There were countbacks, contentious line calls, false starts, rain interruptions and even some good tennis at the semifinals of the Scarbro Caro Bowl tennis….and once again Parnell will host both finals.

The Parnell men’s team gained a 4-0 victory over West End in a match which should have been closer, especially since West End had beaten them only a week previously. The difficulty for West End was that their No1 player, teenager Austen Childs, a quarterfinalist at this years Australian Open juniors got stuck in Wellington after a family commitment and couldn’t make it to Auckland as a result of no flights being available.

Martin Colenbrander was promoted to No1 and put in a solid performance but was beaten by Davis Cup playe Adam Thompson in straight sets. Matt Prentice then beat James Greenhalgh 6-3 7-5 while Alistair Hunt and Steve Downs completed the strong line-up for Parnell Accounting for Teo Susnjak and Adam Staub respectively.

The other semi went right to the wire and late into the evening. Pompallier had the home advantage and the knowledge that they had defeated Blockhouse Bay the week before, albeit with two of the Bay’s stars missing in action.

This time it was the Bay winning on a set countback eight sets to seven with almost everything coming down to the match between Robbie Cheyne and Andrew Batie. Batie won the contest 6-3 in the third set after winning the first set but dropping the second in a tiebreak in an intense match with plenty of touch play.

Earlier the doubles had been split, although Batie and Eru Lyndon managed to gain a vital set in their loss to Cheyne and Adam McNeil. James Shortall won the top singles over Brendon Curry but Lyndon scored an easy win over McNeil. Wellington student Pat Metham gave the Pompallier side a second singles win defeating fellow Wellingtonian Marc Paulik in a gutsy display in three sets.

The final could be a close match after Blockhouse Bay won their round robin clash on a countback. The most interesting of all individual matches will be at No2 where the power of the Prentice serve will come up against the age and guile of Batie.

The women’s semis had the winners of the round robin, Kohimarama going down to 2004 champs, Mangere Combined 4-2. The young and talented Kohimarama team lost three matches in three sets as they struggled with the conditions and their opponents. Kairangi Vano won the top singles but Shelley Bryce (nee Stephens), Luci Barlow and Manumea Durie all gained wins for Mangere with the doubles being split.

Parnell will be able to defend their women’s title after winning seven sets to six over Royal Oak which had players coming off the court after the doubles as a result of rain. Parnell won the top matches but dropped the lower singles and doubles. Dianne Hollands scored an easy win at No1 over Abigail Guthrie with Niki Tippins doing the same at No2. However Angela Swinkels and Natasha Watts gained victories for Royal Oak at three and four. The vital set for Parnell came from Tippins and Lisa Wilkinson gaining a set in their loss to Watts and Nicola Kaiwai.

The final could be close with Hollands expected to be too strong at No1 for O’Connor while the No2 singles could be an issue. If a pregnant Pavlina Nola plays how will she go against Bryce. If she does not play then Tippins will take her place. Lisa Wilkinson is the next player for Parnell and hasn’t had a happy season result wise. Former international Rachel Clark is the specialist doubles and reserve singles player for the team.

If Mangere are to take the title Bryce and the difficult barlow who has beaten a number of players with better rankings will be the key players. If they can score a win in singles with these players and in their doubles plus perhaps a set or even a match then the title but Parnell have won the Caro Bowl nine out of the last 11 years and won’t give up easily.

Round Seven Results:

Men

Parnell 4 West End 0 – Adam Thompson bt Martin Colenbrander 6-4 6-4; Matt Prentice bt James Greenhalgh 6-3 7-5; Alistair Hunt bt Teo Susnjak 6-3 6-4; Steve Downs bt Adam Staub 6-0 6-4.

Blockhouse Bay 3 (8sets) Pompallier3 (7sets) – Brendon Curry lt James Shortall 4-6 3-6; Andrew Batie bt Robbie Cheyne 6-3 6-7 6-3; Eru Lyndon bt Adam McNeil 6-1 6-1; Marc Paulik lt Pat Metham 6-2 4-6 4-6. Curry/Nick Turner bt Shortall/Metham 6-4 6-4; Lyndon/Batie lt Cheyne/McNeil 6-2 4-6 2-6.

Men’s final between Parnell and Blockhouse Bay to be played at Parnell – Friday 1 December 6pm.

Women

Mangere Combined 4 Kohimarama 2 – Tracey O’Connor lt Kairangi Vano 3-6 6-7; Shelley Bryce bt Varoma Vano 3-6 7-6 7-6; Luci Barlow bt Briar Preston 7-5 6-2; Manumea Durie bt Sarah Adams 6-3 3-6 6-3. O’Connor/Durie lt K Vano/Adams 1-6 5-7; Bryce/Barlow bt V vano/Siobhan Cavan 6-7 6-3 6-4.

Parnell 3 (7sets) Royal Oak 3 (6sets) – Dianne Hollands bt Abigail Guthrie 6-1 6-1; Niki Tippins bt Nicola Kaiwai 6-2 6-1; Lisa Wilkinson lt Angela Swinkels 6-7 2-6; Rachel Clark lt Natasha Watts 2-6 3-6. Hollands/Clark bt Guthrie/Swinkels 6-2 6-0; Tippins/Wilkinson lt Kaiwai/Watts 6-2 2-6 4-6.

Women’s final between Parnell and Mangere Combined to be played at Parnell – Friday 1 december 6pm.