Pat Cash Cup
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On the weekend four of Yarrawonga’s juniors represented the Goulburn Region in the Pat Cash Cup. The Pat Cash Cup is the premier teams’ event for junior tennis in Victoria. Each of the city and country regions are invited to submit a team. Each team consists of 16 players with 2 boys and 2 girls in each of the 12/u, 14/u, 16/u and 18/u divisions.
Tess Bassett, Lucy Bassett and Jack Bassett have been previous participants in this event. This year they were joined by debutant Xavier Chessells. Each player participated in 5 singles and 5 mixed sets over the weekend. The tennis was outstanding with Victoria’s best juniors in attendance.
Jack Bassett playing up an age group won all 5 of his singles matches and 2 mixed sets in the 18/U division. Lucy Bassett in the 14/U section won 3 singles matches and 4 mixed games. Tess Bassett in the 12/U won 2 singles matches. Tess Bassett and Xavier Chessells combined well in the 12/U mixed division but despite many close matches they couldn’t quite secure a win.
Overall Goulburn finished ninth. Events like these are great fun and our four representatives had a fantastic weekend.
Saturday Morning Juniors
Parents continue to be in awe of the improvements made by each of the junior players. Hot Shot players are able to hit forehands with confidence and are really enjoying the activities. The coaching groups continue to have fun with the range of activities, and this ensures improvement is rapid.
In the match play there continues to be very pleasing numbers. The matches are taking a very long time as the rallies are so long. In the groups that play a doubles and a singles match the group winners were Hayley Bennett, Kristi Hardman, Harry Mouat, Maisee Pell, Anthony Nieuwenhout, Isabel Hargreaves, Noah Cox and Lara Angwin. In the groups that play three doubles the group winners were Thomas Lawrence, Nancy Thomas, Billie Buerckner and Lucy Judd.
Saturday morning juniors continue right up until Saturday March 26. There will be a weekend off for the Labour Day long weekend. Therefore, there are three mornings left.
Wilby Tennis Association
The final round of the Wilby Tennis Association was played over the weekend. This competition has been very successful this season and the matches combine some great tennis with a lot of socialising. At the end of the season the ladder was very tight. The ladder at the end of the season is Tungamah Green 53, Telford 50, Wilby 50, Burramine 46, Tungamah Gold 44, Savernake 30, Mulwala Gold 23 and Mulwala Maroon 22. Telford and Wilby were tied for second and third position and using the precedent set in the season of 1963, Telford took the higher spot as they had a greater proportion of winning sets.
This means for this weekend the semi-finals will be Tungamah Green vs Burramine and Telford vs Wilby in the A.Grade Division. In B.Grade the matches are Tungamah Gold vs Mulwala Maroon and Savernake vs Mulwala Gold. All matches promise to be close contests. The winners of these matches will move to the Grand Finals which will be played on Friday March 18 at Yarrawonga.
In the matches on the weekend Burramine had a win over Savernake. Last year’s premiers indicated they are showing good form at the right end of the season winning each set on the night. In the mens division Burramine’s Mick Ibbott, Macca White, John Wright and Jason Bassett were undefeated. This was repeated in the ladies with Lucy Bassett, Kirsty Skene, Tess Bassett and Loz Wallace winning their matches. Burramine 8 points to 0.
Tungamah Green also played Mulwala Maroon on Friday night. Kylie Buerckner was Tungamah Greens only regular player and she did well to find a side. Tungamah’s depth was evident in the mens section with a 6 set to 0 win. Matt O’Kane, Des O’Kane, Pat Mansfield and youngster Xavier Chessells making his debut all won their sets. In the ladies Tungamah was also too strong winning 5 sets to 1. For Tungamah Libby Edis and daughter Kylie Buercker won all of their sets whilst Sally Costigan and Gen Connell won 2 each. For Mulwala Monica Leith and Rochelle Shaw won the sole set. With darkness approaching the mixed was split. Overall Tungamah Green 7 points to 1.
In the other matches Tungamah Gold won when Telford had to forfeit. Wilby also claimed the points against Mulwala Gold when Mulwala were unable to get a team.
Wednesday Fast Four
The final week of the Social Fast Four competition was held last Wednesday. The aim of the program was to try and get some people back to the club that have not played recently as well as getting novice players to try tennis. This program has been a tremendous success and all of the players that have been involved have enjoyed playing.
The highlight of the night was the battle of the O’Callaghan teams. This match up was that intense that both captains Craig and Debbie had to have the night off. The team members were fierce in their approach to the matches and the scribe was informed that the match of the night resulted in Wendy Cooper and Anne Tyrell defeating James Cummins and John Cooper 4/0.
