Tennis selection took place at the beginning of Term 1 with initial round-robin
matches followed by a knockout competition. The First Team that was selected
comprised Tristan Lynch, Remy Lynch, Sean Oosthuizen, and Jack Lowrie (Captain
of Tennis). Following some good results in the Second Team competition James
Burgess also played in the First Team for the southern SATIS final. Training sessions
were held on Monday afternoons, coached by Dr Keith Martin-Smith (Teacher in
Charge of Tennis) and Thursday mornings, coached by Mr Ray Harrison.
First Team
Tennis for the First Team was a rather closed affair with only two other teams in the
competition (Guildford Young College and The Friends’ School) and many of the
players being regular rivals on the State tennis circuit. All of the matches in the
regular season were very tight with three of the four being tied on rubbers and only
decided by games. Indeed, the first meeting between Guildford Young College and
Hutchins was also tied on games. This meant that the First Team had to win against
Guildford Young College in the last match of the regular season which they did
convincingly 6 rubbers to 0. This set up the southern SATIS Final which was a tense,
close competition at The Friends’ School. Sean and Tristan in the line two doubles
played exceptionally well, coming out with our first set win for the day. Remy and
Jack battled hard but just lost some crucial. After many long and tiring rallies, James
unfortunately lost in a gut-wrenching match in line four singles as his opponent
proved to be too strong in a nail-biting tie break. Ultimately The Friends’ School
edged the vital matches, winning 5-1 in rubbers and moving on to take the State title.
In individual performances, Sean Oosthuizen was undefeated in singles for the whole
season.
Second Teams
In the Second Teams’ competition, Hutchins were rampant with three teams
(Gold, Magenta & Black) all recording convincing victories throughout the
regular season. The southern SATIS Seconds Final pitted Hutchins Magenta
against Hutchins Black and was played over two days in order to accommodate
James Burgess’ commitment with the First Team. In a nail-biting finish,
everything came down to last rubber which was edged by the Hutchins Magenta
team. Congratulations to James Burgess, Lockie Fraser, Will Heyward and
Cameron Allen on an undefeated season and worthy win and commiserations to
James Anderson, James Crean, Hassan Mohamad and Ziah Cooper. Thanks to Mr
Peter Crofts for his encouragement and management of the Second Teams.
Captions for photographs.
Hutchins Tennis First Team (Tristan Lynch, James Burgess, Jack Lowrie, Remy
Lynch, Sean Oosthuizen).
Hutchins Magenta Tennis Second Team (Will Heyward, Cameron Allen, Lockie
Fraser, James Burgess) – SATIS Seconds’ Champions.