Wimmera tennis teams keen to go
Wimmera tennis players are ready to get back on court at the weekend after a Christmas-new year break in competition.
Clubs from all grades will meet for round eight of Central Wimmera Tennis Association competition on Saturday, with six rounds of the 202122 home-and-away season remaining.
Eyes will be on a top-of-the-table clash between pennant sides Horsham Lawn and St Michaels that will hand the victor top-spot heading into the second half of the season.
Horsham Lawn and St Michaels are locked on six wins each, with Horsham Lawn holding a significant set-percentage ladder advantage, meaning St Michaels will need to secure a win at home this weekend to claim top spot.
Fourth-placed Drung South Purple will be hoping to bridge the gap to third-placed Kalkee with a win at Drung.
The two bottom-placed teams, Central Park and Drung South Orange, will fight it out at Central Park in Horsham, with the loser at the weekend claiming last-place honours heading into round nine.
In A Special, second-placed Natimuk has a chance to go level on points at the top of the ladder with a win over ninth-placed Kalkee, hoping for an upset win from St Michaels in its match against top-placed Horsham Lawn Gillespie.
The jostling for top-four spots in A Grade is heating up, as Haven and Horsham Lawn O’connor stretch their lead at the top of the ladder, leaving a tight battle for the remaining finals spots.
In B Special, Haven will be hoping for an upset against first-placed Laharum to keep it in contention for a top-two finish.
Association president Jeremy Quast said the season was passing by quickly and teams were excited there had been one more round scheduled this season than usual.
“We started a week early, to get an extra round in this week,” he said.
“Everyone just cannot believe how fast the season has gone, so it is nice to make this second half of play as long as possible.”
Mr Quast said while there were big match-ups scheduled in pennant, the lead up to finals was starting to heat up right across the grades.
“In A Special and A Grade, there are four or five teams that could take the title, whereas in B Special, all teams will meet each other in the finals,” he said.
Mr Quast said there would also be a simplified finals structure this season.
First will play fourth, while second will play third, with the winners of those two games heading straight into the grand final.
“It will be a big weekend of tennis heading towards finals,” Mr Quast said.
“I am especially looking forward to seeing both brilliant Mcdonald girls, Steffi and Jess, lining up together again at St Michaels.”