It has been two years since the Scarbro Caro Bowl competition was played after the event was cancelled last season because of Covid-19 restrictions. The 2022 competition kicked off in style over the weekend and teams were fired up to kickstart their campaigns for the season. Despite wet weather for most of the weekend, all matches were completed, and some high-quality tennis was played.
Men Pool A
Defending champion from 2020 Next Gen opened their account with a resounding 6-0 clean sweep against Bucklands Beach. Finn Tearney and Rhett Purcell led the charge and it was good to see Connor Williamson back after spending time in the USA. East Tamaki made a historic first ever appearance in the Scarbro Caro Bowl and put up a good showing against Blockhouse Bay before going down 4-2. Matavao Fanguna played well to win the top singles against Martin Colenbrander but it was not enough to carry the side after they lost both doubles matches in third set super-tiebreaks.
Men Pool B
Cockle Bay jumped out to a strong start with a 5-1 victory over Royal Oak on Friday night. James Meredith at #1 led by example winning his singles and doubles matches comfortably. Andrew Allan secured the only point for Royal Oak winning his singles easily after narrowly losing his doubles match. Parnell won at home on Saturday against Karaka 4-2 and produced some great tennis in front of a home crowd celebrating 150 years of history. Parnell has a proud record in the Scarbro Caro Bowl and is clearly setting sights on holding the trophy aloft at the end of the season.
Women Pool Play
The youthful Campbell Park side swept away the challenge of defending 2020 champions Bucklands Beach on Friday night in a contest that was moved indoors due to inclement weather. Shona Nakano defeated Abby Mason in the top singles while Renee Zhang, Aisha Das and Muhan Cui all followed suit winning in straight sets. The doubles were no different and both were won in two sets by Campbell Park who top the table after the first round. Next Gen made an impressive debut in the Women’s Competition beating Royal Oak 5-1. Jade Lewis and Stella Cliffe were solid in the top two singles. Annabelle Loutit secured the only point for Royal Oak. Pompallier was the other first round victor beating Kohimarama 4-2 in a good contest. Despite missing a couple of their top players, Pompallier wrapped up 3 singles after sharing the doubles honours.
More great Scarbro Caro Bowl action is scheduled on Friday and Sunday this week.
Go to the SCARBRO Caro Bowl section at https://www.tennisauckland.co.nz/scarbro-caro-bowl for full draws and results.
