Sunday, November 4, 2012

Seniors Take Center Court in Florida Senior Games


Thanks to Ron Treaseh for the tip on the nonagenarians and to Lyn Bruner for her contributions. Additional photos available here.
Anthony Coker & Earl Bannister
Men's 95 - 99 Singles Medalists
If you reach 95 years old, you are in among the 0.1 percent of the population of the United States. I couldn’t find a number for the men who reach that age, but given that women live significantly longer than men on average, you can bet that men make up an even smaller percentage of people who live to 95.

Ron Treaseh gets the youngsters going
With that in mind, it is no mean feat to have two players in the 95 – 99 Men’s Singles Draw at the Florida Senior Games! That’s what happened at the Landings this past Saturday, when Earl Bannister of North Fort Myers and Anthony Coker of Fort Myers (who’s really only 94) met to see who would go to the 2012 Florida Senior Games State Championships, to be held in Polk County (Lakeland), December 1-9, 2012, as the gold medalist.

95 - 99 Men's Singles
Gold Medalist, Tony Coker
It took a while for Earl to get going, and Tony took the first set with relative ease, 6-1. But Earl, the most senior of the seniors in the event, got going in the second set and gave Tony a run for his money. In the end, youth was served and Tony grabbed gold, 7-5 in the second.

All participants this past weekend qualified for Lakeland, and the other medalists are as follows:
Men's 60-69 Singles 
60 - 69 Men's Singles Gold
MedalistTim Conte
Tim Conte of Punta Gorda took the round robin competition by beating George Wright and Robert Patton, both of Fort Myers, in straight sets, losing just three games in the process. Wright prevailed over Patton to win silver, and Patton took home bronze.

Women's 65-69 Singles 
Linda Torestsky of Cape Coral downed Chris Dixon of Bokeelia 6-4, 6-1 in the gold medal match.

Men's 70-79 Singles
Fred Puhlfuerst of North Fort Myers defeated Edward Humbert of Fort Myers 6-0, 6-0 to claim gold.

Men's 80-84 Singles 
Norm Taylor of Naples downed Dick Greiwe, also of Naples, 6-0, 6-0 en route to the gold medal.

Men's 95-99 Singles 
Earl Bannister
As mentioned above, Anthony Coker outlasted Earl Bannister 6-1, 7-5 in the most intriguing match of the event. Bannister will have to go to Lakeland to get gold, but silver, or any medal for that matter, isn't bad at 95.

Men's 65 Doubles
Richard Fell of Cape Coral and Bruce Traugott of Lehigh acres took out Paul Straub and Thomas Vanbibber of Fort Myers, 6-1, 6-0 in the gold medal match.

Women’s 55-74 Doubles
55 - 74 Women's Doubles Gold Medalists
Barbara Dovin & Sandra Hunziker
Barbara Dovin of Bonita Springs and Sandra Hunziker of Marietta, Georgia defeated Judy Davis and Marcha Moore of Naples 6-2, 6-2 to earn gold. Davis and Moore defeated Cathy Crawford and Karen Miller, both of Fort Myers, to earn Silver.

Mixed Doubles 60-69
Silver Medalists
Gary Fair & Judy Crago
Dave and Barbara Peirson of Fort Myers took down two other teams, defeating Judy Crago and Gary Fair, 6-4, 6-1, in their final match to win the gold medal. Crago and Fair took home silver, downing Tim Conte and Chris Dixon of Bokeelia who earned bronze.

For more information about the Florida State Senior Games, go to www.flasports.com.

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