Hugh Dow
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Tennis Club experienced another great display of tennis on the weekend, with the Mixed Doubles Championships — the club’s first tournament of the year.

Kim Laidlaw and Gerry McIlhone defeated Fran Doran and Ken McGillivray (6-3, 6-1) to capture the A division championship, while Pam Vandenbaak and Kelly Paquette beat Margaret and Alex Hobbes (6-2, 6-2) to win the B division.

In the consolation finals, Kelly Larmour and Manny Umoquit defeated Karen Rhind and Mike Szymanski (6-0, 6-1) to take the A division title.  

Karen Vine and Dave Johnson defeated Coral MacKenzie and Richard Berti (6-3, 3-6, 10-8) to capture the B division crown.

In all, 12 teams competed, split into A and B divisions.

There were some excellent matches during round-robin play, with great competition and close scores.

It was a timed format so teams were trying to win as many games as possible within 45 minutes.

Sudden-death points could end a game and add tension and drama to the match.

The point of the night went to Paquette and Vandenbaak playing Natalie Early and Bruce Zvaniga. 

Tied at six games apiece when time was called, a sudden-death point was needed to determine the winner of the match — and that victor would potentially move on to the championship round. 

Paquette called on his Boris Becker moves and made a diving volley on a good cross court shot to win the point. An amazing effort.

His heroics moved them on to the championship round. A scraped elbow and knee was worth it.

The championship finals were played Saturday morning with a best-of-three sets format. If teams split sets, a 10-point super tiebreaker decided the winner. 

Once again there were some fantastic matches, with close games and wonderful sportsmanship on display. 

Of particular note was the play of Berti, who at 88 was moving around the court like a 30 something, chasing down balls and in every point along with his playing partner MacKenzie. 

Theirs was the closest match and needed a 10-point tie breaker to determine the winner. 

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all who participated. The event was brilliantly administered by John Ramsbottom, the club’s tournament director.

Marilyn Francis once again was a huge help in pulling it all together.