The 97th Annual Benalla Lawn Tennis Club tournament was held from January 2 to 4 with more than 150 players enjoying playing on the 20 manicured lawn tennis courts.
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Sincere thanks and appreciation goes to Adrian Pantling, club curator, who did a magnificent job in preparing the courts.
Club president Mark McDonald thanked tournament director Vince Branigan and tournament referee Dave O’Donoghue for their running of the tournament, and a huge thank-you to tournament secretary Wendy McDonald for her outstanding efforts in administration of the tournament ensuring the tournament was a great success.
Mark also wished to thank the club’s committee, members and helpers who assisted in the weeks leading up to and especially over the three days of the tournament.
Mark also wished to sincerely thank Wendy Maxwell and Claire Sharp for their co-ordination and running of the kitchen over the three days with all the players and visitors enjoying the delicious food on offer.
The tournament attracted a record field in the open singles with eight ladies and 20 men competing for the titles.
Unfortunately with the heavy rain on Monday this forced all singles graded matches to be moved to Wednesday resulting in a number of players being unavailable.
The club wishes to thank all players who were able to stay on until Wednesday to finalise the singles results. In the ladies final the winner was Savannah James over Simone Dunker 8-3; the final was fiercely contested with long baseline rallies and close games before Savannah finally prevailed.
Both ladies are to be congratulated for the level of tennis played and great sportsmanship on display.
The men’s final winner was Joel Compagnino over Stuart McCurdy 8-4.
Joel got off to a great start and although Stuart rallied late Joel was too strong and played a very consistent base-line game with some great passing shots from the back of the court.
Ladies A and B-grade combined singles winner was Mandy Mackey over Clair Lucas-Gear 8-7 in a closely fought final.
Men’s A-grade singles winner was James Caroli over Bede Redfern 8-6 in a high-quality match.
Men’s B-grade pool winner was Adam Wight with 32 games with runner-up Robert Datsun with 30 games won.
The men’s C-grade final was played between two locals and the winner was Tyler McGregor over Patrick Neilson 8-1 with both boys to be promoted to B-Grade in 2024.
The mixed doubles A-grade winners were Tom McGrath and Kelly Bucewicz 8/2 over Mihai Dumitru and Savannah James, in B-Grade winners were Josh Bernier and Laura McDonald 8/7 over Stuart and Monique McEwan and C-grade winners were Robert Datsun and Shelley Stretton 8/4 over Moglonemby legends John and Mary Kelly.
D-grade pool winners were locals Sam Smith-Robinson and Juliette Oddoux with 26 games won over Ian Robson and Rosamaria DiLorio with 24 games won.
The graded doubles winners in A-grade men’s were John Brunner and Phil Peck 8/3 over David Lo and Andrew Caldwell, B-grade winners were Josh Bernier and Henry Russell 8/6 over Ben Tole and James Mitchell and C-grade winners were Wil Chong and Kieran Moon 8/0 over Don Gravina and Swanpool legend Vince Branigan.
Men’s veterans doubles pool winners were Jim Long and Paul Henshall with 24 games over runners-up Len Little and David Maple with 21 games won.
Ladies A-grade doubles winners were Grace Thomas and Savannah James 8/1 over Robyn and Abbie Allen. B-grade double pool winners were Sue Gravina and Marg Clode with 32 games won over Sue Piper and Anne Smith with 29 games won.
C-grade pool winners were Keira Simpson and Holly Stute with 24 games won over runners-up Angela Bunting and Anne Woolley with 23 games won.
The Benalla Lawn Tennis Club would like to thank all players who competed in 2023 and look forward to hosting the 98th annual tournament from January 1 to 3 next year.
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