Local racquet sport tragic Chris Doucas has returned to Orange after representing Australia and his former Hobart club in the Boomerang Cup - a bi-annual international Real Tennis Tournament hosted in Melbourne.

Also known as “Royal Tennis", Real Tennis is played on a walled court with an asymmetrical wooden racket and a cork-core ball and is the ancestor of modern tennis.

This year's Boomerang Cup was the largest with almost 300 players travelling from all around the world. Some 26 players alone came from a club in Newport, Rhode Island.

"This year's competition marked the highest participation by new players, which shows our sport beginning to grow and expand," said Chris, who is always keen to introduce people to the sport.

"We made many friends and contacts with each other - pledging to attend each other's competitions held during the year across France, the UK and the USA."

The Australian Open Professional World Championships was held at the same time, adds Chris, which were won by Cam Riviere and Claire Fahey.