Tennis players ace handicap tournament

“In sport, a handicap system is a great mechanism for levelling the playing field as it enables novices to compete against the more experienced players,” says Bernard Schoeman, chairman of TTC. This was the club’s second tournament, and 15 players entered the competition. In the first position was Fleurette Andrew.

“I learned to play tennis at the Duiwelskloof club back in the day when Stan Murray was the resident tennis coach and he would coach us on Saturday mornings. As children, we played many Benny Bezuidenhout tournaments at the TTC and it’s been good to see so much effort being made to revive the game of tennis in our town.

Tennis is a beautiful game that can be played by the whole family and I encourage all tennis players out there to join us on Saturday afternoons for social play,” she said. In second was JC van Rensburg.

“At the age of 12 I played my first singles match and I played high school tennis then took a really long break before joining the TTC in 2020. The TTC is a vibrant club that includes top players as well as social players, juniors, beginners, and learners. The handicap idea was a really great initiative. Players of different levels can play competitively against each other,” he said. Craig Johnson took third place, Alan Davson came fourth and fifth position went to Brian Johnson.

Also read: The Tzaneen Tennis Club tournament

Among the club members is the youngest club member, 12-year-old Richardt Erasmus coached by Reenen Bergmann. “I started playing two years ago when I was 10, it was tough at first playing against them, as they are older with a lot more experience than me, but with a lot of practice and help from Reenen, I am able to keep up with them.

“They are never lenient and they do not treat me as a child when we are playing, and that is what I like,” said the Tzaneen Primary School learner. “We are looking forward to our annual club championships which start in July -during this time all the players in our club will be officially ranked. “We are thankful to the committee and all our members for helping to keep our club in good order.

“Funds have been allocated to us as part of the IDP budget of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality and we remain hopeful that we will be in a position to upgrade the facilities even further once those funds are released. “TTC remains committed to furthering the development of tennis in Tzaneen and surrounding areas,” said Schoeman.

He also said that tennis is an excellent sport from a fitness, strength, and social perspective and they invite all those who are interested in joining to contact the club treasurer, James Excell on 084 852 2688.