Once again the Saturday morning juniors was a sensational morning. Courts were filled to the maximum and there was some outstanding tennis played.
Before the players commenced, a presentation was made to the winners and runners up of the Premier League competition.
The winners were De Minaur consisting of Maisee Pell, Lucy Judd, Isabel Hargreaves, Xavier Chessells, James Cummins and Liam Mansfield.
The runners up were Kyrgios consisting of Lara Angwin, Ella Lewis, Kiera Buerckner, Jordan Ibbott, Darcy Cox and Thomas Lawrence.
Another Premier League competition will run commencing in February with even more players involved.
With the day being so warm the Hot Shots players moved across to the grasscourts for the day.
The coaches had a couple of new warm up games which challenged both the parents and players. The groups then continued to practice forehands and backhands with a variety of drills.
The improvement has been immense and it is great to continually see how much they are enjoying participating.
The coaching groups continued to be huge, meaning there has been an extra coach added to ensure the players hit as many balls as they can.
Most of the players are now able to maintain a long rally which is great to see. Some members of the coaching groups will be elevated to match play in the next few weeks.
This week the players in matches played mixed doubles and singles. This meant they were playing against players they don’t normally hit against.
Leading players in the players in the groups were Xavier Chessells, Maisee Pell, Darcy Cox, Tadhg Foran, Ritu Pujari, Lucy Judd, Noah Cox, Wil Anderson, Jack Smith, Caitlin Brew, Nancy Thomas, Ed Withers, Theo Vodusek and Zali Mathison.
Next week will be the final week of Saturday mornings before the Christmas holiday break. As usual the club will finish the year with extremely popular parent/child doubles.
Players can bring a parent, grandparent, relative or friend to play with. Hot Shots and coaching will continue as normal.
Wilby Tennis Association
Round 8 of the Wilby Tennis Association was a little bit disrupted on the weekend. With the Cod Classic on, the two Mulwala sides didn’t play as many were assisting with this event. With harvest now in full swing Tungamah Gold also couldn’t quite get the numbers for the team against Burramine.
The two matches played on the weekend were both played at Yarrawonga. Wilby took on Savernake in the first match.
In the men’s division Wilby proved too strong winning 5 sets to 1. Jarryd Fountain and Xavier Chessells won all their sets whilst Fraser Sharp and Viktor Lairson both won 2.
For Savernake it was great to see Wil Anderson and Jackson Wheeler making their debut. The result was the same in the ladies section with Wilby winning 5 sets. Helen White and Kylie James with 3 wins and Amy Lairson and Dominique Vatten had 2 wins.
In the mixed Wilby won 3-1. This meant for the night Wilby took all 8 points.
In the other match it was the two powerhouses of Telford and Tungamah Green taking the court. Telford men played well to win 5 sets to 1.
Andrew Banks and Brett Lawrence were undefeated whilst Andrew Brew and Warrick Cox had 2 wins. The result was the same in the ladies with Sandra Banks and Tess Bassett having 3 victories and Angela Mitchell and Chris Hawkins winning 2.
Telford won all of the mixed matches to claim the 8 point for the night.
The ladder after Round 8 is Telford 44, Burramine 42, Mulwala Gold 38, Tungamah Green 32, Tungamah Gold 26, Savernake 24, Mulwala Maroon 26 and Wilby 24.
This week will be the final week of the Wilby Association before the break. All teams will be playing at Yarrawonga on Friday night.
It is hoped all matches will start promptly at 6. Pizzas will be supplied for supper. It will be a great way to enter the Christmas break.
Thursday Ladies
Round 4 of Thursday Ladies saw everyone enjoying their night. It is great to see the banter and laughter each week.
Firebirds had many close sets against Vixens before winning the night 4 sets to 2.
Gert Brunner was player of the night winning all her matches whilst her teammates Norma Toms and Dominique Vattan had 2 wins. Lucy Bassett with 2 victories was best for Vixens.
Giants won their clash against Magpies by winning the first 4 sets of the night before Magpies fought back to win the last 2 sets.
Erin York, Narelle Bassett, Kate Porter and Emily Linehan all won 2 matches. It was great to see Jenny Buerckner and Elli Buerckner combine to win a set.
