THE Red Cliffs Lawn Tennis Club’s annual tournament has been given the go-ahead but will most likely feature fewer players than previous years.
Club president Gavin Lynch said he believed the recent circuit-breaking lockdown was the reason less players had registered to date.
“We had to sit tight and wait to see what would happen and we are very pleased we were given the go-ahead,” Lynch said.
“It’s a major event for the club … one of our biggest fundraisers for the year.”
The tournament starts this evening with twilight doubles.
Tomorrow will see the start of singles for men and women, starting at 9am, and the finals are scheduled for later that morning. The doubles competitons are set to start at 1.30pm with finals to follow.
On Sunday, the club will host the mixed doubles.
“We have grades to cater for all abilities,” Lynch said.
“Our numbers for men have been very good over recent years but for the ladies it has been hard to attract numbers for singles.
“Hopefully we can get good numbers on the court this year.
“We will take entries right up until the event.
“We always get good crowds … we get quite a few players come down from Broken Hill each year … we already have several entries from there.”
Lynch also said back-to-back women’s champion Paige McLean had entered the competition again this year and should set the pace against what could be a younger field.
“The singles event is a real opportunity for the young ones to come out and play against local members and members from Broken Hill,” Lynch said.
“Our junior tournament had to be cancelled last weekend because of the lockdown. This is one of those years where we all just have to make the best of it.”
Players can register by emailing Lynch at glynch54@bigpond.com.
