By Matt Stout
Staff Writer

Bill Edmonds readies for his backhand during his 8-2 win in the finals of the 80- to 84-year-old age group on Sunday, Aug. 6. (Hooksett Banner/Matt Stout)

Bill Edmonds said he’d rather play in the younger age brackets than in the 80- to 84-year-old group at the Granite State Senior Games tennis tournament.

Sure, at 80, he’ll take the gold medals, including his third straight after an 8-2 win over Emery Tetreault on Saturday, Aug. 5 at the Allard Center in Goffstown. But what Edmonds, a Pembroke resident and regular at the Racquet Club of Concord, really wants is more competition.

“I can play with some of the younger guys,” said Edmonds, who added he’s won gold and silver in mixed doubles with Loudon’s Barbara Sacco. “They’re usually playing around 6 o’clock in the morning so I’m coming in to play with someone else and from behind the curtain, I’ll holler at these guys, ‘I can beat anyone of you guys.’ They holler something back at me, but I’m just pulling their leg.”

Edmonds is not joking, however, when he says he takes on players half his age. Playing mixed doubles in league competition at the Concord club ­ where he’s been a member since he was 50 ­ Edmonds said he sometimes plays women in their 40s.

“And heck, I can outrun any of them,” he said.

To think, this all from a man who in recent years has undergone multiple heart bypasses and two knee replacement operations.

Nevertheless, he’s still swinging. Last summer, he took silver with Sacco in the 65-to-69 age bracket, but didn’t get a chance to go for gold this year. Sacco was in Burlington, Vt. for a tournament.

“I just wish there was more (competition),” Edmonds said. “I don’t care about winning first. I would just like to play some guys to see if I can keep up with them or not.”

Considering he said he feels like he’s 50, that may be a very real possibility.

“I always say that right now, I’m on my last 10 years,” Edmonds said. “But I can’t believe it. I’ve got a kid (Brent) who’s 57 and I can run all around him. I don’t have an ache or pain in me.

“Who knows? I might go until I’m 100,” he added. “I may as well try it.”