Day One at the Tennis

By Volunteer Anne MacOscar

For my first shift on the #WPFGSocialTeam I was assigned to cover day one of the Tennis competitions, which took place at Belfast Boat Club on Sunday 4th August 2013. It is a trult international competition with competitors from 17 different countries.

I arrived at the venue at 9am along with all the other fantastic volunteers, who were bright-eyed and bushy tailed, despite the early hour. Some of the volunteers were local, whilst others had travelled from as far away as Manchester and Wales to be a part of the Games.

Prior to the start of the matches, there was an opportunity for the competitors to practice on the courts. This gave them the chance to warm-up and get familiarised with their surroundings before the serious competition commenced. It also gave me a chance to get up to speed on all things Tennis, as it is a sport with which I was unfamiliar before today! New York Fire Department competitor Raymond Stanton was very helpful in getting me up to speed.

The competitions got underway promptly at 2pm, under the watchful eye of Tournament Director George Stevenson and Sport Co-ordinator Ms. Campbell, who both worked very hard all day in order to ensure that everything ran like clockwork. Over the 6 days of the Tennis they will be kept busy as there are competitions for a wide range of age categories for men and women, as well as doubles and mixed doubles events. With 8 courts in operation, the fantastic crowd of spectators who turned out to show their support were spoilt for choice on what to watch.

On Court 1 local athlete John Dullaghan was delighted to win his round 1 match against Hong Kong’s Che Leung Tang. It was a hard-fought match by both competitors. The final score of 6-2 to 6-3.

Another local man, Liam Kane was also victorious in round 1, beating Hong Kong’s Hok San Lam to take the win and go through to the next stage of the tournament.

Not to be outdone by the men, local lady Geraldine O’Neill, who only took up playing tennis 4 years ago, beat Wai Chung Lee from Hong Kong and also goes through to the second round.

One of the highlights of the day for me was meeting Dame Mary Peters, an inspirational lady and a patron of the 2013 World Police and Fire Games. There was great excitement when she arrived in the morning. She went around the venue talking to competitors and volunteers, offering words of support and encouragement.

If day one was anything to go by, the next five days at Belfast Boat Club look set to be very exciting ones! Why not get down there, show your support and be a part of the friendliest games ever?

Let’s hope the sun keeps shining!

Find out more at www.2013wpfg.com