Tennis: Lake juniors finish on a high

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE: West Gambier’s A Grade boys team of Noah Lang (front left), Ethan Schultz, Cooper Hodge, Brady Cook and Josh DeDonatis finished the 2017-18 Lakes Junior Tennis season with a convincing six-set win over Mil Lel in last Friday’s grand final to claim the Hack Wilkins Shield. They are joined by Ashley Wilkins (back left).

AFTER another successful season, the Lakes Junior Tennis matches came to a conclusion when its grand finals were played over the weekend.

With all games played at Olympic Park in front of large crowds, Friday night saw the A and B Grade boys and girls battle for their respective premierships under lights in good conditions.

This was followed by the C, D and E boys and girls finals on Saturday morning, in warm and windy conditions.

All matches were completed with some close results in many clashes.

In the A Grade competition, West Gambier’s boy’s team of Noah Lang, Ethan Schultz, Cooper Hodge, Brady Cook and Josh DeDonatis took out the honours with a convincing 6-36 to 0-18 win over Centrals.

It was a closer affair in the girl’s A Grade final, as Reidy Park’s team of Emily Edwards, Laura McIntyre, Ruby Coote, plus Tully and Abby McShane claimed a four-set to two victory over West Gambier.

Also on Friday night, the B Grade matches saw Glencoe Gold with a solid win over Mil Lel in the boys’ final, while for the girls Reidy Park Royal added another 2017-18 premiership to its club’s tally when it defeated West Gambier.

Another commendable effort came from the Mil Lel Tennis Club, which of its eight junior teams, six made finals, with five making the grand final.

Of these, four teams took home the premiership, with both the boys and girls C and E Grade teams victorious, while the B Grade boys finished runners-up, as did the F Grade White team.

At the conclusion of each final, presentations were held to award the winners and runners-up with their respective shields and ribbons.

Included in these awards, were the winners and runners-up of the singles, doubles and mixed doubles tournaments, along with the representative team members.

At the conclusion of the presentations, Mount Schank Tennis Club was announced as the winner of the Tournament Cup for the highest percentage of representation at Lakes Junior Tennis tournaments this season.

All players will now look forward to the 2018-19 season.

GIRL POWER: Reidy Park’s A Grade girls team of Tully McShane (back left), Ruby Coote, Abbey McShane, Laura McIntyre (front left) and Emily Edwards took home the Wayne Kilpatrick Shield after they defeated West Gambier in last Friday night’s grand final at Olympic Park.