IT IS ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR THE KIA AMATEUR AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS TOURNAMENT

The entries for the 2010 KIA Amateur Australian Open tournament happening at the University of Pretoria, Sports complex this weekend (26 – 28 November) have surpassed expectations with 96 amateur tennis players having registered (48 couples).

The event offers a unique opportunity for amateur tennis players wishing to experience competing on a world stage. The winning male and female from this coming weekend’s tournament will travel to Melbourne, Australia between January 17 and 30, 2011, and will represent South Africa at the Kia Amateur Australian Open World Finals. They will be competing against 15 other countries including:  Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, South Africa, Libya, Jordan, Nigeria, Chile, USA, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, China. All players will then experience a 4-day hospitality package including watching a match.

“The main objective of the tournament is to promote tennis at club level and offer amateur players the opportunity to watch professional tennis,” said Holger Losch, Tournament Director.

The KIA Amateur Australian Open national playoffs will commence on Friday, 26th November at the University of Pretoria with the round of 64. The round of 32 will be followed by 16 and then the quarter finals, on Saturday. The semis and finals will be played on Sunday, 28th November.

The KIA Amateur Australian Open was first played in South Africa in 2003 with Gauteng being the host Province. Between 2004 and 2006 the format changed and other provinces were brought in. 

LIST OF ENTRIES:

MALE	FEMALE
Marius  van Dyk	Tamzon du Plessis
Hendrik Pieterse	Jacqui Grove
Thinus Gouws	Christelle Kemp
Pieter Jordaan	Adelle Rizzo
Andries Fourie	Hendrika Botha
Bradley Brazington	Helena Mowatt
John Shaw	Elaine Nelson
Greg Buitendag	Marita de Bie
Andre Badenhorst	Joey Badenhorst
Chris Meyer	Erica Bornman
Danie Buys	Melrise Ungerer
Nico Hamman	Mariette Coetzee
Michael Martin	Stephanie Aubin
Riaan Verster	Antoinette Verster
Jacobus Mogola	Bremien Botha
Graham Young	Wendy Burdzik
Dawie Eybers	Lisa van de Riet
Leone Scheepers	Celeste Scheepers
Nico Viviers	Debbie van Aswegan
Anthony Fourie	Denise Otto
Jaco Jacobs	Elsa Kaestner
Wessel Kemp	Ronel Louw
Ettienne Steenkamp	Karen Steenkamp
Graham Griffiths	Sandra Loser
Marthinus Pienaar	Sone Ungerer
Jannie Schutte	Charelle Ungerer
Frederik Smook	Sonika Janse van Rensburg
Andrew Sethole	Wandise Jiyane
Elijah Rakomo	Nthabiseng Phala
Anton vd Venter	Lara Anderson
Teboho Mahanyele	Lebogang Mokone
Monty Motaung	Poppy Mbathani
Dundee Radebe	Ntha Mphahlele
Bradley Dore	Deborah Janssen
Danie Erasmus	Elize Bezuidenhout
Easy Peters	Hortemsia Nyamge
Theo Hendriks	Zelda Paulson
Lino Ferreira	Michelle Rademan
Andre de Lange	Huibie Wepener
Scott Leech	Tarryn Ross
Uys Jordaan	Lisa Wade
Thomas Terseer Torsaa	Marlene van Schalkwyk
Mulumba Michael	Meryl Anne Venter
Eduard Lemon	Elaine Jooste
Roland Grabe	Nicole Smit
Wim Le Roux	Jenna Schimdt
Lar Hendriks	Christa Taljaard
Jeroen van der Meer	Rose van der Meer

For full event details on the KIA Amateur Australian Open tournament, please contact:

Lisa Wade: lisa@langazela.co.za or 082 904 1805

YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO ENTER THE 2010 KIA AMATEUR AUSTRALIAN OPEN !

Entries to participate in the Kia Amateur Australian open (South Africa) close on 22 November 2010 and the organizers are encouraging all aspiring tennis players to register today. Not only could they win a trip to compete in the world finals of the Kia Amateur Australian open, but the winners will also get to see the likes of the professionals such as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play in the 2011 Australian Open.

Kia Motors has been giving aspiring tennis players the opportunity to represent South Africa at the World Finals of the KIA Amateur Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. The 2010 South African national finals will take place from the 26^th to 28^th November at the University of Pretoria.

ENTRY AND TOURNAMENT DETAILS:

Tournament:    Friday, 26^th November – Sunday, 28^th November at the University of Pretoria.

Format:           Mixed doubles followed by men’s / ladies singles set. The winning team needs to win two of three sets.

Qualification:   Open to all South African amateur tennis players over the age of 18. Participants may not at any stage have had a professional singles or doubles ranking appearing on the ATP or WTA ranking lists.

SA winners must be available to travel to the Australian Open between January 17 and 30, 2011. For full details on requirements enquiries can be directed to: Lisa Wade: lisa@langazela.co.za or 082 904 1805

PAST WINNER REMINISCE ON HER EXPERIENCE IN THE KIA MOTORS AMATEUR AUSTRALIAN OPEN AND ENCOURAGES ALL SOUTH AFRICANS TO ENTER THE 2010 EVENT

Gauteng – The Kia Amateur Tournament taking place at the University of Pretoria from the 26^th to the 28^th November 2010 will enable two South Africans to participate in the Kia Amateur Australian Open in Melbourne Australia in January 2011. The winner also gets the opportunity to watch the professionals in the 2011 Australian Open. One past winner, Annelie van Heever, is encouraging all amateurs to enter as she reminisces on the fun she had and how it affected her life. 

