The 2017/18 State League Season is due to get underway on October 14 with eight men’s teams and six women’s teams looking to get their season off to a strong start with a round one win.
In the women’s competition The Drive will again be the team to beat with a lineup that again features Melanie Clayton and Melissa Beadman at one and two. Young guns Alana Repancih and Vanessa Cozamanis will also be looking to stamp their authority on the State League Competition.
Seaside’s young guns will be looking to continue last year’s impressive season with the same team of youngsters led by Selina Turulja and Tahlia Van Der Eerden in their top spots. The Seaside team’s consistency week to week is their strength and another season with minimal injuries will be important to their success.
Other contenders look to be the Goodwood Saints who have recruited well by adding Tayla Whitehouse and Natasha Russell to their list and Kingswood who will be looking to improve on last year’s top four finish with the addition of Nikki Milner to their playing list.
Trinity Gardens line up looks solid with Amber Marshall at top spot and the Petrov sisters always competitive. Flagstaff Hill will be relying heavily on the form and availability of touring player Elyse Edwards and young gun Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz to content in what is sure to be a very competitive season.
In the men’s competition Collingrove look to be the team to beat if they can keep their best team on the court. Matt Teivans, Oliver Douglas and Simon Bates make a strong top three and will be looking to get Collingrove back to a top four finish this season.
Kingswood will look to build on last year’s fourth placed finish when they get their campaign underway in a fortnight. Improving youngsters Sean Van Rensberg, Josh Laka and Sam Gericke will make them hard to beat and their overall team depth is very strong.
Trinity Gardens will be hard to beat with Li Tu again leading them at top single. Veterans Andrew Tavella and Scott Hughes will be keen to get their team back to the State League Grand Final where they will look to change the result after last year’s loss to Glenlea in the decider.
Glenlea will be relying heavily on veterans Stephen Clasholm, Ben Mooney and Simon Pascoe to register early wins after losing last year’s State League Player of the Year, Damian Farinola to US College studies and young gun Brock Meuris to Seaside.
Smith Partners Tea Tree Gully look to be on the improve with youngsters Tyson Devine, Oliver Taylor and Dale Nixon all improving rapidly over the past 12 months. A top four finish will be the aim for this group as they look to return to the finals after a notable absence from finals action.
Broadview will be looking to have another tilt at the State Legaue Premiership after breaking their drought in 2015/16. Corey Decandia is vital to their success at number one singles while veteran Marty Richards will need to get the best out of himself to make their team competitive this season.
Seaside have again assembled a team of youngsters with Brock Meuris the big recruit coming across from Glenlea. Meuris will need to be at his best to win regularly at top single and Seaside will need a strong season from fellow young guns Asyskal Azhar and David Abfalter to push them toward the top four.
The Drive look to be well placed for a strong tilt at a return to the top four with the Stefan and Jonathon Norodom extremely important in the teams success. Patrick Luke will also need to have a strong season as will improving young gun Seb Flock who has come across from Trinity Gardens.
The Phantom tipsters top four predictions are;
| Men’s | Women’s |
| Kingