WIMMERA has competed bravely at the Inter-regional Country Victoria Championships in Wodonga over the weekend.
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26 Wimmera tennis players travelled to the state’s border for the event, battling it out against the state’s best tennis players. The team finished sixth overall for the third year in a row with 136 points.
Goulburn took out the tournament with 263 points for the second year running, with Barwon finishing second on 242 points.
Players competed in age groups from 12 and under to 50 and over, with plenty of exciting tennis on display across the three-day tournament.
The heat made things harder for the players, with the temperature reaching more than 40 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday.
A highlight for Wimmera was Logan Casey and Connor Chivell finishing runners-up in the under-12s boy’s doubles competition. They finished top of their group before losing to a stronger Goulburn side in the final.
Dylan Emmerson also fought strongly for Wimmera in the under-25s men’s singles to make it to the semi-finals.
The highlight for Emmerson was an upset victory in round two, defeating Aadyn Nicholas Sleep-Dalton, the third seed from Barwon. Emmerson then accounted for Patrick Deery in the quarter finals to earn a spot in the semi-finals.
He came up against second seed James Curtis-McDonald, who proved too strong for Emmerson as his run came to an end.
In other matches, top seed Sophie De Wit competed well in the under-25s women’s singles but fell short of making the final. De Wit made the semi-finals before losing to third seed Isobel Gribben from Goulburn.
Wimmera team manager Marita Punchard said the team competed well and had an enjoyable weekend.
“The whole team had an awesome weekend. We came in sixth again, which is a fantastic effort considering we didn’t have a full team this year,” she said.
“The Tennis Victoria team managed the whole event really well.”
Ms Punchard said praise had to go to the families who drove many of the juniors more than five hours to Wodonga.
“A big thank-you to the parents who helped take the juniors to the tournament – it was a long drive to Wodonga and it was great to have so many families there,” she said.
Tournament director Andrew Reynolds said the event went well and he was already looking forward to next year’s tournament in Bendigo.
“We could not be happier with the running of the 2018 Inter-regional Country Championships despite the challenges with the extreme weather and tight schedules,” he said.