{"id":42727,"date":"2025-08-26T15:56:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T05:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/?p=42727"},"modified":"2025-08-26T15:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T05:57:10","slug":"finals-fever-kooyong-and-fawkner-ready-for-mens-state-grade-decider-player-profiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/news\/2025\/08\/26\/finals-fever-kooyong-and-fawkner-ready-for-mens-state-grade-decider-player-profiles","title":{"rendered":"Finals Fever Kooyong and Fawkner Ready for Men\u2019s State Grade Decider – Team Profiles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club vs Fawkner Tennis Club<\/strong>
Saturday August 30 \u2013 Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2025 Tennis Victoria Men\u2019s State Grade Grand Final promises to be a thrilling clash of talent, experience, and club pride. This Saturday, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club will host the showdown between ladder leaders Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club\u00a0and close challengers Fawkner Tennis Club, two of Victoria\u2019s strongest men\u2019s squads.<\/p>\n

Both teams have earned their place on the big stage with dominant seasons and strong semi-final wins. Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club secured a 4\u20132\u201355 victory over MCC Glen Iris Valley Tennis Club to book their home final, while Fawkner Tennis Club overcame North Ringwood Tennis Club 3\u20137\u201354 in their semi-final. With just a single point separating the top two sides on the ladder, the final is set to be a tightly contested, high-quality encounter.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the final, Tennis Victoria has been showcasing some of the State Grade stars. You can meet the players here,<\/a>\u00a0and take a look back at the latest update on the season at the First Nations Round here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club<\/h2>\n

Season Snapshot<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • \n

    Ladder Position:<\/strong> 1st (by 1 point)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Record:<\/strong> 9 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Semi-Final:<\/strong> Defeated MCC Glen Iris Valley TC 4\u20132\u201355<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Standout Performers:<\/strong> Luca Connaughton (75% win rate), David Hough (7\u20131 singles record, 2 draws)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Amor Jasika<\/strong>
    A former top-500 ITF singles player, Amor brings experience and consistency. In 2025, he posted a 2\u20131\u20131 record in pennant matches.<\/p>\n

    David Bidmeade<\/strong>
    With past ATP experience and multiple club doubles titles at Kooyong, David has been steady in 2025, going 4\u20130\u20132 across his matches. As the team captain, David commented on the experience saying the \u201cteam’s feeling great ahead of the final series. It’s great to have a home final for sure. Playing on our courts and in front of our fans, it’ll be really exciting and finals is what it’s all about. It’s when players are at their best, teams are at their strongest and everyone’s got to bring their best, so we’re really excited and hopefully we can get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

    David Hough<\/strong>
    A proven winner in community tournaments, David has been one of Kooyong\u2019s key singles performers, winning 7 of 12 matches with 2 draws.<\/p>\n

    Hugh Callaghan<\/strong>
    Adding depth to the squad, Hugh has a 2\u20132 record this season and brings competitive doubles experience to the team.<\/p>\n

    Luca Connaughton<\/strong>
    Kooyong\u2019s in-form singles player, Luca won 6 of 8 matches this season. His 2024 back-to-back singles victories at Tennis World Melbourne Park highlight his ability to perform under pressure.<\/p>\n

    Thomas Patton<\/strong>
    Thomas has combined strong singles and doubles performances this season, winning 7 of 10 matches. He also captured the Murtleford Lawn Tennis Club Easter Tournament in both singles and doubles in 2025.<\/p>\n

    Cooper White<\/strong>
    A rising star, Cooper has won multiple Open 3K events this year and posted a 3\u20131 record in the pennant season.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Fawkner Tennis Club<\/h2>\n

    Season Snapshot<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • \n

      Ladder Position:<\/strong> 2nd (1 point behind)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Record:<\/strong> 10 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Semi-Final:<\/strong> Defeated Nth Ringwood 3\u20137\u201354<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Standout Performers:<\/strong> Chanchai Sookton-Eng (83.33% win rate), Lucas Vuradin (85.71% win rate)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Chanchai Sookton-Eng<\/strong>
      The team\u2019s standout performer, Chanchai has been dominant all season, winning 10 of 13 matches. He is a past winner of multiple J125 events, including Swan Hill and Mildura. Chanchai highlighted his eagerness to win another State Grade Final saying “we’re gonna try and bring back that flag from 2023. It’s been a long, rocky season with injuries, but everyone’s super pumped for finals”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Daniel Jovanovski<\/strong>
      A rising junior with an ITF high of 99, Daniel contributed 2 wins in 4 matches this season.<\/p>\n

      John Giakoumakis<\/strong>
      John has been a doubles specialist and a crucial contributor to Fawkner\u2019s semi-final success, winning 5 of 6 matches.<\/p>\n

      Joshua Spaull<\/strong>
      Joshua posted 2\u20131\u20131 in his Pennant matches and has provided steady singles and doubles performances for the squad.<\/p>\n

      Long Nguyen<\/strong>
      With doubles titles at MCC Glen Iris and Rye in 2024, Long has been a reliable force this season, going 10\u20132\u20131 in 13 matches.<\/p>\n

      Lucas Vuradin<\/strong>
      Lucas has been almost flawless in singles this season, winning 6 of 7 matches, and is key to Fawkner\u2019s challenge in the final.<\/p>\n

      Marlino Pascual<\/strong>
      An unbeaten force in 2025, Marlino posted 5 wins and 1 draw across his matches, providing consistency in doubles.<\/p>\n

      Stephen Hoh<\/strong>
      Stephen has delivered solid performances with a 6\u20132 record in 8 matches, adding depth to the Fawkner line-up.<\/p>\n

      Grand Final<\/h3>\n

      Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club enter the final in a strong position, with momentum from a strong run to end the season and the advantage of a home final. Luca Connaughton and David Hough will be central to their bid for the title, supported by experienced campaigners Patton, Jasika, and Bidmeade.<\/p>\n

      Fawkner Tennis Club arrive just a single point behind on the ladder and will look to their standout performers Chanchai Sookton-Eng and Lucas Vuradin to overcome the challenge of Kooyong\u2019s home advantage. With depth across singles and doubles, this promises to be a tightly contested, high-quality final.<\/p>\n

      The 2025 Men\u2019s State Grade Grand Final<\/strong> is shaping up to be a showcase of Victorian club tennis at its very best with experience, talent, and determination colliding on the iconic courts of Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Find out more about the players involved in the Men’s State Grade Final for 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6423,"featured_media":42736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,58,1],"tags":[52,61],"class_list":["post-42727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-competitive-play","category-leagues","category-news","tag-competitive-play","tag-state-grade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}