The semi-finals of the Wilby and District Tennis Association were played over the weekend. It was terrific to see the range of ages participating in the finals. The competition is great for families and to allow youngsters to develop their skills.
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On Friday night Burramine played Mulwala Gold. Mulwala took an early lead in the men’s division winning 6 sets to 4. Damien Cook played extremely well to win all of his matches quite easily.
He was well supported by Sean Robinson and Cam Carling who won 2 sets. Burramine’s ladies reversed this to win 5 sets to 1.
Tess Bassett and Kirsty Skene were undefeated whilst Lucy Bassett and Loz Wallace won 2 matches. Burramine won 3 sets to 1 in the mixed section.
Burramine won 72 games to 56 games in an enjoyable night of tennis.
On Saturday Telford hosted Tungamah Green. In the men’s section Tungamah started off well to take 4 sets to 2.
Josh Buerckner played very well to win all of his sets whilst Tom Wren and Harry Wren both had 2 wins. Andrew Banks with 2 wins was Telford’s best.
Tungamah’s ladies all played exceptionally well to win 5 sets to 1. Jenny Buerckner and Libby Edis each won all of their matches whilst Kylie Buerckner and Renee Wren won 2 sets.
Tungamah continued their form with a 3 sets to 1 win in the mixed. Tungamah won 89 games to 50 to storm into the Grand Final.
This means the A Grade Grand Final will be between last year’s premiers Tungamah Green and the premiers from the year before in Burramine. It is certain that the match will be very social and the juniors that will be playing will be the stars of the show.
Friday night Tungamah Gold played Wilby on the hard courts. Wilby’s men played well to win all of the sets. Jarryd Fountain, Anthony Hammon, Craig Prescott and Fraser Smart all undefeated.
The scoreline was totally reversed in the ladies section with Tungamah claiming the 6 sets. Deb Hayes, Mandy Williams, Zade Ussher and Thomas Lawrence all won 3 sets. It was great to see two of the very young juniors playing as ladies.
The mixed was extremely close with each team winning 2 sets. At the end of the night each team won 8 sets with Tungamah Gold the winners on the night 62 to 56 games.
In the other B Grade semi final Mulwala Maroon had to forfeit to Savernake due to several players being unavailable to illness. This sets up a replay of last year’s grand final with Tungamah Gold to play Savernake. Good luck to both teams.
Both finals will start at 6pm on Friday. At the conclusion of the matches their will presentations including the awarding of the Most Valuable Players and the Junior Encouragement Awards.
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.
The groups are always changing with many Hot Shot players moving to the coaching group. The older players from the coaching group are transitioning into matches and really enjoying it.
Prior to the matches being played there was a presentation to the winners of the Premier League. A large crowd was in attendance for the presentations. It was great to see the smiles on the players faces that received a trophy, especially those that were receiving their first ever trophy.
The format of the matches was mainly mixed groupings.
Group winners on the day were Charlie Mouat, Poppy Cooper, Taylor Lewis, Ollie Bridgeman, Tadhg Foran, Taylah Chessells, James Cummins, Jackson Wheeler, Kendall Connell, Jackson Prosser, Sam Cummins, Maya Isaac, Liam Mansfield, Tague Saunders, Charlette Arthur, Milla Cox, Theo Vodusek, Anthony Nieuwenhout and Taylah Bigger.
Junior Club Championships
This Saturday the Junior Club Championships are taking place. The age groups are 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U with the age being taken from the day the championships begin.
All players that regularly play matches will be entered into their age group and one age group higher. All matches on the morning will be singles with a normal, first to 6 set with normal deuce.
Each event will be a knockout format but as far as possible, each player will be tried to be matched evenly for at least their first match. During the week a text will be sent to players to confirm that they will be participating.
Godfathers Tournament
Each year Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club hosts the Godfathers Junior Tournament. This year the Godfathers Tournament will be on Sunday, March 5. This tournament is a singles round robin event with every player guaranteed a minimum of 3 sets of tennis.
The age groups for the tournament are 8/U, 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U. There is also an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ division for each age group.
It is hoped that most of the juniors that play Saturday morning will enter. Hitting as many tennis balls as possible is the best way to improve. With the Godfathers’ extremely generous sponsorship there will be many awesome trophies available.
Entries for the tournament need to be made by contacting Jason Bassett, with entries closing on Saturday evening. All players are asked to arrive at 8.45am so play starts promptly at 9am.
Thursday Night Ladies
After a week’s rest due to Country Week, Thursday ladies was back with a fantastic night of tennis. With a lot of the ladies in great form after playing Country Week the standard of tennis was excellent. Thanks to the ladies who filled in as there were a few late withdrawals.
