Nick Fenaughty made it five Numurkah Lawn Tennis Club Australia Day Tournament crowns with a 6-2 win against Mark Mills in the final.
Heat had wreaked havoc on the bonanza weekend with Friday’s junior tournaments cancelled, but cooler conditions met the players for Sunday’s deciders in the club’s 88th annual extravaganza.
In a battle of Numurkah Warrior teammates, Fenaughty, 25, saw off veteran Mills in a tantalising encounter, a second consecutive year the latter has been rolled playing for all the marbles.
Numurkah president David Ludington said the weekend had turned out to be an absolute winner.
‘‘It was a really good weekend except for the crazy 46°C weather on Friday; we had to cancel the junior tournaments, but we’re going to have that later in the season,’’ he said.
‘‘We had 10 players in the men’s A-grade and it was a really high quality. It was really good and entertained the crowd.’’
It also proved a big weekend for Numurkah’s Helene Steward, battling it out in the men’s division and making it through to the semi-finals before losing to Fenaughty.
Harry and Oscar Crilly went head-to-head for men’s B-grade, with the former proving too strong.
Shepparton’s Ella Rohde won a rollercoaster women’s B-grade final against Mooroopna’s Nicola Brown, winning 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.
Steward teamed up with Col Mackay to win the Saturday night mixed doubles tournament, with Simone Goudge and Ash Weston finishing runner-up in a party-like atmosphere as Ludington got on the DJ decks.
‘‘I was playing songs steadily from 5pm until 10 or 10.30pm, I basically did not leave the decks,’’ Ludington said.
‘‘Put it this way, two people have asked me to do their 40th and 50th birthdays, and another one wanted my business card.
‘‘It was brilliant and people were saying we should do it annually, everyone was enjoying the tennis and a few frothies.’’
Mills and Alex Bakogianis got together to win the A-grade men’s doubles in a classic final, winning 8-6 against Robbie Mifka and Jack Wilson.
Steward completed a huge weekend by winning the women’s A-grade doubles with Goudge, from Rosie Habel and Kerri Walker.
Ludington said March 3 was pencilled in for the running of the junior tournaments, with confirmation to come on that date.
WINNERS
Men’s A-grade singles: Nick Fenaughty.
Men’s B-grade singles: Harry Crilly.
Women’s A-grade singles: Helene Steward.
Women’s B-grade singles: Ella Rohde.
Mixed doubles A-grade: Col Mackay and Helene Steward.
Mixed doubles B-grade: Andrew and Carol Storer.
Mixed doubles C-grade: Jason and Lucy Bassett.
Men’s A-grade doubles: Mark Mills and Alex Bakogianis.
Men’s B-grade doubles: Andrew Storer and Barry Norton.
Men’s C-grade doubles: Lachie O’Brien and Hudson Storer.
Women’s A-grade doubles: Helene Steward and Simone Goudge.
Women’s B-grade doubles: Elli Rohde and Emily Turcato.
Women’s C-grade doubles: Carol Storer and Narelle Page.