Paramount Tennis Club is looking to make an immediate impact in the region's newest tournament, the Central West Cup.
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The cup will begin this weekend, with Paramount doing battle with the Orange Indoor Centre and Bathurst Tennis Centre clubs in what is expected to be one of the most high-quality tournaments west of the Blue Mountains.
Paramount Tennis Club president Charlie Whiteley is excited to see a regional tournament on offer for some of the west's best players and he's already expecting the Dubbo squad to perform well at Bathurst on Sunday.
"Dubbo's sending the strongest team we can," he said.
"We do have our top players going and we're pretty confident of their ability to get the job done and get us off to a winning starts in round one."
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Each club will host two rounds between now and the end of the year with eight players from each taking to the court every round.
Three doubles matches and two singles matches will be played, with all of those open to men or women.
Whiteley stated Paramount club champion Fin Edwards is someone the Dubbo squad is "pinning our hopes on" while club legend Glenn Armstrong and Craig Taylor are also among those expected to play at Bathurst in round one.
While Whiteley is eager to see his club succeed in the inaugural edition of the cup, he also wants the tournament to help the sport grow around the area.
Organisers of the cup have also had discussions with Tennis NSW during planning and the governing body will be keeping a close eye on the tournament and may potentially use the format in other regional areas in the future.
It's something we're looking to establish this year with the aim of growing in the years to come.
- Charlie Whiteley
"It's about trying to build the game of tennis into the future from a regional point of view," Whiteley said.
"It's something we're looking to establish this year with the aim of growing in the years to come."
Clubs from places like Mudgee, Parkes, or Forbes would be welcomed in the future if the interest was there while Whiteley said a review will be done later in the year with the format of the competition open to change depending on feedback.
Dubbo will host the second round of this year's event, most likely on May 23, while players will again take to the Paramount courts in October.
Orange is set to host back-to-back rounds in June and August while the tournament will finish with the final games back at Bathurst in November.
The excitement around a new tournament adds to what has been a successful period at the Paramount club.
While many sports battled during the COVID pandemic, tennis was able to return earlier than most given the natural social distancing and minimal interaction it involves.
"Tennis in Dubbo has grown the last couple of years and we even saw things increase a fair bit during COVID," Whiteley added.
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