Irish title successes for Omagh players

MEMBERS of Omagh Lawn Tennis Club enjoyed success at the ITF Irish National Indoor Championships where they won two titles and two silver medals at the David Lloyd Club in Belfast.

Nikki Hawkes was crowned Ladies 30s singles champion and finished second in the corresponding doubles, while Stephen Cuthbertson won the Men’s 70s singles and Donna McSorley was a runner-up in the Ladies 40s doubles.

It was a great day for the Omagh club members and particularly Hawkes, who continued a super run of form that saw her clinch thirteen tournaments in 2023 by adding another to her list as well as adding 1500 Irish ranking points and 200 world ranking points to her tally ahead of this summer’s World Masters in Portugal.

And while thrilled to have won another title, she was particularly pleased by this victory as not only did she have the added pressure of going in as favourite, but she had to defeat two friendly foes on the way – a former Omagh team mate, Rebecca Logan, who now represents the Windsor club in Belfast, and her Irish captain Tara Higgins.

“This is the one that always eluded me and it’s the one I was working towards from the start of the year. It’s the one I wanted to do well in,” she explained.

“In the semi-final I was up against Rebecca Logan, formerly of Omagh, who I grew up playing underage tennis with in doubles and we would always have been up against each other in singles back in the day.

“It was a real throw-back for me because I think it was something like 15 years since we last played each other on a singles court and she was swinging free and I was all nervous because of the pressure of everyone expecting me to win!

“But it ended 6/3, 6/2 and I then beat Tara Higgins in the final. I played doubles with her in Turkey [at the World Masters] last year so that was another one with both of us knowing each other quite well, but I won 6/2, 6/4.”

While both results look quite comfortable on paper, Nikki admits they were far from it, particularly the final where she found herself starting slowly in both sets, failing to win a point in the first game and falling well behind in the second set, resulting in one of her biggest fans deciding to watch a football match instead!

“My daddy came to watch me but they had the football on in the bar area and I didn’t win a point in the first game, so he said to my mum ‘I’m away to watch the football’. But he came back and saw me win the set and I was really upping the ante, but I then found myself 0-3 down at the start of the second set, so he went back to the football!,” she laughed.

“I wasn’t confident after the first game because she changed the style of tennis she normally plays, she changed it up to suit the venue. I had a wee wobble at the start of the match, thinking this could be short and sweet because she normally plays with a lot of top spin but she opted for using slice on the carpet which was much more effective.”

After enjoying her singles success over Higgins, Nikki teamed up with Irish team-mate Elizabeth Cardy in an attempt to win the Ladies 30s doubles and after again ousting Logan from the tournament at the last four stage, she met Higgins on the other side of the net once more and on this occasion the Cork woman, who was partnered by another national team member, Stephanie Rogers. But this time the result went the other way with Hawkes having to settle for a silver medal on this occasion.