Sarnia-Lambton was well represented at the 59th Annual Francis J. Robinson Memorial Tournament, which took place at Sanborn Park in Port Huron from August 3-7.
The “Robinson” is one of the longest running community tennis tournaments in the United States, with divisions ranging from 10 & under to 65 & over. It is the highlight of the local area summer tennis calendar.
This year’s tournament had 247 participants, with many competing in two or three events - singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Twenty-two Sarnia- Lambton players participated, with four winning events, six reaching the finals and 15 at the semifinals.
Andrew Davies captured the coveted Robinson Triple Crown, winning the 16s Boys singles, as well as 16s Boys doubles and mixed doubles with partners from the Port Huron area. He was one of two Triple Crown winners this year at the Robinson, the other being Isabella Murray, Davies’ mixed doubles partner from Fort Gratiot, MI.
Divyesh Bhargava and Ryan Davies were the 10s and 12s Boys singles champions respectively and Elijah Brown of Petrolia partnered with a Port Huron area girl to win the 12s mixed doubles.
Finalists were Tej Patel (10s Boys doubles), Divyesh Bhargava (12s Mixed doubles), Aditya Damani (12s Boys singles), Griffin Allen (16s Boys doubles), Tino DiBattista (55s Men’s Singles), and Trish Gogas (55s Mixed doubles).
There were also many local semifinalists in the tournament. They were: Patel (10s Boys singles and Mixed doubles), Abigail Gordon (10s Girls singles and doubles), Elijah Brown (12s Boys singles), Divija Bhargava (14s Girls singles and doubles), Ryan Davies and Aditya Damani (14s Boys doubles), Divija Bhargava and Aditya Damani (14s Mixed doubles), Chris Latosinsky (14s Mixed doubles), Griffin Allen (18s Mixed doubles), Cheryl Degroot and Janice Taylor (35s Women’s doubles), Geoff Bore (35s Men’s doubles), Bruce Davies and John Baxter (45s Men’s doubles), Joanne Rebryk (55s Women’s doubles) and Tino DiBattista (55s Men’s doubles),
Other area participants were Mihnea Balan (14s Boys singles and doubles), Beth Grieve (35s Women’s doubles, 45s Women’s singles and 45s Mixed doubles), Monika Polakovic (Open Women’s singles), Michael Coleman (Open Men’s singles, doubles and Mixed doubles) and Dana Merrington (Open Mixed doubles).