Telford break the drought

The A Grade Grand Final was an epic and one of the best seen. Wilby had not won a title for many decades and both teams were very keen to win.

The mens section was very close with each team winning 3 sets. Importantly Telford had many near losses to win the mens by 9 games. Telford’s skipper showed his class to win all 3 of his sets.

The ladies division was even closer with Telford winning 4 sets to 2 but Wilby was able to split the games with 26 each. Chris Hawkins was the outstanding player and won each of her sets under pressure.

With a 9 game lead heading into the mixed matches, the title was on the line. The mixed continued to be close with the sets shared 2 all and Wilby winning by a single game. This meant that at the end of the night Telford had won the premiership by 8 games.

Congratulations to the Telford team consisting of Craig Stevenson, Andrew Brew, Andrew Banks, Brett Lawrence, Angela Mitchell, Sandra Banks, Chris Hawkins and Emma Pearce. A very well deserved win.

In B Grade Tungamah Green and Mulwala Maroon had an enjoyable night. Tungamah Green managed to sneak away in both the mens and ladies sections to take a strong lead. With Tungamah Green taking an unassailable lead into the mixed both teams introduced their junior contingent.

It was fantastic to see so many juniors having a hit whilst the adults sat back and enjoyed the spectacle. Well done to Tungamah Green on their B Grade win.

At the conclusion of the night the premiership cups were awarded in front of the large, assembled crowd. Association Secretary Dario Prighel presented the Junior Encouragement Awards.

This year Tungamah’s Harry Wren and Burramine’s Olivia Lewis and Ella Lewis received this recognition. All three of the players barely missed a game.

Combining Wilby tennis and Saturday morning tennis has ensured these three youngsters have made rapid improvement and are going to be the stars of the future.

The prestigious Most Valuable Player Awards were also announced. The men’s recipient was Jeremy Kelly from Savernake.

After a long hiatus from tennis Jeremy returned to tennis last season. This season he quickly established himself as the premier player in the competition.

The ladies winner was Jenny Buerckner from Tungamah Green. This is the third time Jenny has won this award and is thoroughly deserving as her consistent play ensures she is rarely beaten.

With her four children debuting this year for Tungamah Green, the challenge will now be for Jenny to hold her place in the team.

Thank you to everyone involved in the Wilby and District Tennis Association. A special mention to the eight captains who ensure their teams are on court every week.

This competition is unique as it is able to provide quality tennis with a range of ages playing. It will be back in 2024/25.

Saturday Junior Tennis

The Hot Shots and coaching again had a great morning with the players enjoying learning a skill for life. It is fantastic to see the improvement of all players.

The courts were at capacity for the players that participate in matches. This is great to see with many players moving into matches over the past few weeks.

The winners of the groups were Poppy Robinson, Lily Leslie, Alanna Ford, Riley Wallace, Lenny Robinson, Finn Cummins, Tully Ellis, Ollie Legudi and Beau Lawrence.

This week there will be no junior tennis as there is a break for the long weekend. After this there will be two more weeks with the final morning being on Saturday, March 23.

Premier League

The third and final round of Premier League was played on Saturday morning. This competition has produced some outstanding tennis for 48 of the oldest junior players.

After the round of matches Sabalenka was crowned the best team as they finished on 54 points. Well done to their team consisting of Billie Prestage, Billie Buerckner, Georgie Smith, Milla Cox, Taylah Chessells, James Cummins, Sonny Sneddon, Noah Cox, Finn Bruce, Finn Angwin, Liam Mansfield and Tyler Buerckner.

Second place was very close with the Medvedev on Medvedev 39, Sinner 38, and Zheng 37. This meant Medvedev are the runners up.

Saturday’s matches saw Sinner defeat Medvedev 17 sets to 7. Medvedev had many players winning 3 sets.

Well done to Thomas Lawrence, Anthony Nieuwenhout, Lara Angwin, Ava Cox, Theo Vodusek and Alex Hemphill who were all undefeated.

In the other rubber Sabalenka had a win 16 sets to 8 over Zheng. For Sabalenka James Cummins, Billie Prestage, Billie Buerckner, Milla Cox and Liam Mansfield each won all of their sets. For Zheng Ernie Buerckner won all of his matches.

Thursday ladies

Last Thursday was a terrific night for tennis and the ladies enjoyed the conditions. The tennis was outstanding and many long rallies were had. Ironically the results in all four matches produced a 5 sets to 1 result.

Technifibre combined well to win their rubber 5 sets to 1 over Babalot. Janelle Hartwig and Lara Angwin were the best players for Technifibre winning all their sets.

Wilson mirrored this result with a 5 sets to 1 win over Head. Chris Carr and Helen White both filling in for the night showed their class to be undefeated.

Slazenger 5 sets to Dunlop’s 1 continued the scoreline with Ellen Bruce and debutant Judy Milner best on court.

The final match, and again the same result with Yonex defeating Prince. Mother and daughter, Narelle and Lucy Bassett played well to win all of their matches.

The ladder after Round 4 is Yonex 20, Slazenger 18, Technifibre 16, Wilson 15, Dunlop 10, Head 9, Babolat 5, Prince 1.

Tuesday mens

This Tuesday the first week of the finals is being played. With 11 teams there will be 3 divisions of finals.

Another fun night will be guaranteed with the tennis maybe being a little bit more competitive than normal especially in A Grade where players try to win some silverware.

The tennis last week was very enjoyable with most matches finishing in darkness.

Head gave Zampa a tennis lesson with a commanding 6 sets to 0 win. Head’s team of Fraser Bennett, Mike Lairson, Jeremy Kelly and Simon De Oleveira are all in great form and deserving of finishing in top place.

Second place Maxwell was equally as ruthless with their 6 sets to 0 win over wooden spooner Inglis. Damian Cook, Dave Crossley, Luke Buerckner and Fred Exton all hitting the ball nicely.

Warner and Stoinis had a remarkable night with Warner winning the battle on sets 4 to 2 but Stoinis winning on games 30 to 29. Skipper Chris Page was undefeated for Warner.

Labuschagne and Cummins had many close sets before Labuschagne claimed the night 4 sets to 2. Matt McLachlan was again best on court to win all of his sets.

In the final match of the round Starc also defeated Hazelwood 4 sets to 2. As usual John Brunner was in great form and was undefeated.

The ladder at the conclusion of the season is Head 75, Maxwell 69, Labuschagne 62, Starc 59, Warner 56, Hazelwood 53, Marsh 51, Cummins 45, Stoinis 43, Zampa 33 and Inglis 26.

Goulburn Murray Tennis

Numurkah played Nathalia in Division 1 of Goulburn Murray Tennis semi-final in Shepparton on Saturday. With the best players in the north east on court it was a very high standard of tennis. Yarrawonga’s Jack Bassett continued to be the dominant player in the competition winning all 3 of his sets and barely dropping a game.

John Brunner and Lucy Bassett both had excellent days winning 2 out of their 3 matches including their mixed which they combined for.

After trailing for most of the day Numurkah finished strongly to win by 2 games and book a place in the Grand Final on March 16.

In Division 2 Cobram played Tatura. Yarrawonga’s Daryl Bennett and Hayley Bennett were both undefeated in their matches. This assisted Cobram to also progress straight through to Grand Final in a fortnight.