Parnell made it two-from-two in Scarbro Caro Bowl tennis in Auckland as they won the men’s and women’s championships for 2008.

 

While the women’s final was straightforward the men’s final was far from it with West End effectively snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

In front of a enthusiastic crowd of over 700 spectators West End won both doubles matches in three sets to give themselves a 2-0 lead going into the singles contests. Needing just one more match to take the title which would have been their first since 2004 they decided to gamble on playing former South African pro Wesley Whitehouse and therefore keep Teo Susnjak down at No4.

 

Whitehouse was never intending to finish his clash against Andrew Batie with his team assuming they would win at least one more singles and a couple of sets in the other matches.

 

However they underestimated Parnell as Matt Prentice won the top singles match in two tiebreaks against Adam Thompson in one of the many personal rivalries of the finals.

 

Alistair Hunt then won over Mark Nielsen in three sets while at No4 Steve Downs and Teo Susnjak were at one set a piece before Downs retired with cramp, with the contest already won on set countbacks 10-8 to Parnell, their ninth win in the past 11 years.

 

Earlier in the doubles Thompson and Nielsen won 7-5 in the third set over Prentice and Downs in an entertaining match while Whitehouse and James Greenhalgh maintained their unbeaten run together to take the second doubles over Hunt and Jacob Olsen but not without a fight winning 7-6 in the third set.

 

The Parnell women scored a 6-0 victory over Royal Oak to also win their ninth title in the last 11 years.

 

Royal Oak actually started well as Abigail Guthrie and Angela Swinkels took the first set in their doubles over Di Hollands and Pavlina Nola but the former internationals cameback to win the next two sets easily.

 

The remaining matches were all in straight sets, although Guthrie gave Hollands some trouble with her big service games. Having former world No68,  Nola in the second singles and former Kiwi pro Niki Tippins at three always gave Parnell plenty of depth while teenager Christine Foote improved throughout the season.

 

Men’s final

Parnell 3 (10 sets) West End 3 (8 sets)  

Matt Prentice bt Adam Thompson 7-6 7-6

Alistair Hunt bt Mark Nielsen  6-4 4-6 6-4

Andrew Batie bt Wesley Whitehouse 1-0 retired

Steve Downs lt Teo Susnjak 4-6 6-4 1-0 retired

Prentice/Downs lt Thompson/Nielsen 6-4 6-1 5-7

Hunt/Olsen lt Whitehouse/James Greenhalgh 7-6 6-4 6-7

 

Women’s final

Parnell 6 Royal Oak 0

Di Hollands bt Abigail Guthrie 7-5 6-4

Pavlina Nola bt Nicola Kaiwai 6-3 6-4

Niki Tippins bt Angela Swinkels 6-0 6-4

Foote bt Gabrielle Grady 7-6 3-2 retired

Nola/Hollands bt Guthrie/Swinkels 4-6 6-2  6-0

Tippins/Foote bt Grady/Kaiwai 7-6 6-1