Narrabri and District Tennis Association doubles comp champions crowned

Narrabri and District Tennis Association hosted its 2021 October to December four-person teams doubles comp grand final night at Narrabri’s Dangar Park Tennis Centre on Wednesday, which saw new A-grade champions crowned.

Rod Kirk, Josh and Erica Campbell, Paul Bushby and Lucas Hatton took out the last competition for 2021 after downing the defending champions 31-24 in the decider.

With Hatton and Erica Campbell both unavailable, George Bennett from the third-placed A-grade team, which did not qualify for the grand final, stepped up to fill the vacant position.

The defending champs, which won the February to June comp, included Warwick Moppett, Scott Castlemaine, Brock Heideman, Michael Smith and Rob Eaton.

Moppett and Smith were also both unavailable for the final so Bennett’s teammate Callum Wales slotted into that vacant position.

Kirk and Eaton were seeded number one for their respective teams on the night, with Campbell and Heideman the number twos, Bushby and Castlemaine the number threes and Bennett and Wales the number fours.

The first set saw Campbell and Kirk team up against Eaton and Heideman, during which the four highest-ranked players in the A-grade decider produced some phenomenal tennis.

The set was forced into a tie-breaker after the score was locked at five games all. Kirk and Campbell got the job done to secure the 6-5 set win. Castlemaine and Wales had already accounted for Bushby and Bennett 6-1 in the second set, which gave the defending champions an 11-7 lead on the overall scoreboard.

Kirk’s team then hit the lead after winning the following two sets. Kirk and Bushby downed Castlemaine and Eaton 6-3, the same score that Campbell and Bennett defeated Wales and Heideman.

That saw Kirk’s team take a 19-17 lead into the final two sets. They then claimed those two sets a combined 15-7 to earn the 31-24 victory.
Kirk and Bennett edged out Eaton and Wales 6-5 in a tie-breaker in the fifth set, while Campbell and Bushby downed Heideman and Castlemaine 6-2 in the sixth.

Meanwhile, the B-grade comp was won by Alistair Dowdell, Damian Murphy and Dean and Alexis Holland (ADDA), who in the grand final beat the regular season minor premiers Kasey Hilderson, Dannielle Baker, Angie Knox and Tom Holland (Big Apples) 25-21.

Hilderson and Dean Holland were seeded number one in the final, with Baker and Alexis Holland the twos, Knox and Dowdell the threes and Murphy and Holland the fours.

ADDA established a four-game lead after the first two sets as Dean and Alexis Holland went down 6-4 against Hilderson and Baker while Dowdell and Murphy outscored Knox and Tom Holland 6-0.

The two teams traded a 6-1 win in the third and fourth sets as ADDA went into the final two still ahead by four games.

Dean Holland and Dowdell beat Hilderson and Knox in the third, while Baker and Tom Holland knocked off Alexis Holland and Murphy in the fourth.

Big Apples could not overturn the deficit in the final two sets as the two teams traded a 6-2 victory, with Dean Holland and Murphy downing
Hilderson and Tom Holland, and Baker and Knox defeating Alexis Holland and Dowdell.

That made the final score 25-21 to ADDA.

Narrabri and District Tennis Association’s October-December four-person teams doubles competition B-grade final winners – Damian Murphy, Alistair Dowdell and Alexis and Dean Holland.

There were two third-place playoff matches scheduled to be contested on the night. However, only the B-grade match went ahead, seeing Ps Get Degrees defeat Garbells 36-8 to claim third place.

The A-grade third-placed playoff match was abandoned after the fourth-placed BRRRM conceded the higher position to Team Callum/George to allow both sides to have the night off and watch the grand final.