The Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club has reached 450 members and is climbing. This equates to about 4% of the region’s population being members and this is quite remarkable.
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Andy Reynolds from Tennis Victoria was in attendance at the local courts over the weekend and he was in awe of the courts, especially when they were playable within an hour of a torrential downpour.
He also simply couldn’t believe how many juniors play tennis on a Saturday morning.
Yarrawonga Junior Challenge
Each November, Tennis Victoria hosts the Festival of Tennis in Yarrawonga. This incorporates a junior and senior tournament. These events attract people from throughout Victoria and interstate.
Last Saturday and Sunday the Yarrawonga Junior Challenge was held. This event had juniors participating in a round robin format to ensure a lot of matches were played.
Yarrawonga had two entrants. Ian Dimble won the boys singles event after defeating 5 other boys. It was particularly gruelling on Saturday and Ian displayed great determination, especially to win against the top seed in a tiebreaker.
Tess Bassett won both the girls singles and also the girls doubles event with her partner travelling from Bairnsdale.
Tess played very consistently and in one match fought very hard to win a super tiebreaker.
This event will be held again next year and with the new changes to competitive play tennis it is hoped that many local juniors challenge themselves against visiting players.
Saturday morning tennis
Every court was being utilised for the full morning of tennis. With around 230 juniors participating, the atmosphere at the courts is electric and the players really enjoy themselves.
The Hot Shots and coaching groups continue to develop their skills under the guidance of Greg Duns and his junior assistant coaches. Parental involvement is really driving the program and the importance of parents joining in and picking up balls is just essential.
Once again there were a heap of players competing in matches. The improvement is obvious as the rallies are already lasting a long time which impresses the spectators. The players were given the opportunity of playing two doubles and a singles or three doubles matches.
The winners of the groups playing two doubles and a singles were Summer Ibbott, Finn Angwin, Lachie Conway, Cameron Brew, Tague Saunders, Oscar Leary and Milla Kelly.
The winners of the groups playing three doubles were Charlotte Wren, Finn Bruce, Flynn Woolley, Nancy Thomas and Ed Withers.
Premier League
After a few seasons in hibernation due to Covid, Premier League made a fantastic return to the Saturday morning program.
24 of the oldest players were placed into four teams for a three week competition. Each player played 2 doubles and a singles match.
The standard was excellent and the crowd in attendance was treated to some awesome tennis.
In the first match Tomljanovic took on Saville. It was an epic encounter with many tight sets. At the end of the morning each team won 6 sets so a countback was undertaken to reveal Saville won on games 63 to 56.
Best on court was Tomljanovic’s Elli Buerckner who played great tennis to win all 3 sets with teammates Billie Prestage and Ian Dimble winning 2 apiece.
For Saville Lachie Wren, Tahdg Foran and Olivia Lewis each won 2 matches.
In the other rubber Kyrgios battled it out with De Minaur. Again there were many extremely close matches before Kyrgios claimed victory winning 7 sets to 5.
For the winners Thomas Lawrence won all of his matches and teammates Ella Lewis, Kiera Buerckner and Jordan Ibbott winning 2 matches. For De Minaur Maisee Pell was undefeated and her teammate Harry Wren won 2 sets.
After Round 1 the ladder is Kyrgios 11, Saville 10, Tomljanovic 6, De Minaur 5. This Saturday Kyrgios will play Tomljanovic and Saville will verse De Minaur.
Thursday night ladies
The first round of Thursday night ladies took place last week. The club is excited that there are 8 teams each with 4 players.
There are many experienced players as well as some newcomers to the club which is pleasing. After some threatening weather the night was completed with ease.
In the first match Firebirds had a 4 sets to 2 win over Magpies. Norma Toms was the best player of the night winning all of her matches with her teammate Amy Lairson winning 2 sets. Best for the Magpies was Tess Bassett with 2 wins.
Lightning and Thunderbirds had an absolute sensational battle with each team winning 3 sets before Lightning were declared victors by 2 games. For the Lightning young gun Hayley Bennett won all of her sets and for Thunderbirds Maddy Allan, Beth Robinson and Michelle Cox won 2.
Fever had a positive start to the season with a 5 sets to 1 win over Giants. In some close sets Chris Hawkins and Jess Linehan were undefeated and Win Htwe and Jerry Browning won 2 sets for Fever.
In the final match of the night Swift won 4 sets to 2 against Vixens. New club member Lisa Ramage won all of her games with teammates Kirsty Skene and Loz Wallace won 2. For Vixens Lucy Bassett won 2 matches.
The ladder after Round 1 is Fever 7, Firebirds 6, Swift 6, Lightning 5, Thunderbirds 3, Magpies 2, Vixens 2 and Giants 1.
Tuesday Men
The Tuesday Men’s competition commenced in perfect weather for tennis. This season 12 teams are competing for the Holy Grail.
Somewhat surprisingly the standard of tennis was high for the first night although there would have been some tired bodies the next day.
The first match of the night had Head have a strong win over Babolat 5 sets to 1. For Head Xavier Dowling and Corey Beggs won all of their sets and Peter Thomas and Nev Page had 2 wins.
Wilson claimed a 4 sets to 2 win over Prokennex. Al Angwin was player of the night with 3 wins and Jim Zanin and Jordan Ibbott had 2 wins for the victors. Jack Bassett won 2 sets for Prokennex.
