LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
The largest grass court tournament in the world was held last week in Yarrawonga, with almost 1300 players in attendance, making up the 15 women’s sections and 11 men’s in Tennis Victoria’s Country Week.
The event was originally scheduled to be played in Shepparton and Mooroopna, but due to flooding late last year, the event was moved, and players from Geelong relished the conditions with multiple teams making finals.
The Lecontes went back to back in Men’s A Grade with their win over Buln Buln with Adam Lasky and Taj Cayzer leading the team in their win.
David Kos was also successful with his Mud Island teammates in Men’s Special B1, but it was the women that stole the show with seven teams with Geelong members making finals, and five going all the way.
Julie Golightly and Fiona Walker’s team, Mixtures, went down in a close elimination final in Women’s A Grade while Georgina Parker’s Mt Prospect Dashers prevailed in Special B1 needing only two games in the final set, taking the win over Royal South Maffra.
Special B2’s Grape Therapy with Mimi Armstrong, Marg Leigh, Jo Puckett and Sarah Williams had the toughest elimination final having to come back Friday morning to play a tie-breaker after the match resulted in a draw at 8.30pm Thursday night.
Therapy eventually went down 7-5 in the tie-break to BFM’s who went on to win the final.
GTown Girls in B1 had nerves of steel with Sharon Migel-Cranston and her young team drawing with Gippy Guns after their four sets before Migel-Cranston teamed with Hannah O’Brien to win the deciding tie-break 8-6 to take the title.
In B2 girls Grovedale’s Kira Aitken, Kristy Axelrad, Sara Earls, Belinda Lee, Lynette Marshall, Marci Sanderson and Lisa Sherwell, comprised Group Therapy, which finished top of the ladder, and with Marshall and Sanderson winning their two sets and Earls and Lee taking their first 8-3 in the final, the margin was big enough that the final set wasn’t required.
It was an all-Geelong final in B3 when Kelly Gang’s Elaine Ly, Rebecca Lee, Alice Tanner and Lauren Peart came up against Mud Island’s Jacqui McGrath, Leonie Amerena, Angela Sherlock and Raelene Pearce, with one of the longest matches of the day.
With only one game separating the two teams after the first two sets, Lee and Peart gave Kelly Gang a five-game lead going into the final set before Ly and Tanner sealed the win for the Gang when they got ahead five games to four in the last set.
Slice Girls were victorious in Special C1, with their first venture to Country Week. Alison Blake and Liz Lange won both their sets 8-6, but with Lesley Mathison retiring in the second set, Sue Sutherland subbed in to play the final set with Val Carmichael-Wilson and spurred on from the sidelines by Nicole Pertzel, they won 8-5 to take the win three sets to one and two games.