Argentina and Netherlands had a very good battle before Argentina came out on top 4 sets to 2. Best on court was Lucy Bassett who won all of her sets and she was supported by Norma Toms and Shelley Johnston with 2 wins.
For Netherlands, Narelle Bassett with a pair of wins was their best.
Morocco and Brazil had the match of the night with each team winning 3 sets before Morocco won by a single game 26 to 25.
Indicating how close the match was, no-one won three sets. Kirsty Skene and Jerry Browning for Morocco and Hayley Bennett and Lorraine Dean for Brazil won 2 sets apiece.
Portugal and France were nearly as close with sets shared 3 each and France winning by 2 games 27 to 25. Amy Lairson was the star for France being undefeated on the night whilst Joanne Taylor, Kirsten Williams and Dominique Vattum won 2 sets each for Portugal.
England had a night out against Croatia winning all sets despite some close matches. Well done to Win Win Htwe, Tess Bassett, Kate Porter and Renee Cox on each playing very well.
The ladder after the third round is England 20, France 16, Argentina 14, Netherlands 14, Morocco 9, Portugal 8, Croatia 7 and Brazil 6.
Fast Four Wednesday
The final week of Fast Four Tennis was played last week. This program was designed to bring new people to the club which was certainly a success.
Five of the teams from this season are not regular players and these teams really enjoyed the social aspect of the sport as well as starting to play some quality tennis.
Each week the courts were filled with laughter and all the players enjoyed dissecting the evening enjoying some pizza and a drink. Fast Four will resume later in the year and will again be great fun.
Tuesday Night Mens
The Tuesday Men’s competition were encouraged by the Country Week players and tried their best to display their skills. As usual a fun night was had by all.
Donnay and Wilson had some very close sets with 3 sets being decided by a tie-breaker. Donnay won 4 sets to 2 with Wilson winning on games 35 to 33 indicating how close the night was.
Nick Mullavey was man of the match winning all of his sets with team mates Ash Wheaton and Matt Prestage winning 2 sets. Jim Zanin was Wilson’s best with 2 victories.
Technifibre and Babolat had a close battle with Technifibre winning 4 sets to 2.
Andrew Brew won all of this matches and was supported by Trent Head and Jason Bassett with a pair of victories. Babolat’s best was Daryl Bennett with 2 wins.
Duns confirmed themselves as premiership favourite with a 5 sets to 1 win over Yonex. Chris Page and Greg Duns both played well to win all of their matches, whilst Gary Page and Matt Dimble won 2 sets each.
Volkl and Slazenger had a close contest with each team winning 3 sets. Slazenger won on games by 3. Volkl’s John Brunner was undefeated and played really well.
For the winners Shane Forge, John Arnold and Fred Exton won 2 sets.
ProKennex and Lacoste shared the sets 3 all before ProKennex were declared the winner 29 games to 26. Jack Bassett was undefeated for ProKennex in a solid display. For Lacoste Peter Hollands, Pat Mansfield and Rob Evers won 2 games.
Head and Prince’s match was also extremely close. All square on sets, Head snuck home by 2 games. Local legend Pete Thomas was in great form, leading from the front and winning all of his sets for Head. For Prince Ben Cope, Andrew Banks and Brad Sneddon won 2 sets.
The ladder after Round 11 is Duns 64, ProKennex 59, Head 56, Wilson 54, Volkl 52, Technifibre 51, Lacoste 50, Prince 43, Slazenger 37, Babolat 36, Donnay 32 and Yonex 19. This week is the final round before finals commence.
Goulburn Murray Tennis
Numurkah played Kyabram in Division 1 in the last round of the season. Kyabram confirmed they are very firm premiership favourites with convincing 11 sets to 1 over Numurkah.
A tough day at the office for Lucy Bassett and Jack Bassett with Jack being part of the only doubles combination that won a set. Finals begin next week with Numurkah taking on Kyabram again. A big turnaround will be needed.
Numurkah played Kyabram in Division 2 and had a great battle narrowly losing 6 sets to 5. Tess Bassett had good win in the singles and a narrow loss in mixed doubles. These two teams will play in the elimination final on Saturday.
Daryl Bennett playing for Cobram played very well to win his singles, doubles and mixed doubles. This assisted his team to win 7 sets to 4 against Shepparton and consolidating second place on the ladder.
Cobram finished second and will play Stanhope in a top of the table clash in the finals on Saturday.
Yarrawonga Chronicle