Region II - New England
Essex Platform Tennis Club Wins the Big Paddle AgainGEOFF CARTIER
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| Main Draw: | John Cunningham - Rob Pierce def Steve Heath - Tim Heath |
| Quarter Reprieve Winners: | Matt Holmes - John Holmes |
| Consolation Winners: | Brad Kronauer – Brant Smith |
| Consolation Reprieve Winners: | Gary Ulrich - Brad Hoffman |
February 6 was the second annual Schuyler Meadows Ladies B event. We had the perfect paddle day - cloudy, cold, great food, fun hut chatter and fabulous paddle play. What was really exciting is that we had 4 (RI, MA, CT and NY) of the 7 states that comprise Region II represented coupled with two teams from Rochester, New York which is part of Region IV. We had two mother daughter teams (Carol Crummey with her mother Carol O'Brian/Kim Cushing and her mother Sue Keller) that played each other in the conso finals and their were no family feuds - just a few self induced head injuries but now worries everyone is okay.
Hats off to "Rob Coster's best friends" Simone Reynolds and Phyllis Kindelan who outlasted the second seed of Kathy Kulig and Diane Mayland for the Championship. Congratulations to Amy Poe and Karin Hyman who defeated Jane Keiter and Edie Schechter to capture the championship reprieve and CareyAnn Denefrio & Laura Myers who defeated Betsy Birchenough and Sue Bowen in the conso reprieve.
Thank you to Joan O'Connor (semi finalist with Mary Hutchinson) for volunteering to run this event.
Thanks to all of the ladies who played in the Nor'Eastern (YC) Ladies "B" for braving the single digit temperatures early Saturday morning and competing in our inaugural event! Your participation made this a great event and there seemed to be a lot of smiles (frozen) on all your faces. We just might have to do it again!
Congratulations to the Weston team of Natalie Sanders & Kathleen Esposito who dropped the first set 4-6 & endured two tie breakers in their 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 Championship Win over the local Marblehead team of Callie Brauer & Sue Brakeley. Callie & Sue themselves fought back from a first set loss in the semis to advance over Myopia's Sandra Duryea & Meg Hall (3-6, 6-4, 6-4) , while Natalie & Kathleen won 6-4, 6-4 over Sandy Macartney (who came all the way back home to Marblehead from her current home in Denver, CO) & Elizabeth Norton in their semi-final match en route to the Finals.
I bet Natalie & Kathleen are glad they got themselves on the wait list - smart move gals!
In the back draws…congratulations to Consolation Finalists and EYC's own Molly Bushman & Alessandra Bianchi, who won 6-3, 6-3 over Weston's Lisa Pierce & Coleen Doody. The Consolation Reprieve winners were the EYC next door neighbor's team of the Kristins Goedkoop (our luncheon hostess) & Barrett who Won 6-4, 6-0 over Elizabeth Pope & Heidi Tucker. Finally in another 3 set marathon Concord's Julia O'Conner & Hilda Perrott Won the Quarter Reprieve 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 over the sister-in-law combo of Kristi & Katie Martin.
We'd like to once again recognize & thank our lead sponsor (and provider of those much needed & used ball caps) Chris Stafford & his investment firm Deutsche Bank Alex Brown. We'd also like to thank the folks who donated their products for the goody bags: EYC member and competitors Lolli Leeson of Juice Plus (for the yummy gummies) & her partner Bunny Merrill of Elmore Mountain Farm (for the lip balm & goat's milk soap), EYC member & paddle fanatic Paul Pruett for the Bloomsberry "Emergency Chocolate" & the Mojito Mints. The goody bags were an added bonus made possible by these folks…please let me know if you'd like any of their contact information.
We'd look forward to your feed back - other than a bigger hut, warmer weather, some morning cloud cover :<) on any ways to improve upon the Nor'Eastern(YC) Ladies B Tournament.
It seemed a little ironic that two local teams should reach the finals of the Essex (CT) Men's B Tournament. After all, when play began on Saturday morning, there were twenty four teams in the draw with players representing five states (CT, MA, NH, NY and RI).
Roddy Diotalevi and Phil Johnson reached the finals, only to play John Bauman and John Cunningham, last year's tournament finalists and fellow Essex Platform Tennis Club players. In what could not have been a closer match, Diotalevi and Johnson came away with the win, 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4). In the semis, Diotalevi and Johnson had ended the tournament run of Junius Clark and Varen Vasudeva 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. In the other semifinal match, Bauman and Cunningham defeated David Clark and Michael Foye 6-4, 6-2. There were a number of three set matches throughout the day. Perhaps the most entertaining one came in the quarters when Clark and Vasudeva outlasted Mike McManus and Adam Mirsky 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The consolation was won by Hans Doup and Bill Bodde. They defeated Brad Hoffman and Dennis Herchel 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. The winners of the quarter reprieve were Mirsky and McManus who posted a marathon 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 win over Robert Caserta and Ryan McGetrick.
Standings through January 13, 2010
Standings througn January 13, 2010.
Albrikes - du Randt Bring HomeCongratulations to Jerry Albrikes and Johan du Randt for winning this year's Men's Boston National Open. Albrikes - du Randt, seeded number 2, defeated the unseeded team of Matt Porter - Jeff Morneau in a two set final, 6-3, 6-4. In the semis Albrikes - du Randt defeated 4th seeds Fritz Odenbach - Rusty Wright. On the other side of the draw Porter - Morneau took down both the 3rd seeds Matthew Dana - Lennart Jonasson and top seeds Blake Cordish - Steve Derose.
