Team Isle of Wight will take a cohort of 9 budding tennis players to Guernsey in just under 2 weeks’ time in a bid to win a first-ever Tennis gold medal.
The Men’s team will be made up of; Martyn Bailey, Elliott Jones, Benjamin Branding and Michael Foulkes whilst the Women’s team will be made up of Melissa O’Riain, Carrie Bateman, Linda Jones, Mia Gerty and Fenella Stephenson.
Both teams will be managed by Martin Bailey.
Competitors will compete in the following; Men’s Team Event, Women’s Team Event, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. The tournament will be played indoors on a hard-court, with the surface designed to match that of the Billie Jean National Tennis Centre in New York – home of the US Open.
Team Isle of Wight has won a total of 4 medals in Tennis since it first featured in the Aland Games of 1991. A bronze medal in the Men’s team event in 1993, a bronze in the Women’s singles in 1997 and silver in 2015, and a Women’s team bronze in 2015.
Traditionally, Åland – an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland – has had the most success in Tennis bagging a total of 10 gold medals. However they haven’t won the top prize since the Mixed Double’s competition here on the Island back in 2011.
It was in Jersey in 2015 when Tennis last featured on the Island Games programme.
The Tennis Programme will be hosted at a dedicated tennis centre at Longcamps with action on all 6 days of the games. Medals are to be handed out on Monday 10th and Friday 14th July.
