group.

Other doubles success came with Finbar Argus and his Auckland partner winning the 14's Boys title with Jessica Ottowa and her North Harbour partner taking the Girls 14's event.

New January Regional Junior Circuit

July 24, 2009 - Subject to final confirmation, the Canterbury Tennis region now has a fantastic junior circuit of events towards the end of the summer school holidays. During January 2010 the Marlborough (21st-23rd), Nelson (25th-27th) and West Coast (29th-31st) Junior Tournaments create a great circuit of tournaments for players and families to consider playing in.

All these locations have plenty of different accommodation options and provide a great opportunity to combine tennis and school holidays. More information and entry forms will be available through this website later in the year.

Stoica and Bray 10's Winter Champs

July 17, 2009 - Liam Stoica (right) triumphed over Jack Murison to win the Boys 10's grade at the recent Canterbury Junior Winter Tournament. The nine boys played a full round robin of 1-set matches with Liam being unbeaten and Jack dropping just the one match.

Lily Bray took out the Girls 10's ahead of Lauryne Ashby with South Canterbury's Annabel Ellis and local Connor Heap winning the 12's grades as top seeds after straight set final victories over local players Olivia Smith and Edward Stoica (older brother of Liam).

Williamson and Hornby 16's Winter Champs

July 8, 2009 - Canterbury's Beth Williamson and Richard Hornby have won their respective grades at the Canterbury Winter Tournament.

Hornby triumphed as top seed in his first touranment for over a year, defeating Corbin Ashby, whilst Williamson and Sian English (pictured) fought for over 2 hours before Beth prevailed 10-4 in the super tie break to decide the match.

Six Plus Two "A grade" BH champs

July 26, 2009 - These chaps are the top "A" grade Business House team after the first competiton drew to a conclusion last Monday. The team consisting of (L to R) Ashley Forbes, Marty Searle, Terry Mooney and John Honeywell defeated the "Laughing Gnomes" once again on a countback on games. Canterbury Tennis thanks Forrest Estate for the support of all Business House and Midweek Ladies competitions.

Mak'n Rakit rule Wednesday BH

June 26, 2009 - The Mak'n Rakit tennis team (pictured right) won a very close Wednesday Business House final this week with a 1 game countback victory over Fig Jam. Both teams won 3 doubles matches and when the calculators came out the game total favoured Mak'n Rakit.

Mak'n Rakit took advantage of a space in the stronger Tuesday night competition to test themselves in the 2nd competition which starts shortly.

Country Boys triumph

June 24, 2009 - The first Business House winners for the winter have been found with the "Country Boys" (pictured) beating the "Head Cases" in the Tuesday "B" grade comp.

The team, mainly made up of players from North Canterbury, overcame a slow start to take the lead in the 2nd set of doubles play and then sealed the win when an opposition player was forced to default due to injury. Both teams quickly retreated to the bar for a debrief. Canterbury Tennis regularly runs both Winter and Summer Business House competitions.

Tennis beats the recession

June 9, 2009 - Membership at the 110 tennis clubs in the Canterbury Region increased during this past year by a substantial 5.32%. The growth is possibly the biggest ever single year growth recorded by Canterbury Tennis in its 119 year history.

"Naturally we are delighted with the growth and much of the credit must go to the hard work from within club committees. These people are the real heroes of our sport" said David Blackwell, CEO of Canterbury Tennis.

"The increase is in both juniors and adults which is even more pleasing. Obviously the huge profile created by the live television coverage of the major international tournaments helps us promote the sport to our community but we must never underestimate how much difference quality management at our clubs makes" said Mr Blackwell.

During the past year Canterbury Tennis facilitated 27 Easi-Tennis courses at clubs and these programmes, aimed at adult beginners or those returning to the game, produced fantastic results by way of converting course participants to members. Around 50% of participants joined a club following the course.

Canterbury Tennis' Primary Schools programme was delivered at 104 Primary Schools and to around 10,000 seven to nine year olds last season and this programme continues to deliver a large number of enthusiastic children to the clubs.

"The growth we have seen recently gives our sport a tremendous platform to grow even further in coming years and already many more clubs are planning to offer our Easi-Tennis course next summer"

"The recession is certainly making it much more difficult to secure the necessary funds to support a growing sport like tennis in Canterbury but the results achieved this past year give our management and Board huge motivation to work even harder during these difficult times" said Mr Blackwell.

