Tennis rookies win final
Relevant offers
Saint Clair Grinners had every reason to smile after taking out the Drylands Inter-Winery Tennis Tournament at the Rapaura Tennis Club on Sunday.
Tournament rookies, the Grinners team of Neil Sonne, Phil Sowman, Bob Bird and Paul Morrison beat the Drylands team of Matt Robertson, Anthony Walkenhorst, Matt Large, Ellis Diamanti and Peter Rogge by a single game in an exciting final.
Sowman and Bird set the tone for Saint Clair with a 6-2 win in the first match, and while Walkenhorst and Rogge toppled Sonne and Morrison 6-3, the three games won by the Grinners pair were enough to wrap up the match.
Both teams advanced to the final after topping their pools despite strong challenges from the Boreham Wood and Port Nelson teams.
Tournament organising committee member Ian Gifford said the tournament, in its fifth year, ran smoothly, despite the late withdrawal of one team reducing the field to 11 and late afternoon rain making conditions slippery for the final.
- The Marlborough Express
