The ITF Super-Seniors World Team Championships (65-70-75-80-85 years old) were held last week in Palm Beach County, Florida.
For this 41st edition, more than 300 athletes participated in one of the eight categories on the program: Britannia Cup (men, 65), Kitty Godfree Cup (women, 65), Jack Crawford Cup (men, 70), Althea Gibson Cup (women, 70), Bitsy Grant Cup (men, 75), Queens Cup (women, 75), Gardnar Mulloy Cup (men, 80), Doris Hart Cup (women, 80), Lorne Main Cup (men, 85), and finally, the Angela Mortimer Cup (women, 85).
For the occasion, Canada sent a delegation of 26 players who, each in their own way, obtained very good results for their country. In particular, the two Canadian squads that competed in the women’s and men’s 70+ categories managed to finish fourth overall, thus winning the copper medal. The men’s team consisted of Tim Griffin, Keith Porter, Terry Redvers, and Allard Côté, while Anke Magnus, Janice Holloway, Micheline Berry, and Frances Critchley made up the women’s quartet.
Three other teams were also able to finish the tournament in sixth place in their respective categories:
- Women’s 65 and over: Jeanie MacEachern, Patricia Babcock, Cyndy Bray, and Akemi Seiriki
- Men 75 and over: John Tibbits and Harry Greenan
- Men 80 and over: Horst Dammholz, Shaheer Mikhail, Jay Bochner, and Peter Marshall
Finally, of the eleven teams competing for the Queens Cup and the 18 teams competing for the Britannia Cup, Team Canada finished in 8th and 13th place, respectively. These were the team lineups:
- Queens: Jeannette Mcglone, Gisela Nouisser, Gillan Akins, Jane Seed
- Britannia: Michael McLoughlin, David Fairbotham, Sydney Azancot, Greig Redding
Stay tuned this week as a few Canadians are still in the running for the individual portion of the Championships, also being held in Palm Beach, Florida. The competition officially concludes on May 7.