In the match of the night Slazenger and Duns won 3 sets before team Duns was declared the winner on games. Tom McKimmie was the player of the nights with 3 wins for Slazenger and for Duns Ian Dimble, Max Loughnan and Greg Duns had 2 victories.
Prince won 4 sets to 2 against Lacoste. Prince’s star was Brad Sneddon with 3 wins whilst Macka White and Ben Cope won 2 sets. For Lacoste new player Peter Hollands claimed 2 wins.
Volkl indicated they are going to be the team to beat with a strong 5 sets to 1 win over Donnay. John Brunner and Lachie Forge were undefeated whilst Simon deOleveira and James Loughnan both won 2 sets.
In the final match of the night Technifibre also had a 5 sets to 1 win over Yonnex. For Technifibre Jason Bassett and Trent Head won all of their sets and Andrew Beggs and Andrew Brew each won 2.
After the first round the ladder is Volkl 7, Head 7, Tecnifibre 7, Prince 6, Wilson 6, Duns 5, Slazenger 3, Lacoste 2, Prokennex 2, Babolat 1, Donnay and Yonex 1.
Wilby Association
Round 5 of the Wilby Association was played over the weekend. With many new faces to the competition and some promising juniors the Wilby Association is looking stronger than it has for a long time.
On Friday night Burramine hosted Savernake. In a very social atmosphere Burramine were able to win the men’s section 5 sets to 1 with Mick Ibbott and James Loughnan both winning all of their matches.
In the ladies section Burramine claimed all 6 sets although many of the sets. Tess Bassett, Kirsty Skene, Narelle Bassett and Loz Wallace all played very well for Burramine.
In near darkness Burramine won 3 of the 4 mixed sets although Savernake’s Norma Toms and new player Cam Arthur claimed the last set of the night. Burramine claiming all 8 points for the night.
Tungamah Green visited the home courts of Mulwala Maroon on Friday night. Tungamah Green had a strong start in the mens to claim all 6 sets.
Tom Wren, Luke Buerckner, Desi O’Kane and Lachlan Wren all winning 3 sets.
In the ladies section Mulwala bounced back to win 5 sets to 1. Vanessa Norman and Monica Leith both won all their matches and Kerry Lyons and Sheryl McBurnie won 2 matches.
Unfortunately the night was cut short as the power went out during the mixed matches meaning the points were split 4 each for the night.
To round out Friday nights matches Tungamah Gold hosted Telford. Telford’s men are consistent and Craig Stevenson, Andrew Brew, Andrew Banks and Brett Lawrence each won all of their games. It was a complete contrast in the ladies with Tungamah’s ladies claiming 5 sets with Debbie Hayes, Danielle Lawrence winning 3 and Chelsea Sidebottom and Mandy Williams victorious twice.
The mixed was very close with the sets split 2 each with Telford winning on games. Overall for the night Telford 6 points and Tungamah Gold 2.
On Saturday Wilby hosted Mulwala Gold on the newly refurbished Wilby courts. Mulwala Gold have recruited well over the off-season and look like they could be genuine contenders.
In the mens Mulwala won 5 sets with Damon Cooke and Sean Robinson undefeated and Jason Cox and Cameron Carling winning 2 sets. The ladies saw a clean sweep of sets to Mulwala with Jess Linehan, Beth Robinson, Emily Linehan and Michelle Cox in impressive form.
Mulwala continued their form to also win all of the mixed sets. The only set Wilby won for the day was by Anthony Hammon and Jamie Hicks. Maybe Wilby struggled with the drag races next door. Overall Mulwala Gold 8 points.
The ladder after Round 5 is Mulwala Gold 26, Telford 24, Tungamah Green 22, Burramine 22, Tungamah Gold 20, Mulwala Maroon 18, Savernake 14 and Wilby 14.
Wednesday night Fast Four
The first round of the Social Fast Four was held on Wednesday night. 17 teams were in attendance and the atmosphere was sensational with a lot of laughter and some good hitting.
The purpose of this night is to bring new people to the club or return previous players. Wednesday night managed to create that atmosphere.
Some teams were completely made up of families, some were made of workplaces and other friends. Teams are evenly matched, so everyone has fun.
This week the club will do it all again and another great night is assured.
Goulburn Murray Association
Local players representing Numurkah in Division 1 of the Goulburn Murray competition had a very good day against Shepparton claiming the day 10-2.
Jack Bassett won his singles and both doubles, Lucy Bassett lost her singles but won her doubles and mixed.
Grant Chappell won his singles and lost his mixed. Debutant John Brunner had a successful day winning his singles, doubles and mixed. Next week Numurkah faces Echuca in the top of the table clash.
In Division 2 Daryl Bennett and Hayley Bennett played their first game for Cobram. Hayley had a fantastic day winning her singles, doubles and mixed.
Daryl also won the mixed and won one and lost one doubles.
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 had four courts of players last week. To have a hit on a Friday night simply turn up at 6pm.
Club Captain Grant Lewis matches players according to their ability meaning everyone has a good hit.
The other times where anyone can simply sign-in on the day are Saturday at 1pm for all players, Tuesday morning commencing at 9.30am for the ladies and Wednesday at 1pm for the 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.
Yarrawonga Chronicle