The Stratford Tennis League has crowned its 2012 champions. The ‘A’ championship was a battle between Physiotherapy Associates and Donkers Agri. The match up opened with Donkers taking the #1 ladies doubles as Linda Doig and Maria Donkers downed Johanna Billings and Annette Garneau 6-2 6-4. Physio responded by winning the #2 ladies doubles 6-3 7-6 (8 points to 6 points in the tie-breaker) as Ginny Smith and Marilyn Leasa defeated Lise Couture and Sandie Ennett. The #1 men’s doubles was a split as Donkers’ Bob Tamblyn and Bill White took the first set 6-1 , but Physio’s Richard Bast and Murray Schiedel won the second set 7-5. Tom Warnock and Todd Chisholm of Physio won the #2 men’s doubles 6-1 6-4 over Brent Hiller and Mike Furlong. Physio took a 5 set to 3 set lead into the mixed matches, meaning Donkers needed to win three of the four mixed sets to have a chance at the title.
Donkers opened the mixed with Doig and Tamblyn crushing Billings and Bast 6-0 to win the #1 mixed. Donkers won the #2 mixed as Donkers and White downed Garneau and Schiedel 6-2. Physio got an important win in the #3 mixed as Smith and Warnock defeated Couture and Hiller 6-2. The championship came down to the #4 mixed. After falling behind early Leasa and Chisholm were able to come back and take the #4 mixed for Physio 6-4 over Ennett and Furlong to secure the title. The 7 sets to 5 victory gave the 2012 ‘A’ championship to Physiotherapy Associates.
The ‘B’ championship saw Jolanda’s Diet Secret face off against SNAP. SNAP took the early lead as Marta Andrekovic and Claire Scott won the #1 ladies doubles 6-2 6-3 over Krista Plociennik and Deb Murphy. The #2 ladies doubles had a split as Jolanda’s Gail Shelton and Monica Eickmeyer took the first set 6-2 and SNAP’s Nancy Chung and Cathy Mowbray won the second set 6-2. The #1 men’s doubles saw Jolanda’s John Noble and Nathan Walsh win the first set 6-3 before SNAP’s Chris Parson and Greg Vivian rebounded to take the second set 6-2. The #2 men’s doubles also split as Pat McCarroll and Cameron Kramer won the first set 7-5 and SNAP’s Jack Watson and Larry Shurrie took the second set 6-4. SNAP took a 5-3 lead in sets into the mixed doubles.
Jolanda’s Plociennik and Noble scored a 7-5 victory over Andrekovic and Parson to take the #1 mixed match. The #2 mixed match also went to Jolanda’s as Murphy and Walsh downed Scott and Vivian 7-5. Jolanda’s continued their mixed success as Shelton and McCarroll defeated Chung and Watson 6-2 in the #3 mixed match. Needing a win in the #4 mixed match SNAP’s Mowbray and Shurrie were able to pull it off as they downed Eickmeyer and Kramer 6-2. This left the match tied at 6 sets each and meant the ‘B’ championship would come down to the games won. SNAP had a 58 to 54 advantage in games won meaning SNAP are the 2012 ‘B’ champions.
Picture 1: ‘B’ Champions – SNAP (l to r) Nancy Chung, Cathy Mowbray, Claire Scott, Marta Andrekovic, Chris Parson, Jack Watson, Larry Shurrie, Greg Vivian Missing members are Noella Schiedel, Nancy Rheaume, Spenser Trachsel, Gary Henry
Picture 2: ‘A” Champions – Physiotherapy Associates (l to r) Marilyn Leasa, Ginny Smith, Annette Garneau, Johanna Billings, Richard Bast, Murray Schiedel, Todd Chisholm, Tom Warnock Missing Members are Liz Yundt and Garth Nussey