Pang-tastic!!!!!!

April 24, 2009 - Burnside Park's Pang Suwanaposee has convincingly triumphed at the 12's Girls National Championships in Wellington. Suwanaposee defeated Wanganui's Paige Hourigan 6-1, 6-1 to win her first National title.

It's been a big season for the Merrin School pupil who made her senior debut for her club in September, winning 6 matches in her rookie season.

In December she toured Australia with a New Zealand team, was the South Island's Sovereign Superstar at the Heineken Open in Auckland in January, and played Number 1 in the Canterbury 12's team which narrowly finished 2nd in the National Teams event in Timaru later in the same month.

The title is fantastic reward for Suwanaposee whose work ethic and attitude has contributed greatly to her success. She has been part of the Cantebrury Tennis Regional Performance Squad led by Glenn Wilson since February this year.

Boise State men's tennis player Meredith in a new world

April 9, 2009 (update from story below) - The newest member of the Boise State tennis team is capable of putting a smile on the face of coach Greg Patton and driving him crazy at the same time.

James Meredith, a freshman from New Zealand who joined the team in January, is laid back. Patton is not.

"I drive him crazy and he drives me crazy," Patton said. "It's a match made in heaven. James just has this flow about him - there is no turbulence on his flight."

Meredith, 19, never had been to the U.S. before arriving in Boise. He also had to learn to deal with Patton.

"He's one of a kind," Meredith said. "He's sort of always in your face, and in New Zealand, we're more laid back. He's so high energy, and I'm not really used to that. I'm still adjusting to it." Any awkwardness between player and coach hasn't shown up on the court.

Meredith, who plays No. 3 singles behind seniors Clancy Shields and Kean Feeder and No. 1 doubles with Feeder, is 14-5 in singles and 13-7 in doubles. Meredith is ranked 71st nationally in singles and 50th with Feeder in doubles.

"I am so excited about this guy," Patton said. "His talent level is unbelievable and he's very tennis brilliant."

That comes from learning the game at a young age from a family that is deeply rooted in the sport. Meredith said he started playing at age 3 or 4 and would run around with a racket while two older brothers competed in tournaments across New Zealand. Those brothers now are coaches.

Meredith would like a career in the sport after his time at BSU, which so far, he's enjoyed because of teammates who make him feel at home.

"They're a great bunch of guys," he said. "We try to push each other."

Patton called Meredith's future "blazing" and said a professional coach watched Meredith hit and compared him to pro Andy Murray.

"He said, 'This guy is going to be pro,' " Patton said. "James is one of the best talents we've had, and we've had some great, great players. He's right there at the top."

Prizegiving 2008/09

April 8, 2009 - The Canterbury Tennis prizegiving for the 2008/09 season took part recently with a function held at Scenic Circle Hotels Tennis Centre, Wilding Park.

As well as team grade winners, individual awards were presented to Malcolm Millar from Waimairi (pictured, top), named as Club Administrator of the Year, and Burwood Park's Murray Seaward (also pictured) for Personality of the Year.

The Player of the Year award went to Jordan Kelly-Houston. The Senior Grand Prix winners were both from Cashmere - Matt Meredith winning the Mens title and Jenny Blackburne the Womens.

Canterbury Juniors make New Zealand teams

March 6, 2009 - Five Canterbury Junior players have been named in New Zealand teams to prepare for the under 14 and 16 World teams events.

Three of the five named players in each team will travel with Katherine Westbury and Leela Beattie named in a strong Girls Junior Federation Cup team.

Jessica Ottowa has been named in the New Zealand Girls under 14 team with both Ben Johnston and Finbar Argus (pictured) named in the under 14s Boys team.

Mini Tennis underway

Feb 24, 2009 - Players from Opawa, Burwood Park, Avonhead and Spreydon took part in the first night of the new mini-tennis league indoors at the Scenic Circle Hotels Tennis Centre last Friday.

Using modified nets, smaller courts and low compression balls, the players had some great rallies and enjoyed the experience. There were plenty of great parents present to help out and the six 7-minute rounds saw all the kids keen to come back over the next 6 weeks for more of the same.

Meredith makes immediate impact

Feb 26, 2009 (Report from BroncoSports.com)- James Meredith has been named Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week, for Feb. 16-22, picking up his first career WAC award.

