Sixteen local junior tennis players travelled to Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club to represent the Barwon region in Tennis Victoria’s Regional Team Event over the weekend of October 19 and 20 with three of the four teams finishing with top-two hardware.
The Regional Team Event is an opportunity for some of the best junior tennis players in their age divisions to face off against the best boys and girls tennis players from across regional Victoria.
Barwon’s 14 and under team finished in top spot in their pool with wins over Goulburn, Mornington Peninsula and Central Gippsland. Barwon’s Axel Potter-Ayres, Paddy Moulton, Sofia Delgadinho and Pearl Thompson progressed to the grand final against a strong Loddon Campaspe team. Barwon secured two of the four singles rubbers, but in his loss Moulton took his to three sets, so Barwon only needed one of the two mixed to claim the win.
The situation may have looked grim, with Loddon’s 6-2 win at No 1 mixed and starting to a 5-1 lead at No 2. With all other matches in the event completed and all eyes on them, Moulton and Thompson never lost hope and clawed their way back by winning six straight games to win the set 7-5, clinching the championship for their team.
The 10 and under Barwon team, comprising Eric Zhou, Jake Kamphuis, Elise Wong and Gem Mayall, competed in a six-team draw, and finished fourth on after winning two of their five matches. The second round win over host Goulburn was especially enthralling, winning the two boys singles sets and dropping the two girls singles, followed by losing the first mixed doubles set 6-3. Needing a dominant win in the last mixed to secure victory, Barwon closed with a 6-1 triumph by Kamphuis and Mayall to win the match by one game, 3-3 25-24.
The 12 and under Barwon team, represented by Jenson Wong, Streicher Jansen van Vuren, Jemma Howat and and Esther White placed first in their five-team Pool A, and progressed to the final match of the weekend against undefeated Loddon Campaspe from Pool B. Howat secured a solid 6-2 6-3 win, but the other Bendigo-area players were too strong in singles, with straight sets wins in each of the other three to take the team win.
Barwon’s Open age team consisted of Oliver White, Dex Taylor, Sienna Clatworthy and Keira Muskee and finished 3-0 in their four-team pool. The grand final pitted the team against North East, a team from the Wodonga area. North East’s girls were too strong all weekend, not losing a set in their three prior matches, and eased past Clatworthy and Muskee. Barwon’s boys both took their singles to the limit, with White dropping a heartbreaker 4-6 7-5 3-10, but Taylor coming back to win 5-7 6-3 10-5. While Taylor capped his comeback, White and Clatworthy won their No 1 mixed 6-4 over their counterparts, but it was not enough as North East had secured enough sets to seal the team win.
