13 October 2014 | Tennis Tasmania

After a jam packed two weeks boasting a Silver, Gold and Bronze junior ranking events and Gold $7,500 Australian Money tournament the Swing into Spring series is officially in the books!

The ‘swing’ started off in Launceston where the Bell Bay Aluminium junior championships kicked off the premier level of events. For the first time in recent time the Pardey Shield was also being run concurrently with the junior championships to add flavor to an already popular event. After all the dust settled it was Daniel Groom claiming the boys honour and Sanyukta Singh claiming the girls. Singh was able to claim her first Pardey Shield after Janaya Smith had a strangle hold on the shield for four straight victories. Singh was impressive on her dispatch of Hannah Edgell dropping only a game en-route to the title. Groom on the other hand claimed a second Pardey Sheld title shield which dates back to 1902 and includes the likes of Richard Fromberg. Relatively untested, Groom fought back after dropping the first set in the final against giant killer Ben Cawston. Needing a tie break to determine the winner Groom was able to eke out a hard fought three set triumph.

To view all Bell Bay Aluminium results please click here.

The second stop on the calendar was the world class Burnie Tennis Club where the prestigious Medibank Tasmanian State Championships Gold JT was being hosted. After two and a half days of sparkling weather a mightily downpour submerged on the city of Burnie with all finals completed as scheduled on the final days play. With some outstanding tennis on display and some fantastic media coverage from the local paper the match of the tournament came down to the 12/u girls singles final. Falling behind an early set 12 year old Charlotte Ingram never stopped fighting. Even as she faced multiple match points against her in a tense second set tie-break Ingram was able to fight through a remarkable three set win over Victorian Amy Stevens. For Ingram it was sweet revenge after dropping a previous close encounter to Stevens in Launceston. On the boys side Samuel Whitehead was looking untouchable in the 12/u events claiming two singles and doubles titles which will no doubt have his ranking set to skyrocket.

To view all Medibank Tasmanian State Championships please click here.

The third and final event to close the curtain on the ‘Spring Swing’ was set for the picturesque Domain Tennis Centre to host the Hobart Open Gold AMT/Bronze JT. With $7,500 in prize money the tournament attracted players from all over the country with a large mainland flavor throughout. In the highlight of the tournament crowd favorite and coach James Bolzonello pulled off the upset of the tournament in defeating top seeded Trent Cobb 7-5 7-6. In a tense second set Bolzonello used the energy from his coaching pupils to carry him over the line stating “the crowd was amazing, there was 50-100 kids and parents cheering and yelling every point. The energy was outstanding.” Although falling at his next hurdle in the semi-finals Bolzonello was buoyed by his results. On the women’s side it was top seeded and ranked Tasmanian Catherine Krueger who was pushed all the way against Vanessa Dobson from Hobart. Krueger who also trains with Dobson was forced to dig deep after dropping a second set tie-break. It was all Krueger in the deciding set using her cannon of a serve to carry her to victory.

To view all Hobart Open results please click here.

After three of the highest quality tournaments on the Tasmanian calendar we now turn our attention to the Tasmanian Tennis League which is set to take Tasmanian tennis by storm.

Thanks to all players and parents for supporting the tournaments here in Tassie and a big thank you to all organizers, officials and volunteers for making these events such a big success.