21 November 2012 | Tennis Queensland

The Asia Pacific Tennis League – Queensland conference finalists have

been decided following a nail-biting night of action in Toowoomba. In

the women’s final the Shaw Park Sharks will take on the Beenleigh

Blaze whilst in the men’s showdown the Tennis Brisbane Chargers will

take on the Tennis Brisbane Tornadoes.

The Tornadoes men were the last team to secure their place in the

final following a 6-0 victory over the Toowoomba Tigers. The

Tornadoes were in great form throughout the singles, not

dropping a set on the way to a 4-0 lead.

However, their spot in the final still came down to winning

both doubles rubbers to secure a 6-0 victory and a spot in

the final. In the pivotal match of the night Isaac &

Leon Frost (Tornadoes) came from a set down to defeat

Tigers duo Mark Richards and Travis Dragojlo 2-4 4-1 11-9.

The win ensured the Tornadoes will now face the Tennis Brisbane

Chargers in the final on Friday night whilst the Beenleigh Blaze

are forced to playoff for third position.

The Chargers men have led the competition from start to finish

and proved too strong again last night against the Sunshine Coast

Breakers eventually winning 5-1. The Tornadoes will certainly prove

a difficult opponent in the final as they have been consistently

improving throughout the competition. Both teams have great depth

and are expecting an extremely close encounter. The winning team

will be crowned our inaugural men’s champions and progress to the

Asia Pacific Tennis League final to be played in Melbourne during

the Australian Open.

The Beenleigh Blaze men finished a very close third to the

Tornadoes after defeating the Shaw Park Sharks 4-2. Ciaran

Moore (Sharks) was the villain for the Blaze showing great

form in defeating Johnny Stamenovic 4-1 4-1. The Blaze will

now face the Sharks again on Friday in a playoff for third

place whilst the Tigers and Breakers will square off in

a playoff for fifth.

In a preview to Friday nights final, the Shaw Park Sharks

women downed the Beenleigh Blaze 6-0. Whilst three of the

matches went to a deciding set the Sharks proved too strong

in the end and will be favourites heading into Fridays final.

The Blaze will be boosted heading into the match by the

inclusion 14 year old young gun Kimberly Birrell who was

missing from the Blaze line-up in Toowoomba.

In other women’s matches overnight, the Toowoomba Tigers

pleased their home crowd by defeating  the Tennis Brisbane

Tornadoes 5-1 whilst the Tennis Brisbane Chargers defeated

the Sunshine Coast Breakers in a cliff-hanger. With matches

locked at three wins apiece the Chargers won on a count back

seven sets to six.  On Friday night the Toowoomba Tigers

will take on the Sunshine Coast Breakers to earn third

position whilst the Tennis Brisbane Tornadoes and Tennis

Brisbane Chargers will playoff for fifth spot overall.

The final of the ATL will be at Griffith University Tennis

Centre – Sports Rd, Mount Gravatt, 4121. Play begins on

all courts at 6:30pm. Entry is free with dinner and drinks

available for all spectators. The final will be played on

Friday night at Griffith University Tennis Centre,

Sports Rd, Mount Gravatt, 4121. For further information

on the ATL and for full results, please visit

http://www.tennis.com.au/competitions/asia-pacific-tennis-league