Presidents grade tennis finals contested
Stu Campbell was part of the winning division one team. Photos Peter Jones.
On Tuesday evening, eight teams from across four grades gathered at Marlborough tennis HQ to contest the four WK+ Presidents Grade titles up for grabs.
Teams from the Renwick and Rapaura clubs made up the finalists, Renwick providing five teams across the grades, Rapaura three.
While all matches were well contested, the result in two divisions went right to the wire.
In division one, Rapaura Masters took on Renwick Racketeers and eventually came out on top on a countback of games (31-23) after the matches were level at 2-2.
At the halfway point Renwick had a firm hold on proceedings. Anna Simpson and Mieko Kimura scored a 9-5 win over Donna Clark and Deb Schollum in the women’s double, while Stephen Dempster and Brad Stebbing prevailed 9-8 over Stu Campbell and Jared Bell in the men’s double.
However, roles were well and truly reversed in the mixed, Campbell and Clark getting up to down Kimura and Dempster 9-4, then Bell and Schollum making short work of Simpson and Stebbing to win 9-1 and wrap up the crown.
The other close encounter came in division four.
The doubles were shared. Wendy Trolove and Charlotte Hill, playing for the eventual victors, Renwick Ball Busters, won their match over Jen Insley and Vanessa Burrows, then team mates Seb Wilson and Glenn Smith went down to Nigel Fluit and Alan Naysmith, from Rapaura Shiraz.
It all came down to the mixed. Trolove and Smith won 9-5 while Naysmith and Burrows prevailed 9-6, sending the match into games countback, Renwick edging out their rivals 30-26.
Both the other finals were decided 4-0.
In division two Renwick Miss Hits underlined their dominance by winning all four matches against clubmates Renwick Rookies, although a couple of the encounters were close. Miss Hits comprised Anna Knight, Ash McLean, Hayden Swain and Travis Higgins. Their opponents were Monique Godsiff, Leigh Andrews, Stephen Bryant and Tony Andrews.
The division three final was fought out between victors Renwick Raptors and Rapaura Hakinakina. Cindy Thom, Carmel Horsley, Don McKay and Dave Murray made up the winning combination, Jodie Lawson, Kelly Ogilvy, Corey Fransen and Mike Brew the runners-up.
