As an actively involved member of the Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs (CTC) and in the spirit of nurturing fair play and developing the social and cultural aspect that links itself with the sport of tennis, the Athens Lawn Tennis Club organised a weekend of CTC Seniors competition during 23-25 September 2016. Four teams of senior players aged 35+ and 45+ in both men’s and ladies categories competed for the honour of winning first prize. Participating CTC member clubs were LTTC Rot-Weiss from Berlin, Allmänna Lawntennis Klubb from Stockholm, Lawn Tennis Club Leimonias from The Hague and the host team.

The teams drawn to initially compete against each other during the first leg of nine rubbers were Lawn Tennis Club Leimonias against Rot-Weiss and Allmänna Lawntennis Klubb against Athens Lawn Tennis Club. Glorious weather and a good level of play made for an exciting first day. The host team narrowly beat Allmänna Lawntennis Klubb, while Lawn Tennis Club Leimonias had a slightly easier path for the following day’s final against Rot-Weiss. The winner would eventually be decided between the hosts and Lawn Tennis Club Leimonias. On a another sunny day, the team from Athens won the tournament in front of a home crowd, while Allmänna Lawntennis Klubb secured third place.

On the social side of the competition, welcome drinks were arranged at the club upon arrival of all teams and the members of each team got the chance to meet each other while the team captains revised the event schedule, bearing in mind the visitors’ needs to visit the historic centre of Athens and nearby landmarks such as the Parthenon and the Acropolis museum. On the Sunday and final night of the event, the official dinner was hosted at the club’s restaurant with team captains congratulating each other and exchanging gifts while having the opportunity to taste local produce. The casual and friendly atmosphere added to a great evening and closed a successful event, one all team members agreed to take place again and that is testament to the positive role and impact put forth by the Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs.

Evangelos Soupionas