Alan Walsh has returned to Cronulla with three gold medals after competing in the Australian Seniors Team and Individual Championships on the Gold Coast.
The Seniors ITF Tennis Circuit is internationally recognised and holds events for players aged 35 to 85 with the recent national championships hosting 404 participants including more than 40 overseas players.
Walsh is the NSW over-75s men’s team captain and is ranked 18th in the world in the over-75s division, also holding a global doubles ranking of fourth.
In his pursuit for gold, Walsh cruised to glory with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 finish in the over-75s men’s singles last month. His doubles performance was no different, notching a 7-5, 6-2 win in the over-70s final.
In the tournament’s team carnival, Walsh won his third and final gold medal saying that a win for a NSW team was a special feat.
“I captained the NSW over-75s men's team to win gold, only one of two non-Queensland teams to win in the men's division,” he said.
“Being 74 and winning the teams and singles might be a bit hard to fathom but you are eligible for the higher age group if you turn the age in that year.”
He was also a member of Australia's men's over-70s Jack Crawford Cup team in Orlando, Florida which won a silver medal at the World Seniors Team Championship last year, beating Argentina, France, USA and the Netherlands before eventually losing in the final to Spain.
Walsh has played tennis for most of his life in the Illawarra district but it was not until his retirement in 2004 that would allow the 74-year-old to regularly compete on the ITF Seniors circuit.
