Five straight: The Goulburn Murray Tennis Association Division one premiership team, Numurkah featuring four Yarrawonga players Grant Chappell along with Jack, Lucy and Tess Bassett.
Yarrawonga Tennis Club’s connection with the Numurkah Lawn Tennis Club has again achieved success this time with an extraordinary milestone, claiming five consecutive premierships after a dominant victory on Saturday in the Division One of the Goulburn Murray Tennis Association.
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The Numurkah team featuring four Yarrawonga players proved too strong for Shepparton in a high-quality contest.
The long-standing relationship between Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club and Numurkah has once again been on display, providing an opportunity for Yarrawonga’s top players to compete at the highest level.
Played in glorious conditions at the Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club, the match began as a tight contest.
After the first three doubles rubbers, Numurkah held a slender four-game advantage. However, it was in the singles that they asserted their dominance, winning four of the six sets to extend the margin to 17 games.
Numurkah finished strongly, taking two of the final three doubles matches to secure an impressive 22-game victory, winning eight sets to four overall.
Yarrawonga’s representation within the side was outstanding.
Jack Bassett led from the front at number one, producing a flawless performance to win all three of his sets. His dominance was clear, conceding just four games across the entire day and earning him the Most Valuable Player honour.
Grant Chappell was superb in doubles, securing two strong wins, 8–5 and 8–3, while Tess Bassett delivered an excellent all-round performance, winning her singles convincingly 8–1 and her mixed doubles 8–5.
Lucy Bassett competed strongly against top opposition, narrowly missing out in both her singles and doubles matches against one of the competition’s leading players.
Five premierships in a row is a remarkable achievement, made even more impressive by the consistency of the playing group across that period. Congratulations to all involved on an outstanding and historic success.
Saturday morning juniors
The final morning of Saturday juniors was completed on the weekend. The Hot Shots and coaching groups continued to have great fun with a variety of different activities.
Justin and Penny Perkins playing in the parent and child competition on Saturday Morning.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
The improvement of every participant in these programs has been immense.
The older kids in coaching will move up to match play next season and they are more than ready. There will also be many Hot Shots graduates moving into coaching.
Players who participated in matches finished the season with the traditional parent/child doubles.
It was great to see so many parents, grandparents and family friends having a hit with the kids.
There was a lot of laughter, which is always the sign of an enjoyable hit of tennis.
The highlight of the morning was the sea of crazy and loud socks worn on court.
These colourful socks were worn to promote World Down Syndrome Day.
There were certainly some interesting combinations, and the support of the Saturday morning community was appreciated.
Saturday morning has been so successful for many years due to the outstanding coaching program that is provided. Under club coach Grant Kendall, the program is well structured and provides pathways to ensure tennis is a sport for life.
Thank you to the amazing junior coaches who assist the juniors. Their dedication and ability to motivate our youngest stars is greatly appreciated.
Karen and Henry Moar playing in the parent and child doubles.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
A final thanks to Lisa Linehan, Narelle Bassett and Beth Robinson, who are the brains behind the operation in the tournament box.
Every week, the mornings run smoothly, and this is due to the early morning preparation of these wonderful people. They are also in charge of delivering icy poles each morning. It is estimated that they provided around 2,500 icy poles for the season.
Junior tennis will resume in October 2026. In the interim, junior players are strongly encouraged to reach out to Grant Kendall for coaching over the cooler months.
Greg will continue coaching, and it is hoped that players take this opportunity to continually develop their skills.
Tuesday men’s tennis
The grand finals of Tuesday men’s tennis were run and won last week.
The season commenced just after the Melbourne Cup weekend last year and has involved 13 rounds of tennis and two weeks of finals.
While the tennis is important, the social benefits that this competition provides are the real reason most players are involved.
There have been 13 teams, with four men in each team participating in the competition. Everyone has a laugh and enjoys the banter with those involved.
In the A-grade grand final, top side Edberg took on Nadal. With Edberg’s Chris Page and Gary Page unavailable, the efforts of Grant Lewis and Nick Mullavey as their replacements were appreciated. Mason Scholes was also a late replacement for Nadal’s Jim Zanin.
Nadal started very well, winning the first two sets of the night 6–4 and 6–3. The next two sets were shared, giving Nadal a strong lead.
With the final two sets split, Nadal were victorious four sets to two, winning by nine games and taking the premiership. Andrew Brew was best on court, winning each of his three sets.
Congratulations to the premiers Nadal, consisting of Noel Thomas, Andrew Brew, Mason Scholes and Anthony Niuewenhout. Indicating how tennis is a sport for life, the age gap between Noel and Anthony is 68 years.
Well done to the finalist team Edberg, made up of Grant Lewis, Nick Mullavey, Nev Page and Brendan Foran.
All other players competed in a range of finals, including grand finals and consolation finals in A-grade, B-grade and C-grade.
There were many close matches, and the standard of play across the board has certainly improved during the season.
At the conclusion of the night, presentations were made to successful teams.
The highlight was the team analysis outlined by each captain, which brought many laughs.
The season was wrapped up over pizza and refreshments.
Thanks to everyone who participated. A special mention to the countless fill-ins who played during the season.
Competition organiser Ash Wheaton is commended for his amazing dedication to this club competition. Ash has now organised Tuesday men’s for the past 15 years.
This is incredible, and everyone involved over this time is extremely appreciative of his efforts.
Rock up and play sessions
The YLTC holds social aggregate-style tennis on Tuesday mornings commencing at 9am for ladies and Wednesdays at 9am for the men’s social hit.
There is no compulsion to attend each week, although once you have tried it, it will be hard not to keep coming back.
