Our Town Inagi 2020: Mr. Shigeharu Ota

The long-awaited first victory after 16 years

Mr. Ota, a resident of Wakabadai, participated in the '81st All Japan Veteran Tennis Championship 2019' (October 2019, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture), achieving an outstanding result by winning the doubles in the 50 years old category and reaching the top 8 in the singles of the same category.
Mr. Ota has participated in this tournament for 16 consecutive years, and his best result so far was a runner-up finish. However, in this tournament, the first held since the Reiwa era, he achieved his long-awaited first victory. Reflecting on the tournament, he mentioned that it was good to maintain a consistently good condition throughout the tournament and to approach the matches with a relaxed mindset as usual.
The "All Japan Veteran Tennis Championships," which gathers tennis enthusiasts from all over the country, serves as a venue for players to interact, and one of its attractions is the opportunity to meet friends that can only be seen at this tournament. It is said that Mr. Ota even reunited with a player he competed against in high school after several decades. He met his doubles partner, Mr. Koshishi (who lives in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture), at this All Japan Veteran Tennis Championships. Although they have been partners in doubles for three years, they usually do not practice together, and they only see each other on the day of the tournament, which happens to be just four times a year.

Mr. Ota started playing tennis in middle school, when he joined the soft tennis club with friends. In high school, he initially belonged to the soccer club, but later switched to the hard tennis club. During university, he was part of a tennis circle, and after becoming a working adult, he taught tennis to a wide range of generations, from children to the elderly, as a coach. Currently, he practices 2 to 3 times a week at tennis courts in the city while balancing work in order to participate in competitions.
When asked about the appeal of tennis, they said, "It's a sport that can be continued even as you age, the strategies during matches are interesting, and it's enjoyable for the spectators as well." Their future goals are to "continue playing tennis forever and to win the All Japan Veteran Tennis Championships again." Let's support Mr. Ota in his further endeavors.