It was a dominant showing by Echuca 1 at Echuca Tennis Club, the minor premier winning 10-88 to 3-63 to reclaim the shield, having last done so in 2024.
“We're very happy to win,” Echuca 1 captain Todd Charnas said.
“We got off to a really good start and I think that made all the difference, put them under pressure.”
Echuca 1 took out three of the first four sets, punctuated by youngsters Jack Byrne and Eli Kingma sweeping the men’s singles in what Charnas felt was the turning point on the day.
Another sweep in the men’s doubles had the side well on its way to victory, with Byrne and Charnas standing out in this section, winning their set 8-3.
The sides split the women’s pairings with two sets each, as Roxanne Dicketts and Charlotta Groenewald triumphed 8-1 in their rubber, Jessica Cox and Tanya Godfrey doing likewise for Echuca 2, storming to an impressive win by the same margin.
“We won a couple of sets that we thought we might not have, so that made a big difference,” Charnas said.
“The ladies did well and then the two young boys won the singles, which was a big help for us having Eli back after not playing for quite a while, and Jack played really well too.”
The minor premier was in a strong position heading into the mixed pairings, but still had a job to do.
“It certainly wasn't in the bag going into the mixed,” Echuca 1 star Dicketts said.
“We know that they have a really strong mixed combination, so the pressure was on us right to the end.”
Echuca 2 did contest all mixed doubles sets fiercely, with each being decided by either one or two games, but the clubmate held its nerve, taking out three of the four rubbers to secure what was ultimately a comfortable victory.
It was one that took Charnas by pleasant surprise, the captain feeling that little separated the clubmates heading into the decider.
Echuca 1 is now back on top of the mountain after a one-year hiatus, with Charnas also attributing the development of younger players in 2025, such as Byrne, Kingma and Mia Aston, as key to this latest success.
Dicketts also reflected on what she feels is a team built by the sum of its parts.
“At the end of the day it’s a pretty good team effort,” she said.
“We've got so many great fill-ins as well that have contributed throughout the season, so we've had Mia, we've had Ed and Lauri (Melville) and there's lots of people that help with the team spirit.”
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