With the first snow of the year hitting Dumfries & Galloway, then how fitting that our little Red players took centre stage, with the final round of the 2023 D&G Mini Red Tour indoors at the David Keswick Centre.
We had 10 players taking to the court with kids from Dalbeattie, Langholm, Annan, Lochmaben and 6 from Dumfries. Todays format had a mixed event with 7 boys and 3 girls playing in 2 round robin groups.
Group A saw Dalbeatties’s Layton McGimpsey and Dumfries’s Ethan Lees progress into the semi finals with 4 wins and 3 win respectively with Remie Cullen, Daisy Malone and Hector Kerr going into the consolation event. In group B it was Annandale pair of Calum Grant (Langholm) and Haelan Parkin (Annan) who made it into the semi finals with 4 and 3 wins out of 4 with Shay Trainor, Hannah Lorimer and Martha Kerr going into the consolation event.
In the consolation quarter finals Hannah held off Hector 10-3 with Martha just squeezing past training partner Daisy 10-7. Remie Cullen bt Hannah 10-7 with Shay getting past Martha 10-6. In the final Remie backed up last months consolation win to make it 2 out of 2 with a 10-2 over Shay.
The main draw semi finals saw Layton coming from 6-3 down against Haelan, to clinch the first semi 10-7 with Calum likewise coming from 5-4 down against Ethan, to make the final 10-6. Haelan took 3rd place with a 10-3 win over Ethan. The final saw Layton take a 3-0 lead before stretching that to 7-4 before Calum came back to 6-7 before Layton went on to win 10-7. Great matches all day and well done to all the kids.
In the race for the leaderboard Martha Kerr (Dumfries) was the most consistent over both events winner with Layton McGimpsey taking the boys event. Well done both.
On a cold November day our 8th year of running the D&G Mini Red Tour was grateful to be indoors out of the cold weather.
The first of two events started with 9 boys and 6 girls battling it out to get their hands on the events medals. The girls played a round robin event with all girls getting 5 matches. Early wins for Livingston’s Hasika Pasupulati and Dumfries’s Olivia Gordon saw them sit top of the group where they stayed until the last match against each other. The other 4 Dumfries girls battled it out for 3rd to 6th position. Both Martha Kerr and Esme Rogerson managed 2 wins each with Hannah Lorimer and Daisy Malone getting a win each. This left the battle at the top. Both girls played really well as a 10 minute match ebbed and flowed, 4-4, then 6-6, 7-7 before Hasika edge the win 10-7. Some superb matches from all. Well done.
In the boys event we had 3 round robin groups with the 3 winners and the best 2nd place player progressing into the semi finals. Newlands Xavi Walsh was joined in the last 4 by Langholm’s Calum Grant, Dalbeattie’s Layton’s McGimpsey with best runner up being Annan’s Haelan Parkin. In the consolation event we had 5 Dumfries kids with 4 making their debut, Kyle Holmes and Hector Kerr, both 6yrs, Remie Cullen & Shay Trainor both 7 yrs and Ethan Lees (8) all battling it out for the consolation medal. Ethan edged a wins against Kyle and Shay with Remie getting past Hector. The final went all the way with Remie just taking the final 11-9.
In the main draw semi-finals we had 2 great matches with Xavi bt Layton 11-9 and Haelan bt Calum 10-5. The third place match saw Layton take the win 10-6.
The final was another 10 minute match which went to the wire with Zavi taking the win 10-8 against Haelan. Both players putting a great effort in, with long testing rallies.
Great to get another event up and running and thanks to all the kids and parents for supporting this event. See you in December.
Dumfries Tennis Club are celebrating lifting 5 of the 6 D&G Doubles team leagues this year. The Men’s division 1 title has been a regular fixture on the Dumfries Tennis Club trophy shelf, having won it 11 of the previous 12 years. However, this year they also managed to win the Women’s division 1 title, this is the first time in the past 14 years that Dumfries has prised this trophy away from the Stewartry area. The Men’s and Women’s division 2 league are both relatively new leagues. Dumfries juniors secured the Men’s division 2 title, which is now in it’s 8th year. The Women’s division 2 title went to Beechgrove Tennis Club who become the 2nd winners of the young league.
