COUNTRY Week finished up last Friday with two new A grade champions and a host of other notable results.
With 194 teams participating in the tournament, 48 fielded their best two doubles teams on Friday morning to decide the winners of each of the 24 divisions.
In the biggest shock result of the day, Maryborough Missiles took out grass court specialists Tandara in three straight sets for the women’s A grade title, 24 games to 10, becoming just the second side to defeat the girls from Bendigo in nine years.
The local men’s A grade team made the most of Danny Gardner’s intimate local knowledge of the courts with a one set, six game win over reigning champions Mud Island — its only loss in the tournament.
The Mud Island Lawn Tennis Club got its revenge in tense circumstances though, when the Mud Island Gropers beat Swan Hill IT for the men’s B grade 1 title in a tiebreaker, following a 2-25-apiece draw.
With its men’s special B2 side also successful, Mud Island was one of just four clubs to have more than one of its teams win a Country Week grand final.
Along with Mud Island, the tennis clubs from Mt Prospect, Wodonga and Polwarth picked up two division titles.
The only other Swan Hill side to play off in a final was the Swan Hill Redskins’ women’s B special 1 side, who went down to the Wodonga Rubies by just one game, 2-26 to 2-25.