Swifts had a strong win over Lightning who had a few fill ins. Swifts won 5 sets to 1 with Ellen Bruce and Loz Wallace undefeated and Kirsty Skene and Lisa Ramadge winning 2 matches.
Fever was certainly running hot against Thunderbirds to win all 6 sets quite easily. The Fever team consisting of Win Win Htwe, Jess Linehan, Chris Hawkins and Jerry Browning all played extremely well.
After Round 4 the ladder is Fever 27, Swifts 23, Lightning 16, Firebirds 18, Thunderbirds 13, Giants 11, Vixens 10 and Magpies 8. There are 2 more rounds of this season with the final night on December 15.
Tuesday Mens
The Tuesday Mens competition is in full swing with some reasonable tennis being played. A lot of the matches finished in near darkness indicating long rallies or more likely excessive chatting between points.
Tecnifibre started off with winning the first 3 sets before Duns fought back to win the last 3 sets. Tecnifibre won on games by 5.
Andrew Beggs and Jason Bassett were multiple sets winners for Tecnifibre and Chris Page and Sam Davidson with a pair of wins for Duns.
Wilson and Slazenger also had a great hit with a draw on sets before Wilson won by 3 games. Every player dropped a set on the night.
Best were Al Angwin and Jim Zanin for Wilson and Tom McKimmie and Fred Exton for Slazenger who all won 2 sets.
If the first 2 matches weren’t close enough, then the third match was a cliff hanger. The night finished a draw on sets before Lacoste won by a single game.
Lacoste’s Ash Wheaton was the player of the night winning all of this matches. For the winners Pete Hollands, Pat Mansfield and Rob Evers all won 2 sets.
Babolat won 4 sets to 2 sets Prince. Daryl Bennett continued his good form to be undefeated and best on court with teammates Cliff Nguyen and Scott Jaques won 2. Andrew Banks was Prince’s best with 2 wins.
Volkl had a strong 5 sets to 1 win over Yonex. Volkl’s team combined well with John Brunner and Simon de Oleiveria winning 3 sets and Thomas Loughnan and Lochie Forge won 2.
The final match of the night Prokennex had a 4 sets to 2 win over Head. Current Club Champion Jack Bassett with 3 wins demonstrated his class and was well supported by Jason Cox and Kieran Kelly.
For Head Corey Beggs won 2 matches.
After round 4 the ladder is Tecnifibre 18, Wilson 18, Volkl 16, Head 15, Prokennex 15, Lacoste 14, Duns 13, Babolat 10, Prince 9, Slazenger 7, Donnay 6 and Yonex 3.
Goulburn Murray Tennis Association
Yarrawonga’s contingent of players competing in the Goulburn Murray Association all had successful weekends with their teams winning.
In Division 1 playing for Numurkah Jack Bassett, John Brunner and Grant Chappell easily won their singles, doubles and mixed.
Lucy Bassett narrowly lost her singles before winning her mixed and doubles. Numurkah is now in second place behind Echuca.
In Division 2, Tess Bassett’s Numurkah team had a win to stay in the top four against an all-male Shepparton team. Tess had a tough day but was successful in her mixed.
Daryl and Hayley Bennett represented Cobram in Division 2 and their team had a comprehensive 10 sets to 1 set against Mooroopna. Daryl won his singles, mixed and doubles whilst Hayley won her mixed and both doubles.
This competition has two more weeks before the Christmas break.
Veterans Tournament
The North East Veterans circuit continued on the weekend. This time it was Albury’s turn to host their tournament. By all reports the courts played beautifully.
It was the first time that there has been a warm day for tennis so plenty of fluids were required.
John Brunner, Maurie Tyrell and Ellen Bruce all had terrific days and played superbly to win their cards against excellent opposition.
Gert Brunner, Amy Lairson and Mike Lairson also played well and enjoyed the hit.
Wednesday Social Fast Four
The final Fast Four night was held last week. Once again there were 16 teams enjoying tennis. On court it was great to see the improvement of some of the novice players who hadn’t had a hit for years and maybe even decades.
It was also fantastic to see some younger players who have never played having a go at a new sport.
Thanks to all the players for making this a success and especially the captains who have organised their teams wonderfully.
This competition will be held again in February and it is hoped that once again this will be very popular.