Godfathers tournament a hit

It was terrific to have 68 juniors participating in the tournament this year. These tournaments are perfect for having a lot of matches with all players guaranteed at least three matches in a round robin format.

The age groups varied from 8/u through to 16/u and with A and B Grade sections all players could have a hit at their level. The improvement during the day was noticeable from all players.

Many of Yarrawonga’s players did very well. Lucy Bassett in the 16/U, Hayley Bennett in the 14/U and Tess Bassett competing in the 12/U A Grade events with all coming away winners on the day indicating the strength of our girls talent in the north east region.

Harry Mouat and Jess Linehan in the 16/U, Jai Sneddon and Emma Thompson in the 14/U group and 10/U players Nat Linehan and Anthony Nieuwenhout all played very well to finish runners up in the A Grade sections.

These were excellent results considering the depth of the competition.

In the B Grade section, 10/U player Harry Wren, 12/U Summer Ibbott and Ian Dimble in the 14/U all did a great job to win their section. This was pleasing for all these players indicating their substantial improvement.

Players finishing runners up in the B Grade section were Ella Lewis in the 12/U, Ritu Pujari and Max Loughnan in the 14/U section and Casey Moloney in the 16/U all competed well as they start their tennis tournament journey.

Saturday Morning Juniors

The junior program continues to burst at the seams with nearly 200 kids participating on Saturday morning.

The junior coaching team of Jess Linehan, Ella Rhodes, Mekaylah Duns and Lucy Bassett continue to provide a range of fun activities for the Hot Shot participants. Each of these players are improving immensely and will easily slide into the coaching groups next season.

The coaching group is overseen by Greg Duns and his support crew of Fraser Bennett, Liam Williams, Daniel Herrod and Jack Bassett and these coaches continue to provide the players with the basic skills that will have them entering match play next season.

The older players continue to enjoy the match play where they are starting to have some very impressive rallies.

In the groups that play 2 doubles and a singles the group winners were Laynee Rhodes, Emily Linehan, Noah Cox, Ian Dimble and Callum Coates.

In the groups that play all doubles the group winners were Kiera Buerckner, Kendall Connell, Ava Cox and Ollie Matthews.

This week the Junior Club Championships will be on. Hot Shots and coaching will run as normal. Players that participate in match play will be entered in the Club Championships.

The Club Championships are all singles matches and the age groups are 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U. Each child will be placed in 2 age divisions so at least 2 sets are guaranteed. All junior members will be contacted to see if they want to participate.

There will not be any other singles or doubles matches on the day. Any events that are not completed on Saturday morning will be finished on Thursday, February 24.

Wilby Tennis Association

Round 8 of Wilby Tennis was played over the weekend with some top-quality matches. It was great to see so many kids playing and also some new faces to the Wilby Competition.

Mulwala Gold hosted Tungamah Green on Friday night. In the mens section Tungamah continued their strong form winning 5 sets to 1. Luke Buerckner and Dame Doyle won each of their 3 sets and Will Cooper and Tom Wren won 2.

The ladies section saw Tungamah also prevail with a 4 sets to 2 win. Tungamah’s new recruit Shannon Doyle won all of her matches whilst Kylie Buerckner and another recruit Sally Costigan claimed 2 sets.

Best for Mulwala was skipper Beth Robinson who won 2 matches. Tungamah won 3 sets to 1 in the mixed with Damian Cook and Jess Linehan winning Mulwala’s only set. Tungamah claiming the night 8 points to 0.

On Saturday Wilby turned on the weather for their Burramine visitors. Wilby won the mens section 4 sets to 2 with Russell Whinray best on court winning 3 sets and he was supported by Mike Lairson and Craig Prescott with 2 victories. Best for Burramine was Brett Lawrence with a pair of wins.

The ladies had a great hit splitting the sets 3 all and Burramine claiming the points by a single game. Youngsters Tess Bassett and Emily Linehan won 2 sets for Burramine and Amy Lairson and Olivia Nunn replicating this for Wilby.

Continuing with the close tennis the mixed was split 2 all with Wilby finishing ahead by 2 games. Wilby winning the day 6 points to 2.

Tungamah Gold and Mulwala Maroon had a great evening of tennis. Mulwala Maroon won the mens section 4 sets to 2 with Rocky Leith demonstrating his immense tennis ability with 3 wins and he was well supported by Dennis Phibbs and Maiko Leith. For Tungamah Zade Ussher was the best with 2 wins.