The tournament rules allow past winners to compete again, but Van Heever will not be competing in 2010 as she is an expectant working mother. 

Now 30 years of age, she started playing tennis at the age of five with a tennis racket which stood tall above her tiny figure. Annelie played national junior tournaments from under 12 and on completion of her matric year she went to Wichita State University in Kansas, USA on a tennis scholarship. This was an experience which was to pay huge dividends in future.

Van Heever played in the 2006 Kia Amateur Australian open. She and her partner Clive Wilson beat Ronel Louw and Gareth Gibson in the final to get the opportunity to go on to Australia. While neither of them did exceptionally well in Australia, they both admitted that this trip has to date undoubtedly been the highlights of their lives.

“It was an amazing experience, more exciting than I could ever have imagined,” said Van Heever who still plays League tennis for the Belgrave Tennis Club. “The hospitality was first class and I felt so privileged. While we didn’t do well in the singles events Clive and I went as far as playing in the final of the amateur mixed doubles and even had the opportunity to play in Rod Laver Arena, on the same court that the professionals were about to play their final. I was in my element watching Roger Federer play against Fernando Gonzalez in the men's final.”

The Roger Federer fan from the jacaranda city believes that South Africa has a lot of talent to be unearthed and that motor company KIA has made invaluable contributions to promote the sports amongst both amateurs and professional tennis players. 

Her advice to aspiring tennis players is: be willing to work hard. Success will not be handed to you on a plate. Make sure you make use of any and all opportunities available to you.

NATIONAL PLAYOFFS:

The national playoff will be held from Friday, 26^th November – Sunday, 28^th November at the University of Pretoria. The format is a set of mixed doubles followed by mens / ladies singles set and the winning team needs to win two of three sets.

Entry is open to any South African amateur tennis player over the age of 18 who is a member of a club affiliated to SATA. Participants may not at any stage have had a professional singles or doubles ranking appearing on the ATP or WTA ranking lists.  Any person who has competed in a previous Kia Amateur Australian Open cannot play again.  SA winners must be available to travel to the Australian Open between January 17 and 30, 2011. For full details on requirements enquiries can be directed to: Lisa Wade: lisa@langazela.co.za or 082 904 1805

Ducks in a Row

In a match where most of the batsmen hit loads of runs and Harbhajan Singh dominated the New Zealand bowlers there was one man that wished that he had not been picked.

Tim McIntosh opened the batting for New Zealand and spent 16min on the field in two innings. He scored exactly 0 runs in 16 balls faced. He didn’t bowl which is a surprise since even McCullum and Taylor got to bowl. All he did was fill in a gap on the field. It is not easy when your primary job is to make runs and you come off with a pair. It must have been the worst test match of this poor man’s life. I wonder if he knew that he plays with one of the great duck men in history.

Chris Martin must be amongst the worse batsmen in test history. He has an amazing average of 2.35 in 82 innings with 43 not outs and a highest score of 12. Of the 39 completed innings he has an amazing tally of 28 ducks. He has 15 less ducks than Courtney Walsh but Walsh has batted 103 more times than him. If Chris Martin continues for another couple of years, Walsh’s record could be under serious threat. Chris does have a world record and that is that he has 6 pairs, the next closest being 4. He is just 1 duck behind the leading “ducks in a row” gentlemen who have an amazing 5 ducks in a row.

In his defence Danny Morison has got a very similar conversion rate between ducks and innings and Mervin Dillon has got a better conversion rate but both batsmen have far higher averages, both being just above 8.4. Fred Grace (WG Grace’s brother) only played 1 test match and he got a pair so his conversion rate is unbeatable.

It is far easier for me to sit at my desk and look up these stats than batting against the world’s top bowlers but each to their own.

Leading Duck legends

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	Ducks
CA Walsh (WI)	132	185	61	936	30*	7.54	43
GD McGrath (Aus)	124	138	51	641	61	7.36	35
SK Warne (Aus)	145	199	17	3154	99	17.32	34
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)	133	164	56	1261	67	11.67	33
CS Martin (NZ)	57	82	43	92	12*	2.35	28

Pairs

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Ave	0	Pairs
CS Martin (NZ)	57	82	43	2.35	28	6
M Dillon (WI)	38	68	3	8.44	26	4
BS Chandrasekhar (India)	58	80	39	4.07	23	4
MS Atapattu (SL)	90	156	15	39.02	22	4
CA Walsh (WI)	132	185	61	7.54	43	4
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)	133	164	56	11.67	33	4

Ducks in a Row (only a selection of players with 4 ducks)

Player	Ducks
RG Holland	5
AB Agarkar	5
Mohammad Asif	5
R Peel	4
RJ Crisp	4
P Roy	4
ME Waugh	4
DK Morrison	4
GD McGrath	4
CS Martin	4
A Nel	4