With a large crowd number of over 500 the Parnell men’s side were hoping to defend their title at home against West End. They started in the worst possible way with No2 Andrew Batie not making it to the courts as a result of traffic congestion and lax time keeping within the 15 minute margin and was then duly defaulted as he was at least 10 minutes after the latest deadline.

Batie’s delay meant a 6-0 6-0 bonus for West End in the bottom doubles. The top match being a win for West End thanks to Mark Nielsen and former South African pro Wesley Whitehouse beating Matt Prentice and Steve Downs. The two doubles victories meant a near-impossible task for Parnell to win all four singles. All they managed was a tight three set victory in the No1 singles as Prentice defeated Adam Thompson. The remaining singles were all won by West End in straight sets. The win by West End stopped the run by Parnell which had seen them win the past four years running since West End’s last triumph.

The women’s decider had Royal Oak hosting Parnell also in front of a big crowd. Royal Oak had led all the way through the season. Defending champs, Parnell had won 11 out of the past 14 years of women’s Caro Bowl and had started the season slow. However the experience of the still world-ranked Franziska Etzel from Germany at No1, former top 80 ranked Pavlina Nola and former Kiwi No1 Rewa Harriman(nee Hudson) in the top three singles was the key for Parnell as they won their final 4-2 over Royal Oak.

The doubles were shared as Nola and Harriman defeated Angela Swinkels and Rachel Dive but Royal Oak gaining a victory with teenagers Leela Beattie and Emily Fanning defeating Etzel and Libby Scott in straight sets. In the singles Beattie, 15 gave Etzel a run for her money but the German who surprisingly hasn’t been used to hit with the nations best players came through 7-5 7-6. The talent of Fanning, 14 could be seen but experience counted for Nola who was able to change the pace against her inexperienced counterpart to win 6-4 6-4. Harriman won the No3 singles over Swinkels while Dive gained a match for Royal Oak winning against Scott in straight sets.

The majority of players now get ready for the West End Cup tournament at the West End club, 4-6 December followed by the Auckland Champs 8-10 December and the New Zealand Residentials.

Men’s final:

West End 5 Parnell 1

Adam Thompson lt Matt Prentice 5-7 6-4 4-6

Mark Nielsen bt Andrew Batie 6-1 6-1

Alistair Hunt bt Steve Downs 6-2 7-5

Teo Susnjak bt Jacob Olsen 6-3 6-3

Nielsen/Wesley Whitehouse bt Prentice/Downs 6-3 6-1

Hunt/James Greenhalgh bt Batie/Olsen default

Women’s final:

Parnell 4 Royal Oak 2

Fransizka Etzel bt Leela Beattie 7-5 7-6

Pavlina Nola bt Emily Fanning 6-4 6-4

Rewa Harriman bt Angela Swinkels 6-0 6-4

Libby Scott lt Rachel Dive 0-6 4-6

Etzel/Scott lt Beattie/Fanning 3-6 1-6

Nola/Harriman bt Swinkels/Dive 7-5 6-1