Points for individuals year to date.
Points for individuals year to date.
The Greater Boston Women’s Open was a huge success. We had our largest draw ever, with new faces, great competition, fabulous camaraderie and juicy hut chatter. It was capped off with a great final. Susan Rudd and Wendy Yang succumbed to Jessie Glidden and Amy Stiga, 6-4 in the third. It was a match of smiles, speed, placement and rock star shots
Complete Coverage, Draw and Pictures
It rained throughout most of this year's Connecticut Shoreline Women's B Tournament, but that didn't dampen the spirits of the participants.
In the end, Betsy Bergstrom and Barbara Coster (Madison, CT) came away with the victory, defeating Laurie Rosen and Cathy Hazlett (Norwich, VT) 6-3, 6-2, in the finals. Bergstrom and Coster spent plenty of time on the court out in the rain as they twice had to go three sets in earlier rounds. In the semis, they avenged a three set loss in last year's event to Laurie Holl and Hilary Meyers (West Hartford, CT). This year, it was Bergstron-Coster who prevailed by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) win. This was after they had eliminated Asa Nilsson and Barbara Horne (Longmeadow, MA) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In the other semifinal match, Rosen and Hazlett defeated Phyllis Kindelan and Simone Reynolds (Kensignton, CT) in a marathon match. The scores were 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4).
The consolation was won by Mary Hutchinson (Jamestown, RI) and Joan O'Connor (Loudonville, NY) while Nilsson and Horne took the quarter reprieve.
For all the news from the Essex Platform Tennis Club, visit our web site.
The Pioneer Valley Men's 95+ was held in Longmeadow, MA November 21, hosted by the Field Club & Country Club, organized by tournament director Rob Durfee.
The tournament was won by Heath and McCormick, who reportedly beat down a few dogs in the final. The fellows in the shot on the left did not win the tournament, despite their brilliant teamwork.
![]() Caserta-Cunningham "Mine!" |
![]() Rob Coster |
![]() Johnny Cunningham |
Kevin O'Brien |
In the Connnecticut Classic Men's Paddle Tournament, held Sunday, November15 in West Hartford, CT Drew Broderick & Mike Stulac defeated Jerry Albrikes & Johdn DuRandt to claim the title.
ANN SHEEDYEven the remnants of Hurricane Ida couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 40 hardy competitors who played in the Connecticut Women’s Classic. The weather was a bit of a tease with the rain diminishing for a time but always coming back with a vengeance. Fortunately, the competitors all seemed to bring enough changes of clothing so that at least for a few minutes they could be dry.
The Green Mountain Open tournament, featuring both men's and mixed events, was held last weekend at the Norwich Racquet Club and the Woodstock Sports Center. Many thanks to tournament directors David Barlow and Todd Tyson.
In the Mens final Marc Porter and Peter Harvey Defeated Jamie Hayes and Keith Komline 6-2,6-3. In the mixed,Asa and Per Nilsson defeated Cynthia Knight and Trip Morse 6-4,4-6,7-6.
Below on left: (l-r) Komline, Hayes, Porter, Harvey. Below on right: Mixed finalits.

Jerry Albrikes and Johan DuRandt defeated Alex Seiler and Naren Dhamodharen, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 to capture the Rhode Island Men's, and some impprtant Region II President's Cup points, last weekend. The tournament was held at the beautiful Shelter Harbor Inn in Westerly.
This year's Nantucket Mixed Invitational was moved to Sunday due to a lousy forecast for Saturday. While the weather wasn't quite as bad a predicted, Sunday turned out the be goegeous and 14 teams joined the fun.
The championship title was won by Jessie Glidden and Luke Thornewill, who defeated Amy and Jai Stiga 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. In the Championship Reprieve Jong and Wendy Yang bested Margaretta Andrews and Tim Dugan 7-5, 7-6, and in the Consolation Maureen Reed and Tuck Meyer prevailed over Anne Lanman and Marsh Chambers 6-2, 6-3.
Region II invites you to join their group on facebook .
NANTUCKET PLATFORM TENNIS ASSOCIATION
23 SASAPANA ROAD
NANTUCKET, MA 02554
Nantucket Mixed Invitational – October 24th, 2009
Welcome once again to the long-standing Nantucket Mixed Invitational Tournament! We hope that our old friends, as well as new players, will be able to come. Click here for the registration form . Please consider coming to the island for this terrific weekend – there aren’t many mixed events left, and ours is one of the best – great paddle, great company and great food!
This year we’re trying something different – a one-day tournament. We have 4 courts now at our new location, and are aiming for a draw of 16 teams. The team entry fee includes continental breakfast and lunch at the courts on Saturday, and beer/wine/cheese on Saturday evening at the hut.
Because it can be difficult to get to the Island due to fog/uncertain weather, every player must be on-Island by Friday night to be eligible to play on Saturday . Failure by a team to show up for a scheduled match will result in that team being disqualified from the tournament (and we all know what that does to the entire draw!).
Registration forms and entry fees are due no later than Friday, October 16th . This applies to on-Island teams as well as our visiting players!
You will need a rental car, taxi or a ride from one of the local members to get to the courts. The telephone number in the hut is 508-228-5406. For questions about the draw/starting times, please contact Margaretta Andrews at 508-228-3767 (h), (508) 221-6776 (c) or margarettaandrews@comcast.net .
So...please get that registration in right away, get a group of paddle enthusiasts together, make reservations, and pack your gear for a great paddle weekend!