Tennis: Bay of Plenty win coveted Rosebowl crown

Tennis Bay of Plenty, from left, Jessie Galvin-Dawson, Justin McGraw, Mia Middleton, Mia Wardlaw, James Wilce and Shaun Tamai. Team members absent: Brendan McCashin and Aliya Edwards. Photo/Supplied

Tennis Bay of Plenty have secured the coveted Rosebowl crown after a formidable display over the weekend.

The two-day tournament was contested by three other teams - Western Bay of Plenty, Waikato/Thames Valley and Tennis Eastern (Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay) in a round robin format at the Rotorua Tennis Club.

Each team consisted of a minimum of four men and two women. Each tie consisted of four men's singles, two women's singles, two men's doubles matches and one women's doubles match.

Bay of Plenty took the title after beating Tennis Eastern 5-4 and Western Bay of Plenty 7-2 on Saturday. They backed that up with a 9-0 win over Waikato/Thames Valley on Sunday.

The winning squad was made up of Rotorua players - captain Shaun Tamai, Jessie Galvin-Dawson, Justin McGraw, Mia Middleton, James Wilce, Brendan McCashin, Aliya
Edwards and Whakatane's Mia Wardlaw.

Tamai said he was delighted with the result and said it showed the depth and quality in local tennis.

"It's fantastic for the whole region and it was an overall team effort," he said. "We had a very strong squad - in previous years we've either had strong male or female players but this year everyone was on top form.

"On paper all of the other teams looked dangerous but we all kept cool and calm and dominated. It's awesome for us."

This year saw the Rosebowl return after a five-year absence on the tennis calendar.

"It's a great competition and to have it here locally was a scalp," Tamai said. "This gives tennis in the area another boost."

Rosebowl tennis championships results:

Saturday April 08

Round 1: Tennis Bay of Plenty beat Tennis Eastern 5-4; Tennis Western Bay of Plenty beat Waikato/Thames Valley 7-2.

Round 2: Tennis Eastern beat Waikato/Thames Valley 8-1; Tennis Bay of Plenty beat Tennis Western Bay of Plenty 7-2.

Sunday April 09

Round 3: Tennis Bay of Plenty beat Waikato/Thames Valley 9-0; Tennis Eastern beat Tennis Western Bay of Plenty 6-3.

Winners: 1. Tennis Bay of Plenty; 2. Tennis Eastern; 3. Tennis Western Bay of Plenty; 4. Waikato/Thames Valley