Surf Coast tennis championships provide quality play

SOME hot weather over the weekend was not enough to dampen the spirits of the Surf Coast’s tennis stars from competing in their annual Club Championships.

Two days of action saw junior and senior players from Torquay, Jan Juc and Bellbrae vying for a chance to call themselves Surf Coast Tennis Club (SCTC) champions, during what was fun and entertaining day of club-friendly competition.

Singles competition was staged on Saturday with the seniors competing at Torquay and the juniors at Jan Juc, meanwhile Sundays saw the doubles hit the courts, the finals shortly after and presentations following that to conclude the two-day tournament.
“It was really hot on the Saturday and that was a bit tough on some of the competitors,” SCTC secretary Kim Lawless-Pyne said.

“It was a fantastic weekend on the whole, we had umbrellas set up for the event and there was a fantastic atmosphere.

“The quality of the tennis was amazing and the finals involving the men and women displayed quality tennis.”

According to Ms Lawless-Pyne, the presentations were a lovely way to conclude the club championships to round out another awesome championship event.

Lou Pahlenberg took out an exhilarating singles final over Bronwyn Mifsud winning the tiebreak set 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.

In the men’s, Michael Hili took home a dominant straight sets win over Johane Stephenson 6-4,6-3.

Doubles action saw Mifsud get in the winner’s column alongside partner Lyn Mellsop, defeating Kim Lawless-Pyne and Dianne Schultz.

The same could also be said for Stephenson, who defeated Hili and Jack Tolley next to his partner in Sylvester Cafiso.

“The annual event, despite being at the start of the year, feels like an end of year gather, I guess you could say,” Ms Lawless-Pyne said.

“It brings people together and they all sit down and chat, creating for a wonderful atmosphere.”