Meredith, a freshman from Christ Church, New Zealand, pulled out a monumental 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset over Michael Shabaz of No. 1 Virginia. Shabaz is currently ranked as the No. 12 player in the nation. The freshman also defeated Dominic Pagon of No. 67 William and Mary to aid in Boise State's 5-2 win.

Meredith was the only Bronco to finish the two-match road swing with a 3-1 record, with his only loss coming at the No. 1 doubles spot to Virginia's Singh/Barrick, the second-ranked doubles duo in the nation. He now owns a 7-3 singles record on the season to go along with a 6-4 doubles record since his Boise State career began in January. This marks the third time in six weeks a Boise State men's studentathlete has won the weekly honor.

Other male nominees included: Fresno State's Remi Boutillier, Idaho's Artem Kuznetsov, Utah State's Bryan Marchant and New Mexico State's Jim Brouleau.

Tennis NZ apologises for 12's heartbreak

Feb 13, 2009 - Tennis NZ has apologised to the members of the Canterbury girls 12's team who were incorrectly announced as winners of the 12 and under National Teams Event held in Timaru recently.

A clerical error led to an additional point being carried through on Canterbury's tally after the 2nd round and it wasn't until the following week that the problem was discovered.

The team had lost on a countback to Central in their match and when the rogue point was deducted it was discovered both teams ended the event on equal points with Central taking the title due to their victory in the tie between the 2 teams.

Though a heartbreaking result for the team Canterbury Tennis remains extremely proud of the girls for finishing 2nd. The young boys team coached by Tim Meredith also did well capturing the bronze medal, three of both the boys and girls teams are still eligible for selection in 2010 in Hamilton where both teams (especially the girls) will be looking to put the disappointment of 2009 behind them and go for gold.

Pictured are the members of the Canterbury 12's girls team for 2009, clockwise from top right, Jessica Shaw, Olivia Smith, Pang Suwanaposee, Chezle Phillips, Gabby Coates and coach Vaughan Kingi.

Canterbury Seniors perform well

Feb 5, 2009 - Canterbury players were to the forefront in many of the finals of the New Zealand Senior Tennis Championships held in late January 2009 in Blenhiem.

Winners included:
- John Honeywell & Robyn Flynn in the 40+ Mixed Doubles,
- Ashley Forbes in the Mens 45+ Doubles,
- Peter Hampton in the Mens 50+ Singles, 50+ Mixed Doubles, and 50+ Mens Doubles with Jack Prouting,
- Judy Phillips & Robyn Legge-Hunt in the Womens Doubles 50+,
- Robyn on her own in the Womens 55+ Singles,
- Marty Searle in the Mens 55+ Singles who defeated Terry Mooney, the duo (pictured, right) then combined to win the Mens 55+ Doubles.
- In addition Grazie Daly and D Lonie took out the Womens Doubles 55+ title.

Finalists in other events included John Honeywell, M Cole, Terry Mooney, Chris Crutchley, D Hancox, Bill Thom and Tom Tyler.

The event was attended by over 120 players from around New Zealand and a number from overseas.

Overseas players prevail in 18/u ITF finals

Feb 1, 2009 - Overseas players dominated all finals except the boys doubles on the last day of the Sunsmart 18/u Canterbury Championships at the Scenic Circle Hotels Tennis Centre, Wilding Park, on Saturday.

USA based Sean Berman (photo, below right) just got home against local hope Barrett Franks (left) in a thrilling match. Franks began strongly, forcing errors from his smaller opponent with booming serves and forehands, taking the first set 6-4. Berman fought back in the second taking it 6-2 to force the match to a final set. It proved to be a thriller with Berman breaking serve in the 12th game to take it 7-5 for the match.

Canterbury player Leela Beattie began strongly against diminutive Japanes player Makoto Ninomiya, leading 4-2. From then on the speed of Ninomiya began to tell as she won four games in a row to snatch the set and then won the second set comfortably 6-2 to take the girls singles title.

In an all New Zealand final of the boys doubles, fifth seeds Jamie Eccleton and Trent O'Keeffe from Auckland beat sixth seeds Anton Bettink and Dan Davies from North harbour 6-2 6-4.

The girls doubles went right to the wire. South Island players Leela Beattie and Gaby Grady took the first set 7-5 over the top seeds Anaeve Pain (New Caledonia) and Steffi Carruthers (Samoa). However the Pacific pair then began a great fightback, winning the second set 6-2 to force a super-tiebreak decider. Pain and Carruthers were in control throughout the breaker taking it 10-4 to claim the title.

