AOG 13 - Duck Tennis

Great news today that Andy Murray is through to the gold medal match tomorrow in the men’s singles tennis (is it really 4 years since I was at Wimbledon watching him win gold?).  Less well known is the equivalent success of Fluffy in the duck tennis in the Alternative Olympic Games.  Fluffy is shown in a typical action shot from his semi-final match, where he comprehensively beat the Chinese Mandarin Duck.

Duck tennis is similar to normal tennis, with a few adaptations to allow for it being played on water.  In wheelchair tennis the ball is allowed to bounce twice, once in traditional tennis and obviously no times in duck tennis. The ‘court’ (a converted swimming pool) is smaller and more use is made of the lob. This gives plenty of opportunity for the most popular shot for players and spectators alike - the ‘smash splash’ where the opponent misses the smash return and suffers the consequences.  Fluffy remains the pin-up of the AOG GB team despite the doping controversy earlier this year, known  as ‘breadgate’.

Good luck to Greg, Jess and Mo for Super Saturday and to Andy and Fluffy tomorrow.