Two gold for Australia at Oceania Championships
Thirty-five-year-old Adam Alessandrini (Joslin, South Australia) has defeated Cyrille Jacobe from Vanuatu to win the open men’s singles final at the 2012 Oceania Championships in Noumea.
Melbourne, 12 September 2012 | tennis.com.au
Thirty-five-year-old Adam Alessandrini (Joslin, South Australia) has defeated Cyrille Jacobe from Vanuatu to win the open men’s singles final at the 2012 Oceania Championships in Noumea.
Alessandrini’s 6-1 7-6 win propelled Australia’s medal tally to two gold, three silver and one bronze.
In the quarterfinal Alessandrini disposed of the defending champion Nicholas N’Godrella of New Caledonia then defeated fellow Australian Troy Hargreaves (Ellenbrook, WA) in their semifinals meeting.
Number 1 ranked Australian 40+ senior, Brett Patten (Kensington WA), had to forfeit his semifinal at a set all against Jacobe after sustaining an arm injury.
In other results, Patten and Alessandrini won gold in the men’s doubles competition defeating fellow countrymen Hargreaves and Bruce Osborne (Kew, Vic). Australia also secured silver in the men’s and women’s team divisions.
The men’s team was made-up of Patten, Hargreaves and Alessandrini and the women’s side was comprised of Kelly Bisinella (Lysterfield, Vic), Natasha Kersten (Gold Coast, Qld) and Karen Kleverlaan (Cranbourne, Vic).
Australia also captured a bronze medal, which was shared between Patten and Hargreaves after losing their singles semifinals match.
The Oceania Tennis Championships are held bi-annually – in years when there is no Pacific Games.
The Championships feature a teams’ competition for men and women as well as an individual competition.
Nations that competed this year included Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.