Both Mixed leagues were also won by Dumfries Tennis Club. Again our juniors team secure another title as they won the division 2 title for the first time since 2016. The main mixed league has been firmly routed in the Stewartry area, with both Dalbeattie and Stewartry CSC (Formerly Castle Douglas) share this trophy for the past 24 years.
A great season for Dumfries as they managed to win all 5 leagues, with all title winning teams remaining undefeated through-out the campaign. Also, a great year for Dumfries & Galloway Tennis with more teams taking part in these leagues. For 2023 we had 32 team represented by Annan Seaforth TC, Beechgrove TC Moffat, Gretna/Canonbie TC select, Dumfries TC, Dalbeattie TC, Stewartry CSC and Kirkcudbright TC.
Dumfries and Galloway senior tennis players have been competing for the South of Scotland in the over 50’s senior tennis League. The South of Scotland tennis region comprises Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire and the Borders. The competition is a Scottish inter county competition comprising of three Scottish counties in this event, East, West and South playing against each other.
The first match took place recently at Dumfries tennis club and three Dumfries and Galloway men were in the South team, namely, Lister McKiddie of Dumfries Tennis Club, Stevie White from Dalbeattie and Brian Litster, originally from Dalbeattie and now based at Penrith. The other player was Terry McGuigan of Ayr LTC. This match was against a strong West of Scotland team which mainly comprises Glasgow clubs. The South lost 3-1 in a closely contested match with Lister and Terry winning their tie. They then travelled through Edinburgh to play the East of Scotland. With the West having already won the league then it was winner takes all in this match. The East took the first rubber with local D&G boys Lister and Stevie White losing the first match before the Ayrshire pair drew the match level. The East number one pairing then completed the double against the Ayrshire duo of Terry McGuigan and Derek Lauder. This left the final match to decide who would finish 2nd. Stevie and Lister took the first set 6-4 before completing the win with a 6-4 score in the 2nd set. This left the match as a draw which was enough to secure 2nd spot for the South. Great effort from the team.
Created back in 2020 by Dumfries TC and the Borders district, this is our 4th year of the event and the 2nd time in Dumfries.
So, forget the Davis Cup, the Laver Cup or County Cup, the Borders Challenge Cup keeps it real. Despite heavy rain, the kids from the Borders Borders Tennis Centre and Dumfries battled it out for the 4th Borders Challenge Cup at Dumfries Tennis Club
Congratulations to Dumfries TC on retaining their 4th Borders Challenge Cup but the Borders pushed them very hard this year and nearly got the win. The last time the Borders came to Dumfries it was 47-8 to Dumfries but this time it was much tighter.
The 9s event went to the Borders 11-7 as did the 10s event 11-7 and that is the first time the Borders have won 2 of the events, but the 12s event provided decisive as Dumfries took that 16-2 and the overall match 30-24.
Big well done to all players and to both set of parents for being patient and thanks to Mike Palmer for captaining the Borders team.
Finally, a special mention for our joint team captains on the day. Jack Wearing who played in 3 of these events and Lucy Scade who played in all 4 events. This is their last year in this event, well done both
DALBEATTIE LAWN TENNIS CLUB MIXED OPEN TOURNAMENTS 2023
Dalbeattie Tennis Club are running 3 mixed doubles events over 3 Sundays during the summer holiday. To enter then please contact Keith, details below.
LIONS CUP MIXED DOUBLES (DRAW FOR PARTNER) (MOVED) Now SUNDAY 16th JULY. Entry £4 per player – (Entries by Thursday 13th July)
DAN MASKELL MIXED DOUBLES (ENTER WITH PARTNER) SUNDAY 23rd JULY. Entry £5 per player (Raffle in aid of Dan Maskell Trust (Any donations grateful) Entries close 19th July
BSW TROPHY MIXED DOUBLES (DRAW FOR PARTNER) SUNDAY 6TH AUGUST. Entry £4 per player – Entries by Wed 2nd August
All entries to Keith Thom on 07821526388 or thomkeith@hotmail.com no later than the Friday 6pm before tournament date.
