Great Results in Girls Tennis in 2008

The Coonabarabran High School Open Girls Tennis Team surprised everyone with their best ever results in the North West Schools Knockout Competition.  Coonabarabran accounted for Narrabri High and Oxley High only to be just pipped by Gunnedah High in the Semis.

In the North West Knockout Competition four girls are ranked from 1 to 4. They each play a set of Doubles, then a set of Singles against their opposite ranked player, then another set of  Doubles (keeping the same partner) against the opposition’s  other Doubles combination. This makes a total of 8 sets to decide each match.

Coona had a forfeit against Narrabri High in the first round. They then played Oxley High at Coonabarabran in the second round. The Coona girls shocked Oxley by taking out this match by 5 sets to 3. This was a very exciting result for the girls as Coonabarabran teams had become accustomed to being humbled by more practiced teams from larger towns. Their best previous result was in winning 2 sets last year against Tamworth High.  This time the Coona girls more than matched their opposition with their consistency and strong ground strokes, and for the first time made the semi-finals.

The semi-final was played against Gunnedah High at Gunnedah. Again the Coona girls surprised and worried the opposition with their strong play. The match finished with the teams being tied at 4 sets each. The match was won by 5 games by Gunnedah on a count back.

The convincing performance by these young girls (Yr 9 and Yr 7) bodes well for Coonabarabran High in future North West Knockout Competitions.  It is a vindication of the work by Coach David Macintosh and the Junior Tennis Committee in developing Junior Tennis in Coonabarabran.