The Narrabri District Tennis Association’s 2020 October-December four-person team doubles competition concluded last Wednesday with an entertaining grand final night which saw two close finals contested.
This season, the competition hosted six A-grade teams and five B-grade teams. Four teams in each grade qualified for semi-final night on Wednesday, December 2, and the winners of those matches qualified for last Wednesday’s deciders.
In A-grade, defending champions AgEcon Global (Warwick Moppett, Jon Welsh, Scott Castlemaine and Brock Heideman) took on Young Guns (Shane Murphy, Callum Wales, George Bennett, Mitchell Wilson and Ed Chaplin).
Young Guns defeated AgEcon Global 26-24 (6-5, 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 0-6, 6-1).
In the first two sets, Murphy and Wales downed Moppett and Welsh 6-5, and Bennett and Chaplin defeated Heideman and Castlemaine 6-4. That saw Young Guns establish a 12-9 lead at the first change of teammates break.
In sets three and four, Murphy and Bennett beat Moppett and Heideman 6-2, and Welsh and Castlemaine defeated Wales and Wilson 6-2. Those scores cancelled one another out and Young Guns went into the final break still leading by three games.
Of the last two sets, the sixth was the first to finish as Welsh and Heideman downed Wales and Bennett 6-0. Set five was still going, with AgEcon Global requiring just four games to win the title. However, Murphy and Wilson got the job done against Moppett and Castlemaine, winning 6-1 to secure the A-grade championship for Young Guns.
It was a changing of the guard for the A-grade competition.
AgEcon Global entered that final having won the past three championships. It won the 2018 October-December competition final 31-21 against Daniel Kahl, Rod Kirk, Josh Campbell and Nathan Eather. It then won the 2019 February-May competition final 32-18 against Josh Wilson, Ryan Steel, Danny Skues and Mitchell Wilson, before claiming the 2019 October-December comp in a first past the post format.
This year’s February-May competition was then abandoned amid the COVID pandemic.
Meanwhile, the 2020 October-December four-person team doubles B-grade competition was won by The Gunners, which included Peter Meppem, Mitch Wheaton, Sara Melbourne, Harriet Davies and Pat Welsh.
On grand final night, Meppem played one, Wheaton played two, Melbourne played three and Davies played four in the final against Team Keith. The Gunners edged out Team Keith 24-23 (2-6, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2).
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