2017, this was the last time Dumfries & Galloway as a district, attended the Scottish Inter-District Team Tennis Championships which is a 4-day residential event taking place this year in Perthshire. So, in 2023 we returned to this event with a 12-player team who were looking to put D&G back on the tennis map. Since 2010, we have sent partial teams in 2014, 2015 and 2017 with all of them finishing in last position out of the 9 districts. These being Ayrshire, Central, Tayside, North East, Highlands, Borders, West and East of Scotland.
So, for this year the message was simple, let try and not finish last or at least put oor wee district in with a chance of at least being involved on the last day.
Each district sends 4 x 12s & under players, 4 x 15s & under and 4 x 18s & under with each team made up of 2 boys and 2 girls. Days 1 and 2 are qualifying matches with 1st in each of the 3 groups going on to play for the titles, with the 2nd and 3rd team playing each other to have a say in the overall winners.
Our 18s were a young team with 3 of the players being 15-year-olds and one 12-year-old and they were drawn against one of the favourites in West of Scotland who won the 18s last year and a strong Ayrshire team. The kids put up a good effort but as expected the young team struggled with the strength of their opponents and last all their matches. This would put them in group 3 for the last 2 days.
Like the 18s our 15s were also a young team with 3 of them being 13 years and one 11-year-old. They also struggled in the opening 2 days as they were drawn against Tayside and the North East. Both these districts have large cities to pick players from with Dundee and Aberdeen respectfully. Again, another good effort against their opponents but ultimately, we would end up in group 3 also for the 15s.
Then we had our 12s, they were drawn against the East of Scotland and Central with both expecting to be challenging for the top spots at the end of the week. Each match would see 2 boys singles, 2 girls singles and a boys and girls doubles. Day one saw the singles matches with D&G winning 2 matches out of 4 in each rubber. This left us with all to play for in day 2 with the doubles. Both the girls match ended in tight losses with the boys winning both of theirs, this would result in 2 match tie-breaks to 10 with one boy and one girl from each team pairing up for the shoot-out. This was a great achievement with D&G still could end up in any of the three positions. The East were up first as D&G took and early lead and went on to win the shoot-out, this guaranteed then 2nd place in the group before playing Central. This tie-break was tight after the first 6 points as they turned at 3-3 before D&G started to win more of the battles and eventually took the match 10-7 to secure 1st spot in this group and a place at the top league. A really great achievement for this little district.
Days 3 and 4 were all about positions. Our 12s were matched up against Tayside and the West of Scotland with both the 18s and 15s playing against the Highlands and Borders. Day 3 was our one wet day so play was slower. Both our boys 12s players won their singles matches against Tayside so this match sat at 2-2 before Thursdays doubles but they struggled against the West going down 4-0. Our 18s completed day three with a 2-2 tie against Highlands and both girls won their singles and 3-1 down against Borders. The 15s played their doubles matches on Wednesday losing both against the Highlands and winning both against the Borders. All to play for on the last day.
Our players entered day 4 with lots of matches that had purpose and a good team spirit. Our 12s battled away with their doubles but it looked like a day to much as they lost all four rubbers to finish 3rd overall but what a great achievement for them. The 15s started their singles and completed a 6-0 win over their Border opponents. Against the highlands was trickier and we ended up losing that match 5-1 overall. This left the 18s with their doubles, neither doubles pairing could trouble the experienced Borders pairings as we lost that match 5-1. This left us against the Highlands to see who would come 2nd in the group and 8th overall. The boys were outmuscled by their older opponents which left it up t the girls. The girls stated slow by going 4-1 down in their first set before clawing it back to win the first set 6-4. Set 2, what a surprise the girls did it again, going 4-1 down before taking that rubber 6-4, 6-4. This left us with a mixed pairs match tie-break. Both started nervously before D&G started to win the rallies and ended up 9-4 in front. They had 5 match points to do this before the Highlands started to chip away at this, 9-5, 9-6, 9-7 before they completed the win 10-7.
