The story of Giby Vettiankal – The greatest ever Newry Tennis Club player ​

Giby Vettiankal, right, is the GOAT at Newry Tennis ClubGiby Vettiankal, right, is the GOAT at Newry Tennis Club
Giby Vettiankal, right, is the GOAT at Newry Tennis Club
No one in the history of Newry Tennis Club has won more titles than the inspiring and legendary figure of Giby Vettiankal.

And when you consider that the club has a history going over 100 years, then that is the breadth of his achievement.

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The Newry Tennis Open is a prestigious tournament which was once on the Ulster Grand Prix circuit and still attracts players from all over the North and border region. Winning his first senior Open title in 1990, no other person would amass as many trophies over the next 35 years.

Starting young

Giby and his brother Gixy first turned up at Newry Tennis courts in 1977 as young kids. The club had only been re-opened a year earlier and there was a buzz about the revitalised facility.

Giby would soon take weekly lessons with the famed Ulster coach Sammy Tuff and realized he could be quite good at this sport when he won an Under 12 tournament in 1980. During his teenage years, Giby would devote himself to a lot of sport including representing Killeavy at GAA and he was a semi-finalist at Northern Ireland level in Table tennis.

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Due to his studies and his decision to become a doctor which would mean a huge amount of time and application to that ambition, tennis would have to remain a hobby, very much when he could find the time.

In the mid 1980’s Giby and Gixy would win an Under 20 title in Louth and he recalls the victory came from 11 match points down which is almost unheard of in tennis!

He also played the Belfast Boat Club and was a semi-finalist at singles. It was difficult for Giby to get to tournaments at this time as he did not drive and was reliant on his dad George who was a busy GP to get him to and from these events.

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His brother Gixy moved to London and would not feature in the local tennis scene from there on and Gixy himself had won one singles and four doubles in the Open, which was an impressive record.

Dominating

From 1990 onwards, Giby would dominate proceedings at the club tournaments. He won three successive Newry Open singles and four doubles titles between 1990 and 1994. Then he had to take a hiatus to go to work at Royal Victoria, Lagan Valley, Newtownards and Craigavon hospitals and there would be no tennis between 1994 and 2002 so he had to give up the chance to win more titles in arguably his peak years between 26 and 34!

Giby also settled down to have a family with his wife Fiona and this of course took precedence. On return, the technology of racquets had dramatically changed and there was no point playing with the wooden ones anymore as graphite had taken over. It was also more difficult to be a serve and volleyer as the technology had meant the pace of shots coming at the person at the net were far more intense.

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But this was primarily the style of Giby and he remained a paragon of the classic way of playing lawn tennis! Amazingly 13 years after his previous singles title, Giby would be back at No1 with his fourth Newry Open crown in 2006.

Five years later there would be a fifth singles title again beating the younger and hard hitting Tim Smith in the final. His sixth singles crown came against the teenage Tom Hardy in 2015 and then arguably his greatest year came at the age of 48!

In both semis and final, Giby came back from huge deficits to prevail. In the semi he came back from 0-4 down to beat future club star Shane McAteer. Giby said it was an ice bath which got him ready to face Tim Smith in the final less than 24 hours later and the match would last for over three hours! Giby would have to use all his skills to survive the onslaught from the Smith groundstrokes before out foxing him at the latter stages.

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At doubles, Giby was continuing to break records with a gargantuan 15 Open titles, five on the trot with young Grinan Road player Jamie Campbell, affectionately known as Gib Jam!

At Mixed Doubles, partnering the former Minister of Education, Caitriona Ruane and impressive Warrenpoint player June McEvoy, there would be six titles there too.

In 2024 Giby is still winning local tournaments and took home the Tennis Tens and the Warrenpoint Open Men’s and Mixed Doubles this summer. So, no player has achieved as much in the history of tennis tournaments in this region which goes back 144 years and counting!

Beautiful style

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Giby has a beautiful style to watch as he uses a variety of shots, angles, net play and guile to extract his victories.

Giby was recently asked what he has got out of the sport and he referred to friendship, community, improved health due to physical activity, recreation time in the open air but also competition and the fact the sport and club has endured for so long in the local area.

Often watched by his dad George and supported by his mother Glory, Giby should be regarded as the greatest tennis sportsman Newry ever produced.

LIST OF TITLES

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NEWRY OPEN – Men’s Singles – 7; Men’s Doubles – 15; Mixed Doubles – 6.

NEWRY CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS – Men’s Singles – 7; Men’s Doubles – 10; Mixed Doubles – 8.

WARRENPOINT OPEN – Men’s Singles –3; Men’s Doubles – 11; Mixed Doubles – 7.

ROSTREVOR OPEN – Men’s Doubles – 8