The next event on the New Zealand summer ITF junior circuit begins in Auckland on Monday.

View Boys Singles results » (PDF)
View Girls Singles results » (PDF)
View Boys Doubles results » (PDF)
View Grils Doubles results » (PDF)

ASB Trans-Tasman Challenge a great success

Jan 30, 2009 - Another huge crowd attended the 2009 ASB Trans-Tasman Challenge in Christchurch for a great night's entertainment. SunSmart Canterbury suffered a rare loss at the hands of a fired up Victorian team.

While Dianne Hollands recorded the only win for SunSmart Canterbury in winning the number one women's singles against Victoria's Karolina Wlodarczak, the other four matches were all tightly contested.

Results: (SunSmart Canterbury names first) Kairangi Vano lost to Cassandra Barr 5-6(4), GD Jones lost to Adam Hubble 3-6, Dianne Hollands beat Karolina Wlodarczak 6-1, Dan King-Turner lost to Kaden Hensel 2-6, King Turner and Jones lost to Hensel and Hubble 4-6.

More Trans-Tasman Photos here »

Silver lining for 14's teams

Jan 9, 2009 - Both of Canterbury's 14 and under teams have finished runners-up in their respective National Teams Events - the girls finished second to a dominant Auckland team and the boys only just failed to pip Waikato/Bays. Players are now invovled in the Hardcourt Tournament with the 12's and 16's Hardcourts and Teams Events starting in Timaru and Christchurch respectively from the 15th of January.

Silver lining for 14's teams

Canty provides Sth Island reps for 2009 Heineken Open

Dec 5, 2008 - Canterbury's Ben Johnston (Medbury School - pictured) and Pang Suwanaposee (Merrin) will be the South Island's Sovereign Superstars during the 2009 Heineken Open in Auckland after winning their respective titles at the South Island Primary Schools Finals completed in Ashburton today.

Ben and Pang will play tie break matches against North Island qualifiers in breaks between matches at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland in early January. They will stay at the official hotel, be involved in press conferences, wear official "superstars" tennis gear and even get a chance to met some of the stars of the Heineken Open.

Johnston defeated arch-rival Elliot Darling of South Cantebrury for the first time to win the Boys title and Suwanaposse easily dispatched Otago's Sian English to win the Girls event.

Elmwood hosted Kurashiki Japan Tennis Visit

Nov 12, 2008 - On Tuesday 11th November Elmwood Tennis Club kindly opened its doors to 12 visitors from our sister city Kurashiki, Japan, to enjoy an afternoon of tennis followed by a social hour. With such a hot and sunny afternoon conditions certainly made for an enjoyable afternoon of tennis and after-match socialising with the visitors.

Elmwood Tennis Club members and the Japanese visitors played four half-hour rounds of doubles, where the first three were against each other and the final round Elmwood Tennis Club and Japan played together. The afternoon was a great success and enjoyed by all.

Selections for upcoming fixtures

Nov 5, 2008 - Canterbury Tennis has named its initially selected players for upcoming representative fixtures. A number of players will still have to prove their fitness to take their places but we're confident that the selected players and any reserves who may be called upon will do the province proud. Representative teams »

Suwanaposee named in New Zealand 12's team

Oct 30, 2008 - 12 year old Pang Suwanaposee (Burnside Park/Merrin School) is the latest Canterbury New Zealand tennis representative after being named in the New Zealand 12's team for a 16 day tour of Australia in December.

Suwanaposee will then anchor the Canterbury Girls 12's team in January in Timaru as they seek to defend their National title won in Hamilton last year.

Suwanaposee's national honours were announced today along with Leela Beattie who has made the 14's Girls team for another tour in December.

Canterbury Juniors take on the world

Oct 1, 2008 - Last week in New Caledonia fifteen year old Barrett Franks won the boys singles at an ITF World Ranking Junior tournament and thus became the fifth Cantabrian to win one of these prestigious 18 years and under events in the past year.

The other players to win world ranking tournaments are James Meredith, Logan MacKenzie, Katherine Westbury and Jordan Kelly-Houston. The status of these victories are put into perspective when you consider that until February 2007 a Cantabrian had never won of these world ranking events.