A tremendous effort from our little D&G starts as they came 7th overall.
A big thank you has to go the Holywood Trust for supporting the team as entering this event doesn’t come cheap. Thanks to Tennis Dumfries & Galloway for their contribution, thanks to Dumfries Tennis Club for allowing us to use their facilities for practice this year, thanks to The Print Copy Centre in Dumfries for their efforts in getting our teamwear sorted, thanks to the parents of the kids who supported us both through-out the build up and from a far and at the event in Perthshire. Thank you also to the kids, some of these kids playing well out of their age groups to help the team get there and thanks to both captains, Rebecca Topping and Michael Goldie who supported these 12 kids during these 4 days, coaches, captains and parents all rolled into one for the duration of the event. What an achievement.
Our district is looking to return to the Scottish Inter-District Team Championship for the first time since 2017.
This event invites all 9 Scottish districts to attend and it’s for 18s and under, 15s and under and 12s and under players, 2 boys and 2 girls in each team. To give our kids an identity the District has created a new badge to attach to their tennis gear.
The event is scheduled to run in the Easter holiday with the East of Scotland, The Highlands, North East of Scotland, Ayrshire, The Borders, Central Scotland, Tayside, West of Scotland and Dumfries & Galloway.
Today, we saw the final round of games for the D&G Mini Red Tour 2022, which is now in its 7th year.
We had a smaller girls event this year with only 4 today and 5 overall for the leader board. Defending champions and aiming to be the first ever player, boy or girls, to win back-to-back D&G Mini Tours was Emily Warren. Emily won the November event and was the current Dumfries Tennis Club 8s and under champion. Emily was up against 3 Dumfries Club players who were looking forward to the challenge. Ella Zaremba, Olivia Gordon and Esme Rogerson. The young trio played well but Emily’s experience was just too much on the day as she gained 3 wins out of 3 to take the title on the day and overall Leaderboard. The 3 girls battled it out for 2nd on the day and runner-up on the leaderboard. There was not a lot in it, as Ella bt Esme, Esme bt Olivia and yes you guested it, Olivia bt Ella which left Esme as runner-up on games percentage.
Well done to all our young ladies and we look forward to seeing them all for years to come.
In the boy’s event we welcomed 9 players. We had 6 Dumfries boys with Samuel Zaoral, Cameron Hodge, Ethan Lees, Ethan West, Blair Dalzell and Louis Darrant. They were joined by Layton McGimpsey from Dalbeattie TC, Calum Grant from Gretna/Canonbie and from Giffnock Tennis Club in Glasgow we had James Crowther.
The round robin groups saw James top his group with Cameron going through as runner up. In the other group Layton McGimpsey top his group with Sam as runner up.
The consolation side saw wins for Ethan L bt Ethan W, Calum bt Louis, Ethan L bt Blair with Calum winning the consolation final 10-3.
In the main draw semi-final Cameron edge a tight one against Layton 10-8 with James beating Samuel 10-5. Samuel took the 3rd place win against Layton. The final was a repeat of the group match as Cameron took the first point before James took control and rattled of the next 4. Cameron battled well to get to 6-4 but James played a well-controlled match to run out a 10-4 win.
Some brilliant rallies from several players, well done to the little stars.
With Emily taking the girls leaderboard then the count began to see who would take the boys. Layton came third with a 3rd and 4th place over the 2 events, Cameron was runner-up twice but the overall winner went to Samuel Zaoral who won the first event and came 3rd today, just edging past hitting partner Cameron.
Great to see the kids playing some good tennis today.
Despite heavy rain, the kids from the Borders 
Dumfries & Galloway Tennis 