Sun shines on North of Scotland Tennis
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THE sun was shining this week for the 109th staging of the North of Scotland Tennis Championships.
The action at the Duff Avenue courts in Elgin heated up on Wednesday when the clouds rolled back and summer sunshine burst through.
Elgin Lawn Tennis Club coach Doug Soutar, who is chief tournament organiser, said the event is on course to reach its conclusion today (Friday) with the junior finals and senior finals on Saturday.
"I have been delighted with the way everything has gone," he said.
"We had under-eight and under-10 tournaments on Sunday and an under-nine tournament on Monday, which were played to conclusions.
"I am pleased with the way everybody has been helping out. We have had about 140 different players, from the age of eight right up to seniors."
While most competitors have been from the host club and other clubs around Moray and the Moray Firth area, some have travelled from as far afield as Hertfordshire and France, the latter holidaying in the area with family.
"The weather has been kind and we have a lot of good young players."
Good entries in the 8, 9 and 10 year old classes augur well for the future and there were strong entries in all the junior classes.
However, Soutar admitted there is a dearth of girl players at present.
The Elgin club is thriving with around 175 members. It is soon to launch a fundraising appeal in a bid to provide floodlights for the red blaze courts, which will see the club need to raise around £40,000.
