The Battle of Shropshire, the county’s hugely popular team tennis competition, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national LTA Tennis Award.
The event, organised and expertly run by Simon Haddleton and Amy Dannatt, followed up being named Shropshire’s top competition by being selected as the regional winner for the Midlands.
The Battle of Shropshire joins six other events in contention to be named as national Competition of the Year next month.
The other tournaments shortlisted in the category are from Scotland, Wales, Gloucestershire, Suffolk, Sussex and Yorkshire.
The 2022 LTA Tennis Awards, which celebrate and acknowledge achievements during 2021, will be held virtually on Thursday, May 19 (8pm) and streamed live across LTA channels.
For the fourth successive year the evening will be hosted by Leon Smith, the Great Britain Davis Cup captain and LTA’s Head of Men’s Tennis, with a selection of players, celebrities and special guests presenting the awards.
Reaching the national finals is an outstanding achievement for a tournament that Tennis Shropshire is incredibly proud of as it continues to grow.
Joint organiser Simon said: “Amy and I are delighted that the Battle of Shropshire has been awarded regional competition of the year.
“It really is a competition for everyone with over 100 players from 18 different clubs taking part last time. We’re already looking forward to hosting the next event in September.
“The competition is open for all age groups from eight and under, with all matches counting towards the overall team score at the end of the week.
“The event has become a favourite with players of multiple generations from the same family competing in the same competition.
“It is a fantastic week of tennis and a huge thank you to Amy who refereed the whole event.”
The Battle of Shropshire, inspired by the Battle of Brits event which featured professional tennis players, was introduced in 2020 under strict Covid-19 guidelines, with the desire to still be able to deliver fun and competitive tennis.
Encompassing all age groups and played across two weeks at The Shrewsbury Club, it combines fun, family and competitive tennis, and has quickly developed into a not to be missed event in the Shropshire calendar.
Players are placed in one of two teams, with Team Sabin – named in honour of Shropshire’s former LTA president Cathie Sabin, who sadly passed away in 2020 – narrowly winning last year’s competition 57-56 against Team Smith, named in tribute to current Tennis Shropshire president Keith Smith.
Tennis Shropshire chair Fiona Jones added: “The Battle of Shropshire is a tremendous competition which involves everyone from the youngest to the most senior players in the county.
“It gives people the opportunity to play in a team competition alongside people they wouldn’t normally play tennis with.
“It’s played in a great spirit and everybody has a wonderful time. It’s great to see it being recognised by the LTA.”
The LTA Tennis Awards recognises individuals involved in tennis at grassroots, county and regional level, with leading British tennis players and junior players also acknowledged.
Over 2,500 entries were received for this year’s awards and were first judged at county level which resulted in 350 winners.
The county winners were then put forward for regional awards with the winners confirmed as national finalists together with winners from Tennis Wales and Tennis Scotland.
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