Racqueteers blow away Georgia challenge

The Racqueteers team from Kingston defeated a strong set of players from the Georgia Tennis and Country Club of Duncans, Trelawny, by 17 games last Saturday at the fifth annual tournament of the two veteran teams on the grasscourts at the Georgia Club.

Initially, play was delayed due to inclement weather, but as play resumed the Racqueteers proved their mettle and were declared the winners.

Ray Schnoor (Georgia tennis captain) had drawn together a talented team from the surrounding north coast areas as well as one player flown in from Toronto, Klaes Secher.

Other members of the team included David Muschett, Andrew Hopwood, Andrew Grant, William Tatham, Alex Henderson, Cameron Henderson, Martin Hopwood and Mark McConnell.

Cameron Henderson also played well in his first national tournament and Stephen Todd won all his matches for the Racqueteers.

Rosie McIver, Regna McClurkin, Rachel McLarty, Laura Tanna, Brittany-Lee Powell from Kingston outclassed the all-male Georgia Club competition. The women asked for and gave no quarter.

Everton Morgan, Marcel Morgan, Norman Marshall, Dr Richard Gomes, Jeremy Cresswell, Howard Powell also excelled on the courts in spite of talented play from the home team. Ollo Clark from London also performed well despite the rain and wet courts.

Good sportsmanship

Match rules required short games and short sets and the level of sportsmanship displayed was high, with few contentious calls in spite of the continuous obliteration of the whitewashed lines by the rain. Centre court remained unplayable due to flooding and the balls were heavy and falls were muddy.

Georgia Captain Ray Schnoor said they were surprised at how focused the Racqueteers were.

"Our players found the Racqueteers excessive cheering unsettling," said Schnoor. "This year they may have won, but Georgia have won most of these matches and will certainly take the 2010 rematch."