LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
With tennis on hiatus for the school holidays, players have looked far and wide to help with their preparation for the upcoming summer Pennant.
Western Heights held an event for 10 and Under on Tuesday and 18 and under on Wednesday which was well supported.
The 10U attracted nine participants from Geelong and Melbourne with players split into two pools based on their UTR, getting plenty of practice with a guarantee of four matches for the day.
The winners of the groups were Aadvik Kashyap in Group A and Rishith Reddy Vangala in Group B.
The 18U saw 25 participants split into six bands, however, with rain late in the day, only four sections were completed.
The four grades completed were all taken out by local Tennis Geelong players with Jake Peck taking out Group A (UTR 4+), Jensen Wong winning through in Group B (UTR 3.5-4), Pearl Thompson Group C (UTR 3-3.5) and Streicher Jansen Van Vuren Group D (UTR 2.2-2.7).
Barwon Heads had a group of 12 head to Sale along with a couple of Grovedale for their junior tournament, running Thursday to Saturday. The events were a mix of round robin and knockout, dependent on the draw size.
The best results for the tournament were Isaac Brian as runner-up in 16 and Under Boys, and winning the doubles with partner Christopher Watkins, Caspar Grace winning the consolation singles in Boys 12 and Under and Hanna Schoenmaekers runner-up with her partner in Girls 14 and Under doubles.
This week players are spoilt for choice with multiple metropolitan tournaments and a number of player groups are supporting regional events in Traralgon from September 25 to 28 and Bendigo from September 29 and October 1 for their Open and Junior events, while local options are available at community events with Geelong Lawn holding its monthly event on October 1 and Drysdale on October 15.
With local summer Pennant only two weeks away, players will be well practiced and ready to go once competition starts.
