This year’s State Doubles Championships were held at Prospect in fine and mild
conditions. For just the second time in five years, there was sufficient demand for a
separate Women’s competition and the turnout of ten teams for that event was great
to see.
At the end of the day, it was no surprise to see Deb Rodda & Selina Dally emerge as the
Women’s Champions. It doesn’t seem to matter whether there is a separate
competition or if the title is awarded to the best-placed female team in a combined
tournament, these two legends of the game (and reigning Open Triples champions)
have been keeping a firm grip on the Women’s Doubles title for some years now. It is
Deb’s fourth time in a row, while for Selina this makes six out of the past seven.
The only other team to get through the four qualifying rounds unscathed, Anna
O’Connor & Tory McBride, also continued through to the final and finished as
runners-up.
In the Open, there were a few upsets in the morning session, but the cream rose to the
top in the end. The new Champions are Alexi Alexi & Maurice Belz. That makes two in
a row for Maurice and it’s also the second for Alexi, although the latter had to wait for
eight years to replicate the feat. Alexi now has one State Singles trophy, two Doubles
trophies and three Triples trophies to his name.
After a steady start to the day, Alexi & Maurice made it to the final via an epic semi
against Lionel Pujol & Dominique Pierre (whose path to that point had not been quite
so straightforward). That game hung in the balance right until the end. In contrast,
the much-anticipated final against David Lefer & Lionel Chazal was all over in half an
hour and rather one-sided.
Congratulations to all the winners, including Glenis Head & Stan Wilson and Heike
Whitehorn & Marilyn Trebilcock, who showed the resilience to come back from a
disappointing morning session and win the Open and Women’s Consolantes,
respectively.
Thanks to the Prospect club and volunteers for taking care of us on the day. Thanks
also to Kenny May for taking on the role of non-playing umpire.
