Future stars honour war heroes at Gallipoli Youth Cup

Tennis Australia | 2nd May 2011

Rising tennis stars will celebrate the ANZAC spirit at the fourth Gallipoli Youth Cup, to be held at the George Alder Tennis Centre in Ipswich from 3 to 8 May.

The ITF Junior Grade 4 event will feature a host of players from both home and abroad, and will provide a unique opportunity for juniors to honour those who served their country in war, through ongoing participation and competition in tennis.

“Gallipoli Youth Cup is a contributing factor to the spirit of friendship between Turkey and Australia that has grown out of the Gallipoli battles in 1915,” said Oguz Ozge, Ambassador for the Republic of Turkey to Australia.

The tournament is expected to attract more than 100 players from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Japan, Indonesia and India.

The boys’ draw will include top seed and last year’s Optus 16s National Claycourt champion Jack Schipanski (Glengowrie, SA), former Optus 14s National Claycourt champion Bradley Mousley (Wynn Vale, SA) and reigning Optus 14s Australian champion Harry Bourchier (Kingston, Tas).

Top seed and ITF junior world No.76 Nao Hibino (JPN) will be in contention to claim the girls’ title and will be joined by Optus 16s Australian quarterfinalist Ebony Panoho (Heritage Park, Qld), Optus 14s Australian champion Brigitte Beck (Point Cook, Vic) and last month’s Optus 14s National Claycourt champion Isabelle Wallace (East Bentleigh, Vic).

“The Gallipoli Youth Cup will provide Australia’s emerging tennis talent experience on clay at an international level,” Tournament Director Francis Soyer said.

“This is the second year the tournament has been held in Ipswich, and we encourage local residents to once again support junior tennis players from around the world at this free community event.”

The Gallipoli Youth Cup was first held in 2008 and is the brainchild of founder Umit Oraloglu and Australian tennis legend and tournament ambassador Pat Cash, in partnership with Tennis Australia.

The tournament will conclude the Ipswich Festival of Tennis, a five-week event which featured the Optus National Claycourt Championships and was headlined by the City of Ipswich Tennis International in March.