$10,000 Saskatchewan Indoor Provincial Open: March 17 – 20, 2005

A very successful $10,000 Saskatchewan Indoor Provincial Open was held at the Lakewood Indoor Tennis Centre in Saskatoon from March 17 – 20, 2005. The open event, which featured several promising Canadian Open & Junior players as well as players from Cayman Islands, USA and even as far as Bulgaria fielded the strongest field in tournament history.

Saskatchewan players excelling in the Open event included: Ronan Conlon who staged a dramatic opening round comeback of Francis Delrosio. Trailing 5-1 in the third set, Ronan fought several match points to pull out a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 win. Ronan lost in the RD 16 to Peter Skoda 6-4, 6-4. Jeet Kapadia of Regina played very well losing to the 3rd seed Art Dyson of Toronto 7-5, 6-1. On the girl’s side, Martyna Nowak won her first round match defeating fellow Saskatoon player Katherine Melnychuk 6-0, 6-2. Martyna lost in the Quarterfinals to #2 seed and eventual champion Lan Yao of China 6-1, 6-2. Teo Costin lost in straight sets to Jacqueline Shen of Calgary 6-3, 6-0 in the opening round. While, Anna Nelke of Regina lost in the first round to thirteen year-old Liana Todorova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-2. Liana a member of the Bulgarian National Team was one of the top U12 girls in the world in 2004. Liana has lived in Canada and was coached by Canada Games Head Coach / Technical Director Danny Da Costa for 3 years.

Number two seeds, Adam Baranoswki of Toronto, Ontario and Lan Yao of, Edmonton, Alberta won both, singles and doubles tittles at the $10,000.00 Saskatchewan Provincial Open held at the Lakewood Indoor Tennis Centre in Saskatoon over the weekend.

Baranowski, a tennis professional at the Donalda Tennis Club in Toronto, was also the winner of this event in 2003. Baranoswki earned the victory after defeating #1 seed Alexandro Gravina also of Toronto, 6-3, 6-1, later he paired up with Regina’s Fil Palasz to capture the doubles title over the team of Alex Gravina , Ontario and Graeme Kassautski of British Columbia the third ranked junior in Canada in U18 singles.

On the women side, Lan Yao of Alberta never felt challenged until the final set of the tournament, she defeated 4 times finalist Natalia Cretu of BC, 6-1, 6-4. Lan Yao a former WTA Tour Player ranked inside the top 600 in the world dominated the field. Lan recently moved to Edmonton, Alberta where she is a teaching professional at the Royal Glenora in Edmonton. Yao and Catherine Gauthier of Alberta won the doubles title over the pair of Kari Wig and Ivana Petrich of Alberta.

During the award presentation club president Murray Popplewell made a special announcement of the sale of the club to the current Tennis Director and Manager Leo Liendo. The news was received with great enthusiasm. Next years’ event promises to be bigger and better.

On the 5.0 and below side, thirteen year-old Jordan Christiansen captured the provincial 5.0 and below crown defeating Pat Van Hesteran 7-6, 7-5 in the final. The 5.0 and Below men’s doubles title went to the team of Hyun Kiel & Masahiro Ozawa 6-3, 6-0 over Kevin Tam and Shawn Ng. The 5.0 mixed event was captured by Dean & Shirley Faris in a walkover. While the women’s 5.0 and below singles was won by Marcia Jackson of Saskatoon over Shirley Faris of Saskatoon 6-1, 6-0.

Congratulations to all the volunteers, members, the Lakewood Indoor Tennis Centre, billets, and officials for making this years event very successful. The next provincial championship will be the Bill Ebbels event held over the July long weekend.

FINAL RESULTS:

Men’s Open Singles:
(2) Adam Baranowski, Toronto def. (1) Alessandro Gravina, Toronto 6-3, 6-1

Men’s Open Doubles:
(1) Filip Palasz, Regina / Adam Baranowski def. Alex Gravina / Graeme Kassautzki, Vancouver 6-3, 6-4

Women’s Open Singles:
(2) Lan Yao, Edmonton def. Natalia Cretu, Vancouver 6-1, 6-4

Women’s Open Doubles:
(1) Lan Yao / Katherine Gauthier, Montreal def. Kari Wig, Calgary / Ivana Petrich, Calgary 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

5.0 and Below Men’s Singles:
(3) Jordan Christiansen, Saskatoon def. (6) Pat Van Hestearan, Victoria 7-6, 7-5

5.0 and Below Men’s Doubles:
(4) Hyun Kiel, Regina / Masahiro Ozawa, Saskatoon def. Shawn Ng, Saskatoon / Kevin Tam, Regina 6-3, 6-0

5.0 and Below Women’s Singles:
Marcia Jackson, Saskatoon def. Shirley Faris, Saskatoon 6-1, 6-0

5.0 and Below Mixed Doubles:
Dean Faris / Shirley Faris def. Shawna Lalone, Calgary / Greg Mitchell, Calgary (walkover- injury)