The balls and then the ball…

This year (as in 2017) the tennis was played out at the Warszawianka tennis club in Warsaw’s Mokotów Dolny district, while the golf took place as usual at the Rajszew golf club near Legionowo on the city’s northern outskirts. The weather on the days leading up to the twin events had been very unsettled – as it was on the days that followed it. But when the day came the weather was perfect for the competitors in both tournaments to pit themselves against each other: warm and sunny and with the kind of light breeze perfect for mixing up the play and cooling down the players.

In the Tennis Tournament, a record number (50 players) took part this time – 45 men and five women. There were also 13 doubles pairs, three of which were mixed. Due to the sheer numbers participating it was the longest tournament ever. The men’s singles finalists each played a total of eleven games with the final itself finishing at 10:30 pm! Last year’s singles winner, Michał Kojecki, sadly had to retire in the quarter final with a wrist injury, but it was 2017’s beaten finalist Anton Bashtavy of Centerscape who took the men’s crown. In the women’s singles Zuzanna Wróblewska of JLL came out victorious, winning four of her five matches, while the doubles trophy went to this year’s men’s singles runner-up Łukasz Pobereszko and his partner Robert Peszke of Merlot Investment. We would like to thank mBank Hipoteczny, for being the Titular Sponsor of the event for the fourth time, as well as Concession, APP-Projekt, Merlot Investment and Spaceplan for kindly being our Associate Sponsors.

Almost a hundred competitors took part in the Golf Tournament. The competition, for which mBank was also the Titular Sponsor, was played according to the tee time system – teams of four teed off every ten minutes starting from 9 am, so that the last team joined the fray just before noon and the final results were only available around 4 pm. The prizes were awarded in three categories. The top positions went to: Ewa Latoszek (50), Małgorzata Więcko (40) and Alina Fryszkowska (40) in the stableford net format, while in the strokeplay net format the winners were Dominik Reszetko (66), Sławomir Piński (67) and Wojtas Witczak (68). Chris Duffy with 76 points was triumphant in the strokeplay gross format. The winners of the other competitions that took place on the day were: Marta Konieczna in the ladies’ longest drive, Michał Mierzwa in the men’s longest drive and Dorota Ciesielska for the closest to the pin (253 cm). At the same time as the more advanced players were battling it out on the greens and fairways, the golf academy was taking place. It was also attended by a record number of players – more than 30 people. Novices of this intricate art were able to try their hand at the basics – how to properly hold a club and maintain the right posture, as well as practising putting, chipping and drives. These newcomers to the game also had their own competitions: architect Robert Kondrat won the competition for the longest drive, while Eurobuild’s own Victoria Kachaluba won the closest to the pin.

The best players in the golf tournament were rewarded with a golfing trip to Spain, funded by the Komu Group. Other winners also received jewellery vouchers from A&A, cameras from CEWE and the First Warsaw Golf, Nikon binoculars and shopping vouchers from the Golf Help store, vouchers from Centrum Golfa for simulators, theatre tickets from Spaceplan and a weekend apartment voucher from Sun & Snow. Prizes in the additional competitions were provided by the Mars Group, while the partner sponsors of the event were Spaceplan, Concession and Jakon.

Among the prizes in the tennis tournament were accessories and vouchers from e-rakiety, Strefa Tenisa and Amazing – including special Compressport t-shirts, as well as wine provided by Merlot Investment. But the main prizes in the women’s tournament were provided by jewellers A&A: earrings worth PLN 500, a PLN 1,000 bracelet and a necklace worth PLN 1,500 – for the third, second and first places, respectively. While the men’s and doubles winners also received wine and accessories, with the main prizes being more weekend vouchers for two from Sun & Snow.

At the end of play, all the effort was well worth it as the competitors headed off to the striking surrounds of Centrum Sztuki Fort Sokolnickiego in Warsaw’s Żoliborz district to be wined and dined at the after-tournament ‘Red Party’. Those attending proved that they were as game as they had been during the sportier part of the day by diligently turning up in the red dresses, red shirts and red suits required by this year’s dress code. If their hair had been put out of whack by whacking balls all day, they could also take advantage of the free hairstyling provided by Denique.

As the awards ceremony unfolded, the entertainment was provided by a burlesque show inspired by the musical Chicago performed by Show Burlesque Dance and – to remind the day’s players of their aching muscles – by the contortions of rope acrobat Magdalena Sztencel. At least they could later dance off their aches and pains into the wee mid-summer hours as the party entered its more informal phase. All-in-all, in our modest opinion it was a fantastic party to top off another wonderful day of competitive sport that brought together Warsaw’s real estate community – and all laid on by Eurobuild Conferences with the help of our generous sponsors.