Continuing success for Trevor Leigh's,now becoming famous,Sunday mix and match doubles event, when last Sunday a total of 22 players turned up for 3 hours of fun at the Los Gigantes Tennis centre, in Los Gigantes Tenerife.

Still the only tennis club on Tenerife to offer a nearly all year invitation to anyone out here on holidays to join in on the Sunday event (starts at 10pm)

And now there is the Wednesday event, which starts this time of year at 14.00

Here is Trevors run down from last Sundays big event:

As we approach the festive season, holiday makers, are taking the opportunity to catch some "rays", charge-up the batteries and get fit (by playing tennis) before the onslaught of the Christmas/New Year indulgances as evidenced by a large turn-out for the regular Sunday morning all-comers mix and match doubles tournament.

Whilst the organiser tries to work to a maximum of 20 players he simply could not disappoint an extra two players that made the effort to turn up. A total of 22 players competed comprising 9 ladies and 13 gentlemen. The early rounds of four game short sets helped to sort out relative skill levels whereupon later games started to balance out relative strenghts and weaknesses.

The result of the referee's machinations was a spread of final scores ranging from 7 points up to 17 points (one point awarded per game in a winning combination) with a maximum achievable score of 24 i.e. everyone played 6 rounds. In spite of the high turn-out a slight over-run on time facilitated delivery of the minimum number of games they seek to give each player during the three hours of the competition.

The availability of three courts meant 10 sitting out of each round, however, the players appeared to appreciate the balance of work on court and taking a breather to socialise with the other players.

Although the award system can vary, sometimes separate male/female winners, sometimes not, generally all players are treated as tennis players, be it with relative tennis skill levels. While the referee will seek to avoid polarised combinations, a loosely engineered handicapping system endeavours to provide every player with the potential to win the competition or at least have an opportunity to win some points. 

The tournament was jointly won by Kieran Charleson and Barry Twizell (17) with Brian Humphries the runner-up (16). Helga Krienen (15) was next and heading the female section. Helga, in addition to being a canny tennis player, is a past winner and a highly valued supporter of the competition during the Winter season.

Below a photo of most of the players who took part.

Click to zoom.