By Bronwyn Hastings

Central Wimmera Tennis Association’s pennant season has two rounds remaining before finals, yet the first two semi-finals rounds are set.

First and second-placed Horsham Lawn and Central Park will play off in the first semi-final, while St Michaels and Drung South will play in the second, regardless of the outcomes of the next two rounds.

Kalkee will not be able to make up the points required to gain a finals berth.

Saturday’s matches saw a somewhat one-sided match between Central Park and Kalkee, with 12 of the available 14 sets going Central Park’s way.

Matt Jones won all his games for Central Park; he paired with Brendan Nitschke to defeat Jeff Friberg and Aiden Richardson 8-4, defeated Friberg and Ryan Fischer 8-1 with Shaun Alexander, but barely came out in front in his singles, defeating Friberg in a tiebreak.

Alexander and Nitschke defeated Richardson and Fischer, winning all their games; Willow Sainsbury and Adele Joseph achieved the same results in their respective singles matches against Meaghan Pohlner and Anna Exell. 

Sainsbury and Sienna Nitschke faced Pohlner and Charlie Friberg, which ended in an 8-1 result, the same outcome as Nitschke’s pairing with Joseph against Exell and Charlie Friberg. 

Sainsbury paired with Tara McIntyre to defeat Pohlner and Debbie Lawson 8-2, while Kalkee’s Exell and Lawson attempted to turn the tables on Joseph and McIntyre, falling short with an 8-4 finish.

Central Park’s Reece Harman and Alexander were lucky to get ahead of Jordan Friberg and Fischer, 8-4, with Friberg beating Harman 8-5 in the singles, and pairing with Richardson to defeat Harman and Brendan Nitschke 8-5 in the doubles – Kalkee’s only two set wins for the day.

Ladder third St Michaels put up a good fight against first-placed Horsham Lawn at home on Saturday, although were ultimately defeated, eight sets to six.

Horsham Lawn’s Gemma Walker had a great day out; she paired well with Cherie Wood – winning against Mia Rees and Kassie Peachey in a tiebreak – and Ella Thompson against mother-daughter duo Karen and Mia Rees, and won her singles eight-six against Mia Rees.

Thompson partnered with sister Tahlia to defeat Kate-Lyn Perkin, on a day pass from Drung South, and Karen Rees 8-5. 

The Thompsons paired well with Cherie Wood in their respective doubles; Wood and Tahlia defeated Perkin and Kassie Peachey 8-6, while Wood and Ella defeated Peachey and Karen Rees 8-3. 

However, Tahlia was not strong enough in her singles, St Michaels’ Perkin defeating her 8-5.

St Michaels’ Peter Hayes found a winning combination with Nick Robertson, coming out on top against Graeme Wood and Andrew Dorman 8-6. Hayes’s pairing with Harrison Daniell, on a day pass from Drung South, also proved too strong for D’Artagnan Walls and Wood.

Daniell continued his winning streak against Walls in the singles, 8-4, and with Robertson to defeat Walls and Dorman. 

St Michaels’ Eli Bailey outscored Lachlan Punchard 8-5 in their singles match, but Bailey’s pairing with Hayes against Punchard and Wood, and with Robertson against Punchard and Dorman, did not bring success.

Next week, Horsham Lawn will host Drung South, while St Michaels will travel to Kalkee. 

Central Park has the bye. 

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