Feel the heat

Officer's Max Tweedale in last week's WGTA match against Maryknoll. 95012 Picture: JARROD POTTER

WEST GIPPSLAND TENNIS ASSOCIATION
HOT shots and aces will need to be in top form this weekend, as the West Gippsland Tennis Association moves into its summer junior finals.
SECTION 1
Lang Lang emphatically finished the season with a 6-36 to 0-18 whitewash of Tynong. Lang Lang’s four Harry Bencraft, Hayley Wildes, Lachlan Barwick and Stewart Bissett didn’t concede a single rubber to Tynong, despite the best efforts of Ryan Archer, Felice Zaccarri and Phillip Bezzina. Tynong managed to hold serve on a number of occasions to make the going tough for Lang Lang, but in the end, the visitors clinched their second-place rank heading into this weekend’s finals. Maryknoll had the bye and Nar Nar Goon versus Officer results were unavailable at time of publication. If positions remain as is after final scores have be inputted, Officer will proceed to the grand final while Lang Lang will face Maryknoll in a semi-final.
SECTION 2
Top seeds Catani Navy and Bunyip Blue both claimed five-set wins over Maryknoll and Catani White respectively. Catani Navy defeated Maryknoll 5-32 to 1-22, with Brad Russell leading the way – undefeated in his three matches. Maryknoll’s Max Height claimed his side’s only victory, a 6-2 win over Brayden Hall.
Bunyip Blue had a similarly great win over Catani White, as the Gattis – Isaac and Joel – and Matthew Ahrens swept the remaining matches. Daniel Kortholt fought the hardest for Catani White and claimed a 7-6 tiebreak win over Isaac Gatti. Bunyip White had the bye.
Catani Navy will head in as the number one seed, straight into the grand final, while Bunyip Blue and Maryknoll will vie in the semi final.
SECTION 3
In a semi-final preview, Tynong came from behind to knock off Lang Lang 3-27 to 3-21. Trailing going into the last rubber 2-21 to 3-21, only a win would do for Tynong, which came off the racquets of Thomas Bezzina and Joseph Garner, smashing home a 6-1 win against Rebecca Kay and Paul Bencraft. Bencraft and Kay had earlier success, knocking in wins in the doubles with team mate Brent Miller. Bunyip had a comfortable 4-29 to 2-21 success over Maryknoll Blue, despite the best efforts of Jacob Van Boxtel to push his side to a two-to-one rubber lead early in the round. Van Boxtel claimed a 6-2 win in the doubles with Andee Nooy before accounting for Liam Lenders 6-3 in the third rubber. From there the wheels fell off for Maryknoll as Joshua Ahrens steadied the ship – scoring two of the three wins in the fourth rubber doubles with Kieran Lenders, before claiming the match-winning fifth fixture against Nooy 6-1. Scores for Tooradin versus Maryknoll Red were unavailable at the time of publication. The win will slightly derail Maryknoll Blue’s grand final preparations, as Tynong and Lang Lang will square off again for a chance to play in the last match of the year.
SECTION 4
Lang Lang Black swept aside Tynong Gold 5-33 to 1-12 to advance into the grand final, with Paige Barwick taking two-from-two across the match. Sam Mascadri and Jake Cousins backed up for consecutive fifth and sixth rubber matches to take 6-4 and 6-0 wins. Tynong’s solitary win came off the strings of Gabriel Zaccari and Annabel Morris in a 6-3 win over Cousins/Mascadri. Tynong Green had a similar 5-34 to 1-17 rout of Bunyip as the final doubles match fell 7-5 the way of Vincent Phillips and Mathias Hurst. The pairing of Tori Price and Kian Willis picked up the only win for Bunyip – a 6-3 win over Gerard Zaccari and Phillips. Lang Lang Gold had the bye. Lang Lang Black will have a week off while the Tynongs – Green and Gold – face off for the right to fight in the final.
SECTION 5
Kooweerup Red squeaked home with a 3-32 to 3-30 tiny victory over Tynong Green – with a last rubber 6-3 victory from doubles-pair Anton Gigliotti and Angus Sheppard proving pivotal. Catani steamrolled Nar Nar Goon 6-36 to 0-4. Results for Lang Lang Black versus Maryknoll were unavailable at time of publication and Kooweerup Blue and Lang Lang Gold was declared a draw. Catani will take on the winner of Tynong Green versus Kooweerup Red for the championship.
SECTION 6
Yannathan ended Bunyip Blue’s season with a 6-36 to 0-15 win. Early efforts from Bunyip Blue were strong – Laura Cheese Wright and Mackenzie Warren took three games out of Beau Fielder and Benjamin Coleman and Ciaran Newton/Jordan Shipway went down swinging in a 4-6 loss to Alisha Fielder and Tom Gadsen. It caps off an undefeated year for Yannathan, with only two draws the only blights against their record and a whopping 354.74 per cent. Tynong Gold earned its spot in the finals with a 4-35 to 2-23 win against Bunyip White. Thomas A Smith and Asher Norlying won 7-5 against Tynong’s Celeb Phillips and Nathaniel Hurst, as did David Ahrens and Smith in a 7-6 tiebreak third rubber. From there it was all one way for Tynong – picking up the last three games. Kooweerup comfortably defeated Tynong Green 6-37 to 0-10. The best match was the first as Cian O’Riordan and Gerard Giacco were forced to seven games against the Murphys – Thomas and Zoe – in a 7-5 match. It was all one-way sailing after that as Kooweerup didn’t miss a beat to knock in five more victories. Yannathan’s impressive season has earned it a weekend off, to face either Kooweerup or Tynong Gold – with the latter only scraping into the finals by percentage above Bunyip Blue.
SENIOR TENNIS
In Section 1, Drouin Gold will face Drouin Green, for a chance to take on Trafalgar in the grand final, while in Section 2, it will be another all Drouin affair as second ranked Gold takes on Maroon to face off against Lang lang.
MID-WEEK LADIES
Bunyip Orange 5 sets 46 games d Bunyip Purple 1 set 32 games. Maryknoll Blue 5 sets 40 games d Bayles 1 set 27 games. Tynong 5 sets 43 games d Maryknoll Red 1 set 26 games. Nar Nar Goon White 4 sets 38 games d Maryknoll White 2 sets 35 games. Nar Nar Goon Blue bye.
Ladder Positions are; Nar Nar Goon Blue 29, Maryknoll Blue 28, Nar Nar Goon White 23, Bunyip Orange 19, Tynong 19, Maryknoll White 14, Bayles 13, Maryknoll Red 10, Bunyip Purple 5.