Otago, North Otago, Southland and Southern Lakes competed in a round-robin format for the first leg of the Margaret Rennie Trophy at the weekend.
On day one, both Otago and Southern Lakes had victories over Southland and North Otago in the Southern teams event in the serene setting of the Oamaru grass courts.
Otago dominated their clash with Southland, winning 11-1.
Erin O’Neill claimed Southland’s sole win, beating Aminah Ahmad 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Otago backed that up with a close 7-5 win over North Otago. The crucial matches were Gerard Farrell’s 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Yug Thapa, and Billie Fraser’s 6-0, 6-2 win over Kelly van Heerden.
Southern Lakes’ journey to the final included a 12-0 win over Southland and a 9-3 win over North Otago.
The only wins for North Otago came from the women’s side through Belinda Hirst and Jordyn Phillips.
Very littled separated the two teams in the final between Otago and Southern Lakes on day two.
The women got Lakes off to a strong start as Rowena Nelson, Catya Burgess and Karen Mitchell used their experience on grass to beat Ahmad, Crystal Chiang and Fraser respectively.
Ange Fitzgerald was able to get one back for Otago with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win over Roe Feal.
On the men’s side, all four singles matches went the distance, with Otago able to win three of them.
At top singles, Jaden Grinter (Otago) served his way to an impressive 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Dan Milburn.
The No 2 singles featured Southern Lakes’ Doug Bohaboy beating Paddy Ou 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 with some sharp ground strokes.
At No 3 and No 4 singles, Hugo Barsby and Gerard Farrell (Otago) beat Bjorn Pollock and Jeff Elliotte respectively.
Barsby was down a set and facing three break points at 3-4 in the second before he held out 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Pollock.
No 4 Farrell then was two points away from defeat before he ground out a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Elliotte.
The doubles had the teams splitting the matches 2-2, giving a slight victory to Southern Lakes on countback.
In the third-fourth playoff, North Otago beat Southland 7-5.
— Paddy Ou
