SPORT REPORT
TABLE TENNIS
Congratulations to all Year 7 Boys and Girls, Year 8 Boys and Intermediate Boys and Girls being Kingston Champions and representing McKinnon in their Table Tennis Teams at the Southern Metropolitan Region Finals that were held on 27 and 28 October at the Dandenong Table Tennis Centre.
The Year 7 Girls were Jemima Charlesworth, Paris Griffs, Neda Lay and Alisa Sharkova. They lost to Frankston High School 229 points to 218 points in the first round. In the second round, the girls defeated Albert Park College 163 points to 143 points.
The Intermediate Girls were Gemma Brandman, Anna Chapman, Ashleigh Hoffman and Luciana Martinez. They won against Frankston High School 192 points to 138 points in the first round. The girls lost to MacRobertson Girls High School 203 points to 96 points.
The Intermediate Boys were Ashley Hunter, Damien Ross, Ben Solly, Samuel Smith and Wei Qi Xie. They defeated Frankston High School 209 points to 105 points in the first round, however they lost to Melbourne High School 209 points to 115 points.
The Year 7 Boys were Damon Levy, Helish Patel, Joshua Patlazhanu, Lachlan Troung and Connor Truong. They defeated Frankston High School 211 points to 152 points and also defeated Albert Park College. This placed them in the Region Final where they defeated Mornington Secondary College 206 points to 189 points.
The Year 8 Boys were Rishab Kiran, Ryoku Nishikawa, Matthew Stoupas, Yifan Yang and Jihoon Yang. They defeated both Elisabeth Murdoch College 199 points to 80 points and Leibler Yavneh 227 points to 172 points. The boys advanced to the Region Final where they defeated Mornington Secondary College 224 points 127 points.
Congratulations to both the Year 7 and 8 Boys who went on to represent McKinnon in the State Final.
STATE FINAL
In the State Final on 17 November the Year 7 Boys won against Footscray City College 227 points to 219 points in the first round, however, they lost to Wonthaggi Secondary College 196 points to 179 points in the second round. In the third round, the boys lost to the eventual state winners Balwyn High School 237 points to 151 points. The Year 7s finished third in their pool and equal fifth in the state.
The Year 8 Boys defeated Williamstown High School 291 points to 256 points in the first round and also defeated Warragul Regional College 202 points to 78 points in the second round. They defeated Ringwood in the third round 189 points to 169 points. The boys were placed on top of their pool where they played against Marist College Bendigo in the semi-final. They had a very good win 224 points to 148 points. These boys lost the semi-final last year so it’s fantastic that they went one step further and reached the final. In the final, the games were close, however, they lost to University High School 245 points to 213 points. Congratulations to these boys for being the second best team in this state.
Marg Bourke, Deon Weingarten and Ray Braniska
Coaches
YEAR 8 BOYS TENNIS STATE FINALS
Congratulations to Grant Sandler, Christian Sjostrom, Christopher Siang, Daniel Gershenzon and Ryoku Nishikawa on a superb tennis season as members of the Year 8 Boys Tennis Team.
In February this year, the boys began an undefeated journey that would see them all the way to the State Finals, which were held on Thursday 24 November at the Boroondara Tennis Centre.
They entered the Finals hoping to replicate their superb Year 7 season – in which they were the State Runners Up – or perhaps even go one step better. They were up against it from the very beginning though, having to face the 2015 champions from the Maribyrnong Sports Academy in their first Round Robin match group stage, and were playing for the majority of the day without their best player – the injured Grant Sandler.
However, in the Preliminary stages of the Finals, they accounted for Maribyrnong 3 sets all (14 games to 13) and Notre Dame 4-2, and lost a tight encounter with Auburn 3-3 (14-17), placing second in their group and setting up a sudden death semi-final showdown against Notre Dame, which they won 4-2.
In the Final, the boys faced Auburn again. They put up a brave fight, but couldn’t quite replicate their form of earlier in the day losing two tense tie-breaks and the match 4-0.
The boys’ effort to come second in the State for the second year in succession (and to be the only team in the entire State to make the Grand Final and walk away with medals in both Years 7 and Year 8) was unbelievable. They displayed great sportsmanship and supported each other throughout. Well done, boys. Bring on 2017!
Deon Weingarten
Coach
SCHOOL TENNIS COACHING
Bookings are now being taken for Term 1 2017 Tennis Coaching on Tuesday / Wednesday mornings. All years and standards. Refer to the attached link for further information and registration or call 9813 8484 / email futurestennis@futurestennis.com.au