The 2022 Scarbro Caro Bowl season gets underway tonight at various club venues across the Auckland region. The competition was not played last season because of Covid 19 restrictions but it is back with a vengeance this year and some of the teams are fielding some great NZ and overseas players.
The Scarbro Caro Bowl always attracts most of the nation’s top players and this year is no exception with the likes of Rubin Statham, Ajeet Rai, Paige Hourigan and Vivian Yang on team lists. There are several overseas ranked players listed for teams this season making the competition one of the strongest we’ve seen for several years.
A big welcome to East Tamaki who will be making its debut appearance in the Men’s competition and Royal Oak returns to the top league after a couple of years absence. Next Gen is a new addition to the women’s draw, and we look forward to watching their team compete this year.
The season promises to deliver high quality contests in both the Men’s and Women’s competitions. The Men’s eight team format will be comprised of two pools of four teams competing in a round robin to determine the four semi-finalists. The top two teams from each pool move through to the semis stage while the bottom two teams will go into a relegation playoff series. The Women’s section has seven teams, so a full round robin will be played to determine the two finalists.
The opening round of Men’s competition this weekend is loaded with potentially exciting contests. 2020 champions Next Gen take on Bucklands Beach at home while Royal Oak face Cockle Bay. The match between Karaka and Parnell on Saturday afternoon should be a real feature contest with both teams fielding very strong line ups including Statham, Rai and several ATP ranked players. East Tamaki is at home to Blockhouse Bay on Sunday to cap off the first round of contests in what should be a real contrast between the newcomers from East Tamaki and the always solid Blockhouse side.
The Women’s matches are all scheduled to be played on Friday night in round one. The young Campbell Park team take on defending champs Bucklands Beach in what should prove to be an interesting encounter. Next Gen makes its debut against Royal Oak while a strong Pompallier side visit Kohimarama.
The opening round contests will give a reasonable indication of which teams will most likely contend for the 2022 title. It’s been two years since a Scarbro Caro Bowl game was played so teams are eager to take the court and represent their clubs.
Full draws and venues are available in the Scarbro Caro Bowl section on the Tennis Auckland website. We encourage all tennis fans to come along, support their clubs, watch some great tennis and enjoy host club hospitality.
