International Tennis Tournament organisers have attempted to set a new World Record.
Children from local schools across the region were invited down to Liverpool Cricket Club, where Marion Bartoli, Greg Rusedski and a host of other tennis stars will compete this week, to take part in a very special lesson.
Retired GB tennis player Barry Cowan, from Southport, gathered them to attempt to beat the record for the World’s Largest Tennis Coaching Session. Last year at Flushing Meadows Wimbledon champion Andy Murray’s mum Judy Murray set the record at 406, but in Aigburth Barry and the Liverpool Hope University International Tennis Tournament team counted in 683 players, all with racquets, all taking an active part in the session.
It was filmed by two fixed cameras from start to finish with two independent witnesses monitoring proceedings. The footage, with no editing, will now be sent to the Guinness Book of World Records for verification. Until then they cannot claim the World Record officially, but Barry is confident they have achieved the feat.
“It was fantastic and all the children were great,” he said. “It is not easy to conduct such a large session and to organise it has added to the challenge, but I am confident we have done it and I am so proud that I have been able to set a World Record in Liverpool, at my home tournament and that so many local young people have been able to share in that.”
Tickets and hospitality packages are still available for the Liverpool Hope University International Tennis Tournament, which runs from Thursday, June 19 to Sunday, June 22 and features the reigning Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli in action on grass for the first time since she won the Venus Rosewater Dish last year.
For more information on the event, ticket prices and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.liverpooltennis.co.uk
