Taylor Lewis jumps for an overhead.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
In glorious conditions the Thursday lady’s competition commenced last week. Organisers Narelle Bassett and Gert Brunner have been on a recruiting spree, and it was great to see so many new players having a hit.
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The competition lasts for 6 weeks and fill-ins are always required if you want to join the fun. After the dominance of the Matildas, teams have been named in their honour.
Arnold had a strong win against Catley taking the night 5 sets to 1. For Arnold Tess Bassett and Chris Hawkins won all of their matches and Illa Crawford and Narelle Bassett had a pair of wins.
Carpenter and Fowler had some tight battles but Carpenter proved too strong to win all 6 sets. Well done to Amy Lairson, Janelle Hartwig, Emily Linehan and Mahlee Hartwig on their early season form.
Kennedy played very consistently to win 5 of the 6 sets. Win Win Htwe and Coral Barnard starred to win all of their sets and were ably backed up by Lisa Ramadge and Michelle Ramadge with 2 wins apiece.
Foord and Vine were the closest rubber for the night with Foord winning 4 sets to 2. Dominique Vattan was the star of the show being undefeated.
She was supported by Erin York and Loz Wallace with 2 wins. Best for Vine was club legend Ellen Bruce with 2 sets.
The ladder after round 1 is Carpenter 10, Arnold 9, Kennedy 9, Foord 8, Kerr 5, Vine 2, Catley 1, Raso 1, Fowler 0.
Wilby tennis
Round 5 of Wilby tennis continued to see some enjoyable tennis played over the weekend.
The highlight continues to be the number of juniors in each team. This is great for their development and ensures the longevity of the association.
Indicating how even the competition is, the two tops sides at the start of the round Telford and Burramine were both easily defeated.
On Friday night Tungamah Gold hosted Burramine. Tungamah’s men played very well with father/son combinations of Dickins and Lawrences making up their team. Tungamah won 5 sets to 1 with the youngsters Thomas Lawrence and Nate Dickins claiming bragging rights being undefeated. The lady’s division produced a similar result with Debbie Hayes and Zade Ussher proving unbeatable. There were many close sets in the mixed, but Tungamah proved too strong to win 3 sets to 1. Tungamah Gold overall winners for the night and taking the 8 points.
Tungamah Green visited Mulwala Maroon on Friday night. Mulwala Maroon inflicted a rare loss on Tungamah’s men winning 4 sets to 2. Young gun Maiko Leith leading the way winning all of his sets. The ladies produced the same result with skipper Sheryl McBurnie being undefeated.
Tungamah bounced back in the mixed to win 3 sets to 1. This wasn’t quite enough as Mulwala won the night by 7 games. Mulwala Maroon taking the points 6 to 2.
In oppressive conditions on Saturday Wilby played Telford. Wilby’s men utilised their home court advantage to win 4 sets to 2.
Association President John Wright filling in for Wilby was undefeated. The ladies were very close with sets shared and Wilby winning by a single game. Indicating the closeness, no lady won all of their sets for the day.
The mixed was also a fierce battle with Wilby taking 3 of the 4 sets. Overall Wilby won and they took the points 8 sets to 0. Well done to everyone who battled it out in the heat.
Due to external commitments Mulwala Gold were unable to field a side against Savernake.
After round 5 the ladder is Telford 29, Savernake 27, Tungamah Gold 24, Wilby 23, Burramine 21, Tungamah Green 18, Mulwala Maroon 12, Mulwala Gold 6.
Saturday morning Tennis
Ruby Phillips plays a forehand.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
On Saturday Premier League commenced for 48 of the strongest players. Four teams were constructed with 6 boys and 6 girls in each team.
Over the three-week period, each team will play each other. The winner of each rubber will be determined by the team that wins the most sets. On the weekend due to the heat each player completed a doubles set and two mixed sets.
In the first rubber the Blues and Bombers had extremely close sets, but it was the mighty Blues that won on the morning 10 sets to 8. Typifying the tight contests, Billie Buerckener, a passionate Blues supporter, was the only player on either team to win all three of their sets. A fantastic battle on all courts with some long rallies.