The popularity of the fast paced Fast Four format will mean that Fast Four will be a permanent fixture in next season’s calendar.
Thursday Ladies Tennis
The final round of Thursday Ladies Tennis was played last week, and everyone had a great hit with matches finishing in near darkness. This Thursday the finals campaign begins. In A.Grade top of the ladder Smarties will play Minties whilst Sherbies will play Freckles in the other semi-final. In B.Grade Feckles will play Jelly Beans and Starburst will take on Jaffas. The action promises to be awesome. Matches start at 6.00 p.m. and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Freckles had a 5 sets to 1 win against Jelly Beans. Win Htwe and Norma Banks both played very well to win all of their matches whilst Sandra Banks and Tess Bassett had 2 wins. For Jelly Beans the win was from Erin York and Narelle Bassett.
Smarties and Minties had many very close matches before Smarties won the night 4 sets to 2. Sarah Govan played very well for Smarties and won all of her matches and Karen Kaine and Linsey Franklin had a pair of victories. Minties best player was Chris Hawkins who won 2 sets.
In the final match Sherbies defeated Jaffas 4 sets to 2. Sherbies’ Jenelle Bennet claimed 3 wins and teammates Amy Lairson and Hayley Bennett had 2 victories in a consistent team effort. For Jaffas Danielle Lawrence won 2 sets.
The ladder at the end of the season was Smarties 42, Sherbies 41, Freckles 40, Minties 30, Freckles 29, Starburst 27, Jaffas 23, Jelly Beans 17.
Tuesday Mens Tennis
The second last round of Tuesday Mens Tennis was held last week. There was a lot of fantastic tennis as the finals approach.
Korda had a 5 sets to 1 win over Safin. Korda’s Jack Bassett and Will Cooper both were undefeated, and they were supported by Mick Ibbott and Troy Seddon with 2 wins. Safin tried hard and their set winner was the combination of Matt McLachlan and James Loughnan.
Nadal and Sampras had the same scoreline with Nadal victorious 5 sets to 1. Sampras started the night well with Andrew Beggs and Macca White winning the first set before Nadal won the rest. For Nadal Brett White and Brad Sneddon won all of their matches and Thomas Loughnan and Andrew Brew had 2 wins.
Agassi and Johansson had many close sets including 2 tiebreakers before Agassi secured a win 4 sets to 1. John Brunner was best on court winning all of his sets and his teammates Cliff Nyugen and Jamie Hicks each won 2. For Johannsson Scott Jaques had 2 wins.
Wawrinka had a strong 5 sets to 1 win over Becker. Tom McKimmie and Trent Head were both undefeated whilst Jason Cox and Andrew Banks lost only one set. Becker tried hard all night and were rewarded with a win to Noel Thomas and Alex Lovel in the last match of the evening.
Courier also won 5 sets to 1 over Federer. Ash Wheaton and Simon Brett Lawrence both won all of their matches and Grant Lewis and Dave Porter had 2 victories. Peter Thomas and John Wright won Federer’s set.
The match of the night was between the two top teams Djokovic and Lendl. At the end of the night, it was 3 sets all with Djokovic claiming the night by a single game 27-26. Lendl’s Jason Bassett won all three sets for the night whilst for Djokovic Daryl Bennett, Lee Fraser and Pat Mansfield each won 2 sets.
The ladder is extremely tight with one round left. Agassi 69, Djokovic 68, Lendl 66, Wawrinka 59, Wilander 56, Korda 55, Nadal 51, Safin 50, Federer 47, Sampras 45, Courier 35, Johansson 33, Becker 23.
Goulburn Murray Association
The final round of the Goulburn Murray was played on the weekend. With other commitments with some of our Yarrawonga players, Grant Chappell was the only one to take the court for Numurkah. Grant had an excellent day winning all of his matches. Numurkah had a strong win over their opponents. This win secured second place by a very narrow margin.
This will mean Grant Chappell and Jack Bassett will be involved in the Division 1 Semi Final against the very strong Rich River combination. If they win, they will be into the Grand Final and a loss will see them back up on Sunday in the Preliminary Final. In Division 2 Liam Williams and Lucy Bassett face a similar scenario against Shepparton. Good luck to all of these players.
Senior Club Championships
The Senior Club Championships will be held on Sunday March 20th. The events on the day involve singles and doubles. Age groups are Open, 18/U and veterans (35 plus). Action will start at 9am. All club members are encouraged to play. Entry sheets are in the clubrooms.
Yarrawonga Chronicle