Congratulations to all tennis members who represented Strathfield Sports Club with such distinction in the 2018 Men’s Autumn Badge competition.
The club had four teams competing in their respective grand finals last Saturday, with two teams triumphant, while the two runners-up went down by the finest of margins.
With our annual tennis renewals coming up, now is the time to start thinking about if you’d like to be a part of the action for next season!
Here is a run down of how all four teams fared in their deciders:
Strathfield 2
Having swept all before them on their run to the final, Strathfield 2 produced an amazing performance to clinch the Men’s 1.2 title.
In what was a very tight match and high level of tennis, SSC prevailed 5-42 to 3-33 against Sydney University.
Captain Mark Padd reports, Jimmy Wilson and Hiroki Fujita won their first set well 6-4 but went down in a tie-break in their second.
Inhwa Song and Mac Lim lost their first set 6-3 but came back to win their second set 6-5 in another tie-break.
It meant the tie was squared 2-2, with Strathfield down a game heading into the reverse rubbers.
Inhwa and Mac went down 6-4 in their next set, however Hiroki and Jimmy won their next set 6-3.
So, after six sets the score was locked up at three sets all and even on games!
Inhwa and Mac then had a huge win and took their next set 6-0, while Jimmy and Hiroki finished a fantastic effort by winning their fourth set 6-3.
The final score was a win to Strathfield by 5 sets to 3, which also sees them earn promotion to Men’s 1.1 for next season. Well done team!
Strathfield 3
Having gone through the regular season undefeated, our Strathfield 3 team fell agonisingly short of claiming the double, going down to Hunters Hill 3-38 to 5-33 in the Men’s 2.1 division.
The combination of Charles Hempel, Kerry Dock, Goran Blazevic and Seungjun Yi were very evenly matched against their opposition but were left to rue dropping a couple of early tie-breaks.
Despite the set-backs, Strathfield was ahead on games moving into the reverse doubles, although Hunters Hill rallied to take a 4-3 set lead.
It all came down to the final set, with the winner taking out the title. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for Strathfield 3, going down 6-3.
Strathfield 4
It was another tight affair in the Men’s 2.3 division, with Strathfield 4 beaten on games, 4-41 to 4-33 playing away against Killara.
The team had done well to reach the final, having finished the season in third place, but it wasn’t to be for the combination of Rod James, Shabbir Afridi, Daryl Hart and Tarandeep Sandhu.
Each match-up had finished one set a-piece heading into the final rubber and after taking the opening set in a tie-break there was everything to play for in the final set.
The home side rallied however, to take the final set and the match, in what was one of the closest finals in 2018.
Strathfield 5
Strathfield 5 was victorious in the Men’s 2.5 division, beating Marrickville 6-40 to 2-28, having finished the season on top of the ladder.
The day got off to an ominous start for the home team, with Jeff Chan a late withdrawal after his car broke down on the middle of the freeway on his way to the match.
That forced a late change, but it didn’t seem to effect SSC as Captain Robbie Moh, Tommy Tam, Valentine Tse and Chillip Foo claimed the opening three sets.
However, their opposition clawed back the next two sets, to leave to tie evenly poised.
In what proved to be a defining game, Robbie had to serve roughly ten deuces before holding serve in the final rubber as he and Tommy held their nerve to claim a 6-4 6-3 win.