Unquestionably the main driver of these results is our Performance Programme led by Canterbury Tennis' High Performance Coach Glenn Wilson. This programme, at the elite end, has nine players this year with several more knocking on the entry door.

One of Canterbury Tennis' foremost goals is to have Canterbury players in the main draw at the Australian Open Junior Championships and this year we had two, MacKenzie and Meredith.

In addition to the results of our junior players Ellen Barry is making significant progress in the women's world rankings. Her ranking is currently 256 and she has a good opportunity to possibly break the 200 mark this year. Ellen did get down to 26 in the world as a junior before flagging junior events to concentrate on open women's events.

Dan King-Turner is the number one ranked New Zealand man and continues to represent NZ in Davis Cup ties.

"We are certainly delighted with the progress of our players and perhaps as early as next year we could see Canterbury players in the main draw at all the junior Grand Slam events" said David Blackwell CEO of Canterbury Tennis.

Canterbury Juniors Spring Camp

Sept 25, 2008 - Thirty-three of the top juniors in the wider Canterbury region have been put through their paces by 6 coaches at the region's Spring Camp. The camp was designed to replace the Spring Quadrangular that Canterbury has been involved in recently with Waikato, Central and Wellington.

The camp is a step back to the camps that were held during the 1980s and included elements that are part of the Regional Performance Programme such as nutrition, injury prevention, mental skills training and fitness testing as well as plenty of hitting and tactical training.

The camp included 3 players from Nelson, 2 from Marlborough and 1 from the West Coast and targeted 6 players from each age group eligible for selection in Canterbury Teams this upcoming January. Once evaluations have been completed we are hoping to lock in this camp to the calendar and continually look to improve its content and delivery.

View some great photos taken during the camp »

Junior Assistant Coach Course

Tennis New Zealand will be delivering a revamped Assistant Coach course in Christchurch over the weekend of October 3-5, 2008. This course is the next step up from the Community Coach course and is aimed at those considering a career in Tennis coaching.

The new course has greater, more in depth content and has been designed to bridge the gap between the Tennis New Zealand delivered courses and those that are then delivered at the higher level by Tennis Australia.

For more information on this new initiative and to proceed with enrolment, please contact Sarah Paton at Canterbury Tennis phone: 389 6484 or email: sarah.paton@canterburytennis.co.nz

Canterbury Tennis appoints Sarah Paton to RDM position

Sarah Paton has been appointed Regional Development Manager for the Canterbury Tennis region, a newly created role with the responsibility for the participation element of tennis, supporting clubs, volunteers and staff throughout the upper South Island for the new Canterbury Tennis region.

Sarah comes to the position having recently completed a Bachelor of Recreation Management, majoring in Sport from Lincoln University.

Sarah has represented Canterbury and Mid Canterbury through age group competitions and has coached at Burwood Park Tennis Club and more recently in the Ellesmere district. She stills plays in the Ellesmere country competition.

She is excited about the Regional Development role where she believes she "has the great opportunity to compliment her passion for tennis with her recent studies for the betterment of tennis in the new Canterbury Tennis Region".

Canterbury Tennis CEO, David Blackwell, is pleased with the appointment of Paton as Regional Development Manager to cover the new expanded region. "We are excited about this role and having Sarah aboard with Canterbury Tennis" Blackwell said.

Forrest Estate Wines join Canterbury Tennis

Canterbury Tennis is delighted to announce a new sponsorship arrangement with Forrest Estate wines. Forrest Estate wines are now the official wine of Canterbury Tennis.

John Forrest, Managing Director of Forrest Estate Wines said, "As a progressive modern family company Forrest Estate Wines sees Canterbury Tennis as the perfect sponsorship partner for our wines. They display many of the attributes that we all see as ideal in a sponsorship partner; innovation, commitment and a proven track record at delivering in the community"

"We also see a perfect fit between the two organisations", said David Blackwell CEO of Canterbury Tennis. "The vision of Canterbury Tennis in its strategic plan is 'to be recognised as a world class organisation, delivering innovative, quality programmes and events to the tennis community'. We know Forrest Estate Wines have a similar outlook".

The Forrest Estate Wine brand will be associated with many of Canterbury Tennis' programmes including Business House, Mid-week Ladies and Inter-club competitions.

