Category: Sport
Date: 06.07.2006
Printable version
John Barrett in his last - and 36th - year as a 大象传媒 commentator will commentate
on the Wimbledon Ladies' Final (大象传媒 ONE, 2.00pm, Saturday 8 July 2006), with John McEnroe and Tracy Austin.
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John Barrett is delighted to have this last opportunity to commentate on a
Wimbledon Final.
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He said: "It will be a great thrill. I have always enjoyed
commentating on the Ladies' Final and there have been so many great ones -
producing champions like Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova - and I'm sure this
year's winner will be equally exciting."
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Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle will commentate on the Men's Final
(大象传媒 ONE, 2.00pm, Sunday 9 July 2006).
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Paul Davies, Executive Producer, Wimbledon said: "Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and
Andrew Castle did a great job last year and we want to stick with that
successful combination this year."
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In 2005 the Ladies' Final was watched by 6.8 million viewers and the Men's Final
achieved 5.8 million viewers.
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In recent years the 大象传媒 has used a number of different commentators to call the
singles finals including John Barrett, Chris Bailey, Andrew Castle, Barry
Davies and David Mercer.
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Barbara Slater, 大象传媒 Head of General Sport, said: "We always leave the decision on who
will commentate on the finals until the second week and it's always a difficult
decision because of the strength and depth of the team.
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"The two singles finals
obviously have equal status and in fact last year's Ladies Final lasted longer
and achieved higher viewing figures than the Men's Final."
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John Barrett, on this being his last year as a 大象传媒 commentator, said: "It's been
a great privilege to work at Wimbledon over the past 35 years, and to have
worked with so many truly talented individuals in a strong 大象传媒 team has always
been a pleasure."
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John has worked with the 大象传媒 at Wimbledon since 1971 - some 36 years - and feels
that now is the right time to enjoy some more time off-court.
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He intends to
almost completely scale down his commentary work and will only continue to
commentate on the Australian Open.
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He has decided to stop commentating at Wimbledon, particularly, because he wants
to enjoy
the Championships socially with his many friends who come to SW19 from around
the world.
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John has become 'the voice of Wimbledon' during his time with the 大象传媒 and as
such he is irreplaceable, but the 大象传媒 has a strong team of commentators such as
John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd, Andrew Castle and Tracy Austin who will
continue the 大象传媒's tradition of expert commentary.
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Barbara Slater said: "We thank John for his
outstanding contribution to the 大象传媒's tennis and Wimbledon coverage over the
past 36 years.
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"In a long and distinguished career he has been the consummate
professional and true master of his craft.
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"With his passion and knowledge for
the sport of tennis and in particular Wimbledon he's guided audiences through
some of the Championships most magical moments.
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"He's respected by colleagues,
viewers and broadcasters around the world and we wish him all the best for the
future."
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Notes to Editors
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Previous 大象传媒 commentary teams:
Men's Final 2005 - Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle;
Ladies Final 2005 - John McEnroe, Tracy Austin and Chris Bailey.
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John Barrett's last previous commentary on a Men's Final - 2002; last previous commentary on a Ladies' Final - 2000.
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John Barrett biography
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John succeeded the late Dan Maskell as the 大象传媒's 'voice of tennis' when Maskell
retired from commentating in 1991.
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Born in North London and educated at University College School in Hampstead,
John's television career began in 1971 when he commentated on his first
Wimbledon Tournament for 大象传媒 Television. He has not missed a year since.
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His other television credits include working for Australian, Hong Kong, Canadian
and American television networks.
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He has also worked as tennis correspondent for
the Financial Times and editorial consultant for Serve and Volley, the Lawn
Tennis Association magazine.
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John's own publications include World of Tennis (annually since 1969), Tennis
and Racket Games (1975), Play Tennis With Rosewall (1975), 100 Wimbledon
Championships: A Celebration (1986), From Where I Sit (with Dan Maskell, 1988)
and Oh! I Say (also with Dan Maskell, 1989) and Wimbledon: The Official History of
the Championships (2001).
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As a player, John first competed at Wimbledon in 1950 where he played every year
until 1970.
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He represented Great Britain for the Davis Cup in 1956 and 1957 and
was ranked nationally from 1952 to 1970, reaching the number five position.
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Outside of his playing career, he has also been involved in other aspects of
tennis and can add a long list of credits to those he achieved on court.
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From
1965 to 1968 he was Director of the Lawn Tennis Association Training Squad and
qualified as a Lawn Tennis Association coach in 1969.
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He has founded and directed many different tennis events for young players such
as the BP International Tennis Fellowship (1968-80), the BP Cup, and
international under-21 team event (1973-80) and the Pepsi-Cola Junior
International Series (1975-79).
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He is a member of several tennis associations including the All England Lawn
Tennis Club (since 1955, committee member since 1989), the Association of Tennis
Professionals (1972-73) and the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great
Britain which he joined in 1953 and of which he is currently president.
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He is also president of the Dan Maskell Trust, which was set up in April 1997 by The
British Tennis Foundation to raise money to help disabled people to play tennis.
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Outside of tennis, John lists his interests as music, theatre and reading.
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CF
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