Huge turnout for 23rd Leongatha Subaru Junior and Open Tennis Classic

THE second of the eight-tournament Gippsland Summer series commenced Saturday January 7, featuring men’s and ladies open singles and doubles, as well as under 10 and under 14 events. 

With a total of 62 individual entries, there were plenty of matches to get through and all events had a good mixture of local and travelling players with all showing great sportsmanship. 

Day two of the classic had under 12s and under 16s events as well as the open age’s singles and doubles finals. 

Sunday also featured our fun event – family doubles, with a total of six pairs taking to the courts in a round robin format. 

Well done to the locals Neil Langstaff who partnered up with his grandson Ethan Langstaff, defeating tournament first timers also from Leongatha Sarah and Archer Commadeur. 

The men’s open singles were a repeat of 2021 with brothers from Warragul Josh and Tim Bloye again playing off for the championship with Josh just getting over the line in a third set super tie breaker 10-8. 

South Gippsland Tennis Coaching, while running the tournament, gave six young aspiring juniors a taste of full-time tennis with six days in a row - three hours training on Tuesday (day before Korumburra Tournament) as well as warm up sessions prior to play each day.

Friday consisted of a morning training session and a trip to the movies, in total they played around 28 sets of tennis and completed eight hours of training. 

The players were Ella Skelton – Fish Creek, Mila Cocks – Korumburra, Archer Commadeur, Hudson Clasby, Ryan Perry and Declan Russell – all Leongatha. 

Congratulations to the raffle winners and thank you to Leongatha Tennis Club and volunteers Greg Marshman, Warren and Renae Littlejohn, Frank Dekker and club president Michael Grist.

We look forward to next year’s tournaments and if you are looking for another tournament in January head over to www.southgippslandtenniscoaching.com to find out more.