Shropshire Magazine

Shirley Tart catches up with Mary Molloy, recipient of a top tennis award.

The first thing I spotted in Mary Molloy’s Bayston Hill home was a little embroidered cushion with the words: ‘Life without Dogs? I don’t think so.’

Then I saw the dog. And so far as I was concerned, that makes Mary a very okay sort of person. Clearly echoed by her 13-year-old Schnauzer companion, little Mazda, comfortably at home in her basket.

Top lady, then. And absolutely tops at what I was there to talk to her about, the glorious game of tennis.

Mary took up the game when she was about 10. She is now 71, still playing, still absolutely immersed in tennis and at the end of last year, was given a lifetime achievement award for her commitment, dedication and fund raising.

A member of Shrewsbury’s Town Walls Tennis Club, she was a special guest at the O2 Arena Barclays ATPWorld Tour finals – the televised end-of-season competition won by Roger Federer – when the Duchess of Gloucester presented the 2011 British Tennis Awards.

Andy Murray won the AEGON Player of the Year award after achieving his best ever Grand Slam results and winning five ATP singles titles.

But the final accolade was the prestigious BNP Paribas Lifetime Achievement Award which went to our own Mary Malloy.

For the full story see this month’s Shropshire Magazine.