Long secures dual doubles titles as GV wins regional event

By James Kleeman

Jan 11, 2022

In the zone: Eliza Long secured dual doubles titles at the inter-regional championships at the weekend. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

Goulburn Region has capped the hugely successful 66th Inter-Regional Country Championships at Horsham by clinching the largest regional team event award from Tennis Australia.

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Some solid individual performances from Goulburn players boosted them well above the other seven competing regions from across Victoria.

One of the region’s top performers, Eliza Long, put in some terrific displays to come away with the women’s doubles title alongside Hope Curtis-McDonald, before winning the mixed doubles with Jarrod Bingham.

In the women’s singles, Long flew through her opening matches, setting the stage for an enticing finals contest with Isabella Crossman.

Crossman was dominant in the preliminary rounds, winning with a pair of 6-1 sets against Hope Curtis-McDonald, before claiming a 6-3, 6-2 win against second seed Nicole Mullen.

Crossman eventually came away with a commanding victory in the final against Long, winning 6-0, 6-2.

David Poole and James-Curtis McDonald, who went head-to-head in the men’s B singles final at the Goulburn Valley Open last week, competed again in the open men’s singles, before teaming up in the doubles event.

Curtis-McDonald, who entered as fourth seed, enjoyed a strong run to the semi-finals where he met second seed Daniel Stormon, losing out in a gutsy performance 6-2, 6-1.

Poole overcame his third ranking in his semi-final match-up against Mitchell Allman, narrowly beating out the competition’s first seed 7-6, 6-2.

He would lose out to the rampant Stormon in the final, 6-4, 6-3.

Kirrily McConachy backed up her win in the women’s B division at the GV Open to clinch the girls’ under-18 singles title.

McConachy, entering as top seed, cruised through her preliminary encounters before coming up against second seed Megan Clare O'Beirne in the final, with McConachy putting on a clinic to come away with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

She would then combine with Deagan Tomkins in the mixed 25-and-under doubles, grabbing an 8-3 finals win after a dominant run through the preliminary rounds.

Young-gun Thomas Ranson secured victories in his busy schedule, taking out the boys under-14 doubles alongside Alex Ryan, before teaming up with Lucy Bassett to also clinch the mixed under-14 doubles title.

Bassett's brother, Jack, showed onlookers the siblings will be a force to be reckoned with on the courts in years to come, as he collected top prize in the boys under-16 singles.

Jinaya Nurse and Aria Henare would also pick up points for Goulburn in their singles matches, securing the girls under-14 and under-12 singles titles respectively.

The win for Goulburn Region means it now claims back the trophy from Barwon Region, which won 12 months ago at Warrnambool.