The Victorian Open Veterans Championships were held over Easter with plenty of State Champions crowned as doubles events made their return to tournaments over a successful weekend. The Seniors, Para’s and Juniors will compete this weekend at MSAC.

Warrnambool Veterans star Simon Johnson and partner Matt Solt (Loops) were amongst the first to taste doubles success in 2021 with a five-set comeback win over Knox Indoor’s Brett Halocha and Chris Dobrovic (Dandenong) in the O/30 Men’s Doubles. It hasn't been a bad start for Solt’s career as a Victorian after moving down from Queensland earlier this year. Vivienne Halocha (Knox Indoor) and Melbourne Veterans’ Anushka Fernando claimed the O/30 Women’s Doubles title.

Tarneit’s Reddy Rohit Tatikonda won the O/30’s Men’s title with a four-set victory over Coburg’s Craig Carter. Tatikonda came in as the number one seed and only dropped a couple of sets on his way to the victory.

For the O/30’s Women, Coburg’s Cheryl Huang won the title after going undefeated through the group final, while Lydia Liu (Albert Park) finished second.

Croydon’s Lan Zhai had a fantastic tournament with wins in the O/40 Women’s Singles and Doubles as well as the O/50 Women’s Singles and Doubles.

Be Phu Huynh (Coburg) was another player that claimed a few titles across different age categories with victories in the O/50 Men’s Singles and Doubles, O/60 Men’s Singles and a second-place finish in the O/60 Men’s Doubles event.

“It was brilliant to see so many great veteran’s players at MSAC over Easter for the first of the State Championships in 2021,” Said TTV ECO, Claire Montgomery.

“Finally having some doubles events back at tournaments was also very exciting! We’re looking forward to seeing the Seniors, Paras and Juniors fight it out at MSAC this weekend for some more State Titles.”

For full results from the Veterans Championships please go HERE.

Moving on to the upcoming weekend, the Victorian Open Junior Championships will be taking over MSAC on Saturday April 17 before the Victorian Open Senior/Para Championships get underway on Sunday April 18.

There is set to be a decent amount of interstate talent challenging Victorians for the titles with a number of National Camps being held around Victoria at the moment.

Some top junior talent will be on display on Saturday with players such as Dandenong duo Parleen Kaur and Connie Psihogios, Croydon’s Nicholas and Lucas Lum, LOOPS’ Chermaine Quah, Geelong’s Richard Li and plenty more looking to dominate the junior divisions.

“We have had some amazing numbers in our junior events so far this year,” Said Montgomery.

“There were 96 entries at Croydon, 84 at Dandenong and we’ve had 124 Junior entries for the Vic Open. I don’t think we’ve had junior tournament entries above 100 for at least 10 years.”

On Sunday, Sanish Ambekar (Balwyn United) and NSW’s Yangzi Liu will be looking to make it three from three as the pair try to add another title to their 2021 trophy cabinet’s. Ambekar and Liu have each won the open titles at the Dandenong Open and Croydon Masters earlier this year.

Junior Timetable

Senior/Para Timetable