President's report

Click here to download the annual report by Canterbury Tennis President Tony Ralfe, published June 2008. (PDF, 26KB)

Annual Canterbury Tennis awards - 2008

The Annual Canterbury Tennis awards evening was held on Sunday 6th April. Awards were presented to the top interclub teams for the 2007-08 season and guest speak Onny Parun entertained the audience with his recollections of life on the circuit at the height of his career. The prizes for Player of the Year, Personality of the Year and Administrator of the Year were also presented, as below:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - JAMES MEREDITH

James Meredith has had an excellent season with some outstanding results. He has been a member of the Regional Performance Squad for the last two years, coached by Glenn Wilson and Alistair Hunt and has played at number one for the Cashmere 1 Senior Men's interclub team and at number one in the winning Wilding Shield Team for 2008.

Some big wins have come his way recently with four ITF junior singles titles and three ITF junior doubles titles.

James won the 18's Nationals and also played in the main draw of the Australian Open Juniors. James now has an ITF junior ranking of 144.

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR - PAM GODDARD

Pam Goddard is the Tournament Controller at Wilding Park during Senior Interclub matches and is well known as a keen tennis player herself.

Pam was also acknowledged for her work behind the scenes of Canterbury Tennis, in a voluntary capacity. She is very involved with Canterbury Veterans Tennis and she, along with Lynley Bell, is currently cataloguing the memorabilia at Canterbury Tennis, with the goal of eventually having a display area so that anyone who is interested can come and have a look at these important pieces of tennis history.

Pam has also been a member of the Interclub Advisory Group for many years. She is passionate about tennis and is a great ambassador for the sport.

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR - ANTOINETTE TAGGART, AVONHEAD TENNIS CLUB

A huge amount of good work is undertaken at our Clubs and this award is to acknowledge some of that good work. This year the North Linwood Trophy for Club Administrator of the Year was awarded to Antoinette Taggart of the Avonhead Tennis Club.

Antoinette has been involved with the Avonhead Club for only 2 ½ years and during this time she has had huge success in both fundraising and implementation of projects.

In this short time she has overseen the award of 23 grants to the club and organised internal fundraising plus the direction of some major upgrades including the resurfacing of four courts, a new coach's office, a new club roof and coaching programmes in low decile schools.

Antoinette has also just overseen a detailed proposal which has resulted in a major grant towards resurfacing two further courts. She will also be managing this project.

Ellen Barry wins ASB Pro event in Hamilton

March 10, 2008 - Canterbury's Ellen Barry won her first professional tournament in winning the ASB Pro event in Hamilton when she beat Australian Anna Wishink 6-7(1) 6-1 6-4, but won't have any time to dwell on her success as she catches the 'red-eye' flight to Perth for two US$25,000 Challenger tournaments. Her WTA ranking is now likely to be around 380 when the new ranking are released.

"In the first set I was waiting a little bit. I felt like I was trying to do too much with the ball. I was a little flat footed at first but in the second set I started going for my shots. In the third I tightened up again but got an early break and managed to come through from there," said Barry who proved she has a forehand which can now win her free points in matches.

"I hope to continue doing well now in US$25,000 and 50,000 events. I hope it's going to be a good year for me now," she said.

Junior ITF circuit dominated by Cantabs

Feb 19, 2008 - Players with connections to Canterbury Tennis's Regional Performance Centre took out over half the singles titles on over during the recent New Zealand Junior ITF circuit held in Auckland Christchurch and Wellington.

James Meredith (hot off his appearance in the Junior Australian Open) took out the Auckland and Christchurch singles titles with fellow squad member Jordan-Kelly Houston winning the final singles event in Wellington. Meredith and his doubles partner Australian Nat Maraga won all the doubles events making the circuit a happy hunting ground for valuable ITF points.

Meredith is now ranked at a career high 129 with Kelly-Houston at 198, these players 2 of 6 New Zeland boys inside the World Junior Top 200.

Ex-squad member Katherine Westbury, who is now based in Sydney, put aside the disappointment of dropping out of the singles and doubles in Christchurch at the semi final stage with an emphatic win the Wellington singles event lifting her world ranking to 295.

The circuit also saw success for Barrett Franks who gained his 1st ITF points and ended the circuit at a very respectable 587 in addition to Leela Beattie who picked up her first points to give herself a initial world junior ranking of 1233. Alice Laing managed a quarter final appearance in the doubles in Wellington to regain a junior world ranking.

James Meredith

Jordan Kelly-Houston

Katherine Westbury

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