{"id":14878,"date":"2019-12-17T17:15:57","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T09:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/?p=14878"},"modified":"2020-01-13T12:02:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T04:02:38","slug":"powerhouse-wa-squad-claim-eight-australian-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/news\/2019\/12\/17\/powerhouse-wa-squad-claim-eight-australian-championship","title":{"rendered":"Powerhouse WA squad claim eight Australian Championship titles"},"content":{"rendered":"

WA\u2019s powerhouse junior squad have returned home victorious laying claim to eight of the sixteen Australian Championship<\/strong> titles at the 2019 December Showdown<\/strong>. Furthering the team\u2019s dominance at the prestigious junior tournament, four WA players placed as runners-up.<\/p>\n

Tristan Schoolkate\u00a0<\/strong>made the most of his final junior tournament, claiming both the 18\/u Boys Singles<\/strong> and Doubles titles. Winning 6-2, 7-5 to claim the 18\/u Boys Singles title over long-time doubles partner Dane Sweeny (QLD), the pair went on to unite for a commanding 6-1, 6-2 win in the doubles event.<\/p>\n

Female Junior Athlete of the Year Talia Gibson<\/strong>\u00a0continued her break out year, partnering with Annerly Poulos (ACT) to claim the 18\/u Doubles<\/strong> title 6-3, 6-4. Fifteen year old Gibson then powered through the 16\/u competition to eventually win the 16\/u Girls Singles<\/strong> title over fellow West Australian Lauren Nikoloski<\/strong> 6-3, 7-5.<\/p>\n

The 14\/u age group was heavily weighted with WA talent. Taylah Preston<\/strong>\u00a0and Jessie Culley<\/strong>\u00a0went head to head in a tough three set match before Preston finished on top to claim the 14\/u Girls Singles title 7-6 [3], 4-6, 6-3. The duo then paired to claim the hotly contested 14\/u Girls Doubles<\/strong> title 5-7, 7-5 [10-8] over WA compatriot Lily Fairclogh<\/strong>\u00a0and Sydney Stone (QLD).<\/p>\n

Runner up in the 14\/u Boys Singles Final (6-3, 7-6 [6]), Zachary Viiala<\/strong> (Claremont) parented with Alexander Despoja (SA) to claim the 14\/u Boys Doubles Final<\/strong> 7-6 [2], 6-4.<\/p>\n

In the 12\/u age group Jake Dembo<\/strong>\u00a0was victorious alongside doubles partner Jamie Mackenzie (NZ) in claiming the 12\/u Boys Doubles<\/strong> title 7-5, 6-3 over Ashton Mcleod (NSW) and Hugh Taylor (ACT).<\/p>\n

Australian Championships aside, the 2020 AO Play-off<\/strong> event sits as the centrepiece of the December Showdown with WA\u2019s comeback Queen Storm Sanders<\/strong>\u00a0finishing as runner-up to Arina Rodionova 6-4, 7-5. In just her fourth tournament back after a two year Singles hiatus, Sanders has proven herself as one to watch on the professional women\u2019s circuit.<\/p>\n

Tennis West National Academy Manager Tom George<\/strong> says this year\u2019s results stand out as one of the Academy\u2019s most fruitful December Showdowns on record.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results from this year\u2019s event are incredible. The best I\u2019ve ever seen. To say we are proud of our players performance is nothing short of an understatement,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo bring home half of the Australian Championships titles is truly remarkable, it\u2019s something really special,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur players, their parents and the private coaches that work with the players outside of the Academy should all be very proud of the part they\u2019ve played in this significant achievement,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n

Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts<\/strong> agrees, stating that the position of the sport in WA is the healthiest it\u2019s been in a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing home eight Australian Championships titles says a lot about the quality of our programs from a grassroots level right through to the National Academy,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear to see that the position of tennis in WA is in a very healthy place right now,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo everyone involved in this incredible achievement, well done and thank you – you\u2019ve all played your part,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Summary of results<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
TRISTAN SCHOOLKATE <\/strong><\/td>\n18\/u Boys Singles Winner<\/p>\n

18\/u Boys Doubles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

TALIA GIBSON<\/strong><\/td>\n18\/u Girls Doubles Winner<\/p>\n

16\/u Girls Singles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

LAUREN NIKOLOSKI<\/strong><\/td>\n16\/u Girls Singles Runner Up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TAYLAH PRESTON<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n

14\/u Girls Singles Winner<\/p>\n

14\/u Girls Doubles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

JESSIE CULLEY<\/strong><\/td>\n14\/u Girls Singles Runner Up<\/p>\n

14\/u Girls Doubles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

LILY FAIRCLOUGH<\/strong><\/td>\n14\/u Girls Doubles Runner Up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ZACHARY VIIALA<\/strong><\/td>\n14\/u Boys Singles Runner Up<\/p>\n

14\/u Boys Doubles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

JAKE DEMBO<\/strong><\/td>\n12\/u Boys Doubles Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
STORM SANDERS <\/strong><\/td>\n2020 AO Play-offs Runner Up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

To view all results of the 2019 December Showdown please click on the links 12\/U<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>14\/U<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>16\/U<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>18\/U <\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WA\u2019s powerhouse junior squad have returned home victorious laying claim to eight of the sixteen Australian Championship titles at the 2019 December Showdown. Furthering the team\u2019s dominance at the prestigious junior tournament, four WA players placed as runners-up. Tristan Schoolkate\u00a0made the most of his final junior tournament, claiming both the 18\/u Boys Singles and Doubles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6203,"featured_media":14880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}