Tennis – Rotokare take Soffe Cup title
Rotokare are this season’s Soffe Cup champions, after they rolled through a determined but underpowered Okaiawa.
For Okaiawa to snatch the title from the grasp of a formidable Rotokare side, they needed the bounce of the ball to fall their way.
Instead, Covid-19 struck before a point was played, ruling out several regular Okaiawa players, while the Rotokare team remained intact.
It was a tough break for the small club playing in their first Soffe Cup final.
With a good crowd assembling and a tense finals atmosphere on court several players got off to nervy starts before settling into their work.
In the marquee men’s singles match, between Okaiawa’s Hamish Mead and Rotokare’s Will Roberts, both players looked a little tight early.
After closing out the first set 6-4, Roberts looked relatively comfortable in the second accelerating away to win it 6-1.
The top women’s match was a longer battle and treated spectators to an intriguing contrast in game style.
Rotokare’s Karen Cranston brought her rock solid, hard striking game as expected.
But Jorja Symes was up for the Cranston challenge, running hard and unleashing some impressive groundstrokes that often found a way through.
Cranston closed out the first set
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6-4 before working her way to a hard- earned victory 6-2 in the second.
In the No 2 singles, Rotokare’s Emma Roberts was made to work in the first set against Abby Ross before taking it 6-3.
Roberts who is in good form and playing consistently did not let this chance slip, winning the second set 6-0.
Blair Crowley took another match for the home side with a comfortable win 6-1, 6-1 over Grant Morris.
The two remaining women’s singles matches produced further drama and Okaiawa’s only win.
In the No 3 match, Rotokare’s Chantelle Peters took on Ruby McIntyre. The more experienced and higher-ranked Peters looked to have the match under control after taking the first set 6-1, but with clean ball striking and positive play McIntyre fought back into contention taking the second 6-2.
As the match progressed, it turned into an ill-tempered encounter from Peters’ end, with both line calls and scoring called into question.
The tennis itself was nip and tuck in the third, with both players punctuating their play with clean strikes and unforced errors as scoreboard pressure mounted but it was the teenaged McIntyre who found a way to win 7-5.
In the No 4 women’s match, Rotokare’s Tania Atkinson played
Deb Munro, who has been a solid player for Okaiawa this season.
There was little to separate the pair who split 6-4 the first two sets before Atkinson finished stronger in the third, capping off her successful season with a 6-4 victory.
The bottom two men’s matches were more straightforward, with Rotokare’s Luke De Villiers putting on an impressive display in the first set against Brad Dowdle, taking it 6-0.
To Dowdle’s credit he did not take a backward step – coming back strong in the second set and using his reach at the net to good effect before the consistent De Villiers was able to close it out 6-3.
It was a good effort from Dowdle, in the only Soffe Cup match he has played this year after featuring in lower grades.
In the final singles match, Rotokare’s Luis Silva accounted for Andrew Baylis 6-1, 6-2.
Okaiawa fought hard in the doubles taking Rotokare to super tiebreakers in both women’s games before Rotokare claimed them.
Both men’s doubles also featured tight first sets before the Rotokare pairings pulled away to deserved wins.
With the tie already decided 11-1 no combines were played and both teams were left to reflect on a successful season.