Country Week Tennis hits town

Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club, Yarrawonga Football Netball Club and Yarrawonga Mulwala Cricket Club will be hosting the matches with 101 courts being used across the venues. It has been a massive effort preparing the courts and everyone involved is to be commended as the courts look fantastic.

There are around 20 local players participating in the competition and they will have a very enjoyable week.

Saturday morning juniors

Saturday morning juniors were greeted with very warm conditions but that didn’t stop the players and once again there were kids everywhere. With an icy pole to finish the morning, everyone went home happy.

The Hot Shots and coaching groups continue to really enjoy their programs. The junior coaches are doing a terrific job guided by club coach Greg Duns in making the sessions enjoyable. Many players are moving into coaching and match play ensuring they keep developing.

There was a large group of players undertaking match play meaning some of the hard courts had to be used. Rallies continue to lengthen entertaining the parents who are spectating. Group winners on the day were Rafa Leary, Maya Isaac, Taylor Lewis and Parker Cowan.

Junior Premier League

Round 2 of the Premier League again produced some outstanding tennis. There were some long sets played even with the reduced format for the heat. All players completed 2 doubles and a singles for the morning.

In the first match in the boys section, Sherbies had a 9 sets to 3 win over Smarties. For Sherbies Tadhg Foran, Will Anderson, Sam Cummins and Flynn Woolley won of their sets. For Smarties Tess Bassett was undefeated.

Minties and Freckles had a fantastic battle before Minties won 7 sets to 5. For Minties Thomas Lawrence and Cameron Brew were undefeated

The ladder after Round 2 is Sherbies 20, Freckles 16, Minties 14 and Smarties 6.

In the girls section the Red Rippers had a tight contest with Wizz Fizz winning 7 sets to 5. For Red Rippers Elli Buerckner didn’t lose a set and Nat Linehan for Wizz Fizz also was undefeated.

Frogs and Pythons had an epic encounter with sets shared 6 all. Pythons were declared winners on games 36-33. Indicating the closeness of the contest Kendall Connell was the only player that didn’t drop a set for the morning.

The ladder after Round 2 is Killer Pythons 20, Red Rippers 18, Frogs 11 and Wizz Fizz 7. Looking forward to more close matches in the final round this week.

Thursday night Ladies

The lady’s competition had round 2 of their season on Thursday. There were many sets that lasted a very long time indicating how even the competition is. This week there is a hiatus for a week as many ladies compete in Country Week.

Argentina and Portugal had a close contest with each team winning 3 sets each. Argentina won on games 33 to 22. Dominique Vattan was player of the night winning all of her sets for Portugal. For the victors Lucy Bassett, Beth Robinson and Norma Toms all won 2 matches.

Netherlands had a strong 5 sets to 1 against Brazil. For the winners Jess Linehan and debutant Lara Angwin were undefeated whilst team mates Erin York and Lisa Ramadge had 2 wins each.

The scoreline was replicated in the match between England and Morocco with England winning 5 sets to 1. For England Win Win Htwe and Tess Bassett won all of their matches and Kate Porter and Renee Cox had a pair of wins.

France and Croatia finished the trifecta of 5 to 1 wins with France on top. Emily Linehan and Jodie Hobson with 3 wins and Amy Lairson and Loz Wallace with 2 victories combined well for France.

The ladder after the second round is France 13, England 11, Brazil 9, Argentina 8, Croatia 7, Netherlands 6, Portugal 6, Morocco 4. Play will resume on Thursday February 23.

Fast Four Wednesday

One of the newest programs Fast Four Wednesday completed round 2 last week. This is designed to get people back to the club or to get new people down to the club.

The atmosphere was terrific with a lot of friendly banter being exchanged. The night then concluded with pizza and a drink to analyse the night.

Fast Four will not be on this week as the courts will be used for Country Week.

Wilby Tennis Association

Round 9 of the Wilby Tennis Association was played over the weekend. This weekend is the final round of the regular season with finals commencing on Friday, February 25.

The battle of the competition’s biggest rivals Tungamah Gold and Wilby took place on Friday night. In the men’s section Wilby had a convincing 6 sets to 0 win with Anthony Hammon, Fraser Smart, Xavier Chessells and John Schneider each winning 3 sets.

The Tungamah ladies flexed their muscle to totally reverse the men’s scoreline winning 6 sets to 0. Debbie Hayes, Mandy Williams, Zade Ussher and Nate Dickins all had wins. The mixed was split 2 sets all before Tungamah won by 3 games.

Tungamah Gold won on games overall to win the night 6 points to 2.

Burramine hosted Tungamah Green with some enjoyable tennis played. Tungamah’s strong men team won 5 sets to 1 with Luke Buerckner and Will Cooper winning all of their matches. It is noted the pairing of Josh Buerckner and Tom Wren lost their first set ever as a combination.

The ladies was very close before Tungamah won 4 sets to 2. Penny Cooper was undefeated and played very well. Burramine won the mixed doubles by 2 games after the sets were split 2 all. Tungamah Green won the night on games and also on points 6 to 2.

Telford played Mulwala Maroon under lights at Lonsdale Reserve. Telford indicated why they are on top of the ladder with some strong wins on the night. The mens division saw Telford winning 6 sets to 0 with Andrew Brew, Warrick Cox, Andrew Banks and Brett Lawrence all 3 set victors. This result was the same in the ladies with Angela Mitchell, Sandra Banks, Chris Hawkins and Emma Pearce all undefeated. Telford also won the mixed 4 sets to 0 to win the night 8 points to 0.

Mulwala Gold were unable to field a side against Savernake which meant Savernake claimed the 8 points in their clash.

The ladder after Round 9 is Telford 67, Burramine 60, Mulwala Gold 53, Tungamah Green 47, Tungamah Gold 39, Savernake 42, Mulwala Maroon 28 and Wilby 26.

Tuesday night men’s

The Tuesday Men’s competition took a break from the usual format for the very popular rankings shoot out. This involved all of the players taking on people of their same ranking for the night. The night’s matches were long as some of the rallies appeared to go forever.

Group winners were John Wright, Corey Beggs, Cam Arthur, Ben Cope, Thomas Loughnan, Jason Cox, Gary Page, Pat Mansfield, John Brunner, Tom McKimmie, Wei Wong and Sean Robinson.

The ladder after Round 9 is Wilson 51, Duns 50, ProKennex 47, Technifibre 43, Volkl 43, Head 43, Lacoste 41, Prince 36, Babolat 32, Slazenger 28, Donnay 25 and Yonex 18.

Goulburn Murray tennis

Numurkah played Shepparton in Division 1 and had another comprehensive victory winning 10 sets to 2. Lucy Bassett played well to win her singles, doubles and mixed matches. Jack Bassett and Grant Chappell won a singles and a doubles. Numurkah is second on the ladder with 2 rounds left.

In Division 2 Cobram defeated Numurkah 7 sets to 4. For Cobram Hayley Bennett played extremely well to win all of her sets whilst Daryl Bennett won 2 sets.

For Numurkah Tess Bassett won 1 set for the day. Both teams will finish in the top 4 and feature in finals action.

Yarrawonga’s contingent in the Numurkah Division 1 side all had excellent days of tennis. The men consisting of Jack Bassett, Grant Chappell and Jack Bassett each won all of their sets.

Lucy Bassett won her singles and doubles. This meant their team had a comprehensive win over Shepparton 9 sets to 3 locking in second place.

In Division 2, Tess Bassett won her mixed and doubles match to assist her team to a 9 sets to 3 win over Shepparton.