Janet Agnew carnival doubles tennis tournament in Kamo, Whangarei this weekend

Tournament organiser Raewyn Heywood (left) and tournament namesake Janet Agnew are ready for another successful Janet Agnew Carnival Doubles Tennis Tournament in early February. Photo / File

Northland tennis players keen on a prize would pay to be on their game this weekend at the Janet Agnew Carnival Doubles Tennis Tournament.

The tournament, held at the Thomas Neale Family Memorial Park tennis centre in Kamo, is one of the biggest tennis competitions in Northland with more than 80 players coming from around Northland as well as up from Auckland.

The competition's prize pool boasted an impressive overall figure of $10,000 with a number of sponsors, including a range of clothing and chilli bins, tennis rackets supplied by Head and a premier dart board from Lion Red.

All entrants would be eligible to win a trip for two staying at the Copthorne Hotel in Paihia plus a Great Sights Fullers trip for two on the Hole in the Rock Cruise in the Bay of Islands

The tournament has been running since 1987, after Janet Agnew sustained serious head injuries in a car crash in 1986 and was told she would never play tennis again. Fortunately the doctor's initial prognosis proved pessimistic, as Agnew, with the help of family and friends, was back on the tennis court in no time.

For 20 years, Agnew and her partner, Graham Nesbit, practically organised and ran the tournament on their own. However, after being diagnosed with depression Agnew was advised not to overdo things, so she now has helpers from the Tennis Northland Committee to help her out with obtaining much-valued sponsorship.

"There's probably no other tournament in New Zealand which has the prize value that we put up, so that's good," Agnew said.

"It just promotes the sport and we've got to keep on keeping on and I know we are not getting any younger so we've just got to keep the sport going."

Men's and women's doubles will be held on Saturday with the mixed doubles on Sunday. The mixed doubles will be a fiercely competitive division while the others had been depleted by other tennis competitions in Auckland.

For more information visit Tennis Northland's website at http://www.sporty.co.nz/tennisnorthland or email tennisnorthland@xtra.co.nz.