FORMER Sellers International Tennis Tournament champion Mike Tolman is heading for Mexico as part of Team UK competing in the World Padel Tennis Championships.
Huddersfield Lawn Tennis Club member Tolman, who is the company director at Focus International, is well known to Huddersfield racket enthusiasts, having won the Sellers title on a number of occasions, as well as more recently making his mark in the newer sports of Racquetball and Padel Tennis.
Only recently he won the men’s title at the Yorkshire Racquetball Championship in Chapel Allerton as part of a successful contingent from the Edgerton Club, beating his club colleague Paul Haigh in the final.
Meanwhile, Tolman’s Huddersfield teammate Neil Baldwin won the Over 45s section, for an incredible fifth year in succession, and Pam Busby was the runner-up in the Ladies Over 55 section.
Having established himself at a professional level on the tennis scene at 17, Tolman was keen to try something new and began training in the increasingly popular sports of racquetball and padel tennis.
Brought over from Spain and Latin America, where it’s played extensively, Padel has only really taken off seriously here in the last couple of years.
Training at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, Tolman found a passion for this increasingly popular game and three years ago competed in the UK European Championships.
This year’s World Championships are being staged at Riviera Maya, from November 26 to December 2.
