{"id":16556,"date":"2017-01-07T20:28:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T09:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/?p=16556"},"modified":"2017-01-07T20:28:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T09:28:26","slug":"defending-champions-through-to-finals-at-swan-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/news\/2017\/01\/07\/defending-champions-through-to-finals-at-swan-hill","title":{"rendered":"Defending champions through to finals at Swan Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play continued on Saturday at the 61st<\/sup> Inter-Regional Country Championships with another scorching day in the state\u2019s north west.<\/p>\n

As conditions reached 38 degrees in Swan Hill, Tournament Referee Bob Kane and Tournament Director Andrew Reynolds made the decision to enact the extreme heat policy and suspend play until temperatures dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayer welfare is always our number one priority and so we were monitoring the temperature all morning. We started play at 7.30am this morning but by lunchtime the heat had climbed to 38 degrees and so we made the decision to call play off for the majority of the afternoon,\u201d said Reynolds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe break allowed players and parent\u2019s ample opportunity to rest and recover before play resumed at 5pm and continued into the twilight.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s open singles, defending champion Matthew Hicks (Barwon) is through to the final, after getting the better of Loddon Campaspe\u2019s Isaac Watson 6-3 6-2.<\/p>\n

Hicks will meet South West\u2019s Matthew Moloney after he toppled 2015 runner up Aidan Fitzgerald (East Gippsland) 7-6(5)7-6(5).<\/p>\n

In the open women\u2019s singles, defending champion Eliza Long (Loddon Campaspe) will face Hope Curtis-McDonald (Goulburn) in the Final on Sunday. Long got the better of Nicole Mullen (Barwon) 6-1 6-1 in the semi-final while Hope was too strong for Sophie Vickers 6-2 6-4 (East Gippsland).<\/p>\n

In the 12\/u girls event, 10-year-old Isabella Crossman (Loddon Campaspe) will meet Alicia Dalla Santa (Nothern Mallee) while in the boys competition, Jeremy O\u2019Brien (Goulburn) will take on Toby Galbraith (Nothern Mallee).<\/p>\n

At the other end of the draw, the 50+ men\u2019s competition, David Kos (Barwon) will face John Evans (Goulburn) in the final. The women\u2019s 50+ event will see Fiona Walker (Barwon) up against Jill Pavia (Barwon).<\/p>\n

In the race\u00a0for overall country championship honours, Goulburn, Loddon Campaspe, Barwon and Mornington Peninsula are locked in a tight battle for top spot leading into the final day of play.<\/p>\n

Sunday will see all the singles, doubles and mixed doubles finals. Play will commence at 7.30am.<\/p>\n