Thanks to Ron Treaseh for the tip on the nonagenarians and to Lyn Bruner for her contributions. Additional photos available here.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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
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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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.
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