Tungamah ladies continued their powerhouse performance again not dropping a set with Mandy Williams, Debbie Hayes, Danielle Lawrence and Thomas Lawrence winning 3 sets. In the mixed the sets were split 2 all with Mulwala winning by 2 games. For the night the points were shared 4 all. This is irrelevant as the pleasing thing was seeing so many juniors were playing.

At the time of writing the scribe hadn’t received the scoresheet from the Telford and Savernake match.

This week Burramine takes on Telford in last year’s Grand Final replay, Mulwala Maroon host Wilby, Mulwala Gold will visit Tungamah Gold. In the final match of the round Tungamah Green have their annual bus trip to Savernake.

Thursday Ladies Tennis

Round 7 Ladies tennis saw some normality return to the competition with nearly every team having their regular squad of players. The tennis was enjoyable and there were some excellent shots played.

Freckles played well to defeat Starburst 5 sets to 1. For Freckles Win Win Htwe and Tess Bassett won all their sets and Sandra Banks and Norma Toms had two wins each. For Starburst Kylie Koeman and Rach Ewert were the sole set winners.

Minties had a good clash with Jelly Beans before coming out on top 4 sets to 2. Jess Linehan was best on court with 3 wins and she was well supported by Chris Hawkins and Gert Brunner with 2 victories. Fill-in Tracey Whinray showed she hasn’t lost her form claiming 2 sets.

Freddos had a close battle with Sherbies winning more sets 4 to 2 but Sherbies won more games. Best players for Freddos were Rhys Burgess with 3 wins and Lucy Bassett with 2 wins. For Sherbies Jenelle Bennett with 2 wins was very consistent.

Smarties defeated Jaffas 4 sets to 2. Sarah Govan won all of her sets whilst Linsey Franklin and Lisa Thompson both had 3 wins. Flying the flag for Jaffas with 2 wins was Jerry Browning.

The ladder after Round 7 is Smarties 35, Sherbies 35, Freckles 33, Minties 27, Freddos 26, Starburst 23, Jaffas 21 and Jelly Beans 16.

Tuesday Mens Tennis

The second rankings shoot out was held last Tuesday. Competition organiser Ash Wheaton did a terrific job matching players of similar abilities into 12 separate groups. There were many tight battles and a lot of quality tennis.

The show court of Daryl Bennett, Tom McKimmie, Jack Bassett and John Brunner had some phenomenal rallies. At the other extreme, genuine number 4 player Brett Chapman reiterated his position in the standing when he failed to win a set for the night.

Group winners on the night were Daryl Bennett, Wei Wong, Jason Cox, Macka White, Ben Cope, Noel Thomas, Brett White, Lee Fraser, Jim Zanin, Jason Bassett, John Wright and Brad Sneddon.

Each set won meant an additional point was added to the team’s overall points tally. With three rounds remaining the ladder is Agassi 59, Lendl 57, Djokovic 55, Wilander 50, Wawrinka 45, Sampras 43, Nadal 43, Safin 41, Korda 41, Federer 38, Johansson 31, Courier 28 and Becker 22.

Wednesday Social Tennis

Week 2 of Fast 4 February was another successful night. It was great to see so many players returning to the club that have not been involved for a few years. Names like Tyrell, Cooper, Cummins and O’Callaghan have been synonymous with the local tennis club for years.

Not only is it great to have them back on court it is also noticeable that the bar takings have increased on their return.

The nature of this competition encourages participation by families. Amongst the teams there are parents and children from the Schweda, Hardman, Bassett, Mansfield, Mouat and Skehan families which bodes well for the future.

This week will be the third week of February Fast 4 and promises to be good fun.

Country Week Tennis

Around 15 club members are currently in Swan Hill at the Country Week. After missing last year’s event due to a last-minute lockdown, players are even extra keen to attend.

Yarrawonga has 2 teams entered in the ladies sections and then there are a few of the men scattered amongst other teams. The week is a guarantee of some enjoyable tennis and even better socialisation. Looking forward to hearing the tales of the trip on their return.

Goulburn Murray Tennis

Yarrawonga’s Grant Chappell and Jack Bassett had a tough day representing Numurkah against the top side Rich River in Division 1 of Goulburn Murray Tennis.

Jack won his doubles and mixed doubles whilst Grant was close but couldn’t quite sneak a win. Overall Numurkah lost the day by 15 games. In Division 2 Lucy Bassett also had a tough day at the office against the ladder leader Shepparton.

Lucy was close but also didn’t get a win. Numurkah was lost by 7 games. There are 2 weeks left in this competition before finals.