Tennis: Rotorua tie up semis spot

Shaun Tamai (pictured) and the Rotorua men's team have had outstanding results in the Waikato Bays interclub competition. Photo / Ben Fraser

The Rotorua men's team are guaranteed a semifinals spot in the Waikato Bays interclub competition after a fantastic pre-Christmas run.

The men have won seven out of their eight fixtures this season and sit top of the ladder in the premier division.

With only one round left before the playoffs, they are guaranteed a place in the semifinals come February.

The Rotorua team defeated Whakatane 5-1 on Saturday to stay top of the ladder, winning their four singles matches and one of two doubles.

The team featured Shaun Tamai, Sean Martin, Lionel Rogers, James Wilce and Jesse Galvin-Dawson.

Meanwhile, the Rotorua women's team are in an equally strong position.

They comfortably qualified for the top four in their division, which has now entered a finals series.

Rotorua, Mount Maunganui/Otumoetai, Tauranga Lawn and Gate Pa have just started the finals series in which each team plays each other once.

The team with the most points after the series will be crowned champions of the Waikato Bays women's competition.

The Rotorua women's team made a great start to the finals series, defeating Gate Pa 6-0 on Saturday in Rotorua, winning all their singles and doubles matches.

The Rotorua women's last two fixtures will be played after the Christmas break against Tauranga Lawn on January 31 (away) and a huge match against Mount Maunganui/Otumoetai on February 21 (home).

All teams carry their accumulated points into the finals series.

Going into the finals, Rotorua were six points behind leaders Mount but picked up eight competition points with the win over Gate Pa.

The Rotorua team that defeated Gate Pa on Saturday included Pang Suwanaposee, Zanna Douglas, Leona Davis-Kaye and Weiwei Verran.

The men's semifinals will be held on February 21, featuring the top three teams from the competition as well as the top side from the Hawke's Bay competition.

The grand final will then be played in early March.

Results from Saturday's matches:

Women: Rotorua 6 Gate Pa 0. Men: Rotorua 5 Whakatane 1.