As the second half of the Mount Gambier and Districts Tennis season gets under way this Saturday, every team will be fighting hard to get a finals spot with only five rounds left of the season.
The SE Voice’s sports journalist Will Boston has a look at how the second half of the season is shaping up
Div 1
In Division 1 Uniting Tennis Club sits at the top of the ladder on 143 points.
The team has only lost one match for the season and is hot favourite to win it all this season.
Led by their number 1 man Andrew van den Hurk, who has not lost a set in singles yet, the side will be looking to continue playing in top form as it heads into the back end of the season.
On the ladies side, Tessa Megaw will be leading them as they head into finals.
The number 1 has only dropped one set in singles this season and she will be hoping to keep it that way by the end of the season.
West Gambier sits second on the ladder with 109 points heading into 2024.
West has been the only team to beat Uniting this season with a 7-5 victory back in round 3.
West will be looking at their number 1 man George White to have a good second half of the season heading into finals.
After a good first half of the season winning a majority of her games Emily Jolley will be a key player for West when they begin their finals campaign.
It’s a close contest in the third and fourth spots as Reidy Park resides in third on 87 points, with Mount Gambier right on their tail in fourth on 80 points.
Reidy will have to work hard to keep third spot.
Zayne Young will be looking to improve his form from 2023 heading into the new year with hopes of playing in the grand final.
In the ladies Bailey Young comes into 2024 in top form, only dropping two singles sets last year.
It should be interesting to see how Reidy will end up this season.
As mentioned earlier Mount Gambier sits in the top four on 80 points.
Gambier has been a big surprise this season after fielding a team in Division 2 last season.
This season they have made the move to Division 1 and have not shown any signs of struggle.
One of the keys to Gambier’s success has been their number 1 man Mat Stark.
Stark has only dropped one singles set this season, proving to playing a crucial role in the team.
Overall it would be a huge achievement if Gambier can stay in the top four and make the finals this season.
In fifth place Glencoe sits just outside the top four with 74 points.
Glencoe has had a disappointing start of the season, considering they won the flag last season.
Being only six points out of the top four means that all hope is not lost as they can still make a push towards playing finals tennis.
A consistent player for Glencoe has been Dylan Childs, who has only dropped two singles sets this season, both coming from Andrew van den Hurk.
Childs will have his work set out for him as he will look to overcome van den Hurk and make the finals in the home stretch of games.
Mount Schank lies at the bottom of the ladder with eight points.
At this point the Schank will be playing for pride and the hopes of winning its first match.
Coming into the second half of the season the number 1 man and woman Will Boston and Abbey Hood will be on a mission to secure their first singles set for the season.
Besides Mount Schank any team has a chance to make the top four and play in the finals when March comes around.
Div 2
It’s a close contest in Division 2 as West Gambier Blue sits at the top of the ladder with 118 points.
West is not safe at the top though because right behind them are Suttontown/Glencoe on 111 points.
West Gambier Red sits third on the ladder with 101 points.
Division 2 is shaping up to be having an exciting end to the season with anyone having a chance at finishing first before the finals begin.
Div 3
Division 3 is also looking like it should have an exciting end to the season.
Mount Gambier is on the top of the ladder with 118.3 points with Centrals second on 102.3 points.
On 96.6 points Glencoe sits third with a close battle between Uniting/Glencoe and Suttontown.
The combined team is just in the top four with 89 points with Suttontown closely trailing with 79.9 points.
It will be anyone’s game when finals roll around with how hotly contested the division has been so far this season.