In the second rubber the Pies and the Tigers also had many even sets. Like the AFL, the Pies were too good and won 12 sets to 6. For the Pies Noah Cox, Ella Lewis, Jackson Prosser were undefeated and for the Tigers Emily Judd was victorious in each set.
The large parental supporter base really enjoyed watching these matches.
After round 1 the ladder is Pies 18, Blues 16, Bombers 8, Tigers 6. Six points are awarded for the overall win and a point per set won. This week the Pies will play the Bombers and the Blues will play the Tigers. With more favourable weather predicted, each player will play a doubles, mixed and a singles.
The younger players also had some magnificent matches with many very close results. Every single court was being used which creates a great atmosphere. This meant 74 kids played matches which is awesome.
Court winners were Charlotte Wren, Grace Cummins, Alex Hemphill, Braeden Coates, Lenny Legudi, Parker Cowan, Ernie Buerckner, Jimmy Robinson, Danny Ryan and Willow Appleby.
The Hot Shots and coaching groups continue to develop under the guidance of club coach Greg Duns and his coaching team. It is great to see the enthusiastic approach every week by every single player. The skill development is rapid, and they really enjoy parental involvement. It was noted that a record number of icy poles were handed out during the morning.
Goulburn Murray tennis
Numurkah’s Division 1 team visited Nathalia on Saturday. Making her debut in Goulburn Murray Tennis’ premier competition was Yarrawonga’s 14-year-old Tess Bassett. This is an outstanding achievement for someone so young to be playing in the strongest tennis competition in the North East Region.
To make the event more significant was Tess joined her siblings Jack and Lucy. With local sporting legend John Brunner in the team, Numurkah was mainly made up of Yarrawonga players.
Nathalia is the powerhouse of the competition this year and they were certainly ready for the encounter. Jack Bassett continued his great form at number 1 to still be undefeated in singles for the season.
He backed this up with a doubles win with John Brunner and with Lucy Bassett in the mixed. Overall Nathalia confirmed their spot on top winning 7 sets to 5.
Tournament success
Whilst most of the club’s members were enjoying the recent long weekend, Jack Bassett was competing in the Bendigo Melbourne Cup Open Tournament.
Against players from throughout Victoria Jack played very well to cruise through the early rounds before making the final. In a very tough battle in the final Jack narrowly lost 7/6, 7/6 in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
In the doubles Jack teamed up with Yarrawonga’s esteemed physiotherapist and gun tennis player Brendan Liddell.
Jack and Brendan had a tough first round match but after that they combined well and this showed when they claimed the final 6/3, 6/1.
North East Veterans
On Sunday the North East Veterans circuit held their tournament in Wodonga. By all reports it was beautiful conditions. As usual the Yarrawonga contingent were dominant with Ellen Bruce, Amy Lairson, Jamie Almond and John Brunner all winning their cards. Mike Lairson finished second in his group rounding out a fantastic day. Word is that Yarrawonga’s players may need to be handicapped in future tournaments.
Tuesday Men’s tennis
The Tuesday men’s competition will commence this Tuesday. Organiser Ash Wheaton has done a terrific job to recruit 44 players for the 11 teams.
As always fill in players are required so if anyone is keen for a hit please let Ash know. Results will be in next week’s report including the injury list from those that hadn’t completed a preseason.
Rock up and play sessions
The YLTC holds social aggregate style tennis at four different times during the week. Each of these events provide the opportunity for new players to come and trial tennis prior to committing to becoming a member.
The main aggregate night is Friday night and this night will commence after the Melbourne Cup weekend.
The other times where anyone can simply sign-in on the day are Saturday at 1p.m. for all players, Tuesday morning commencing at 9.30am for ladies and Wednesday at 1p.m. for men’s social hit. There is no compulsion to attend each of these on a weekly basis although once you have tried it once it will be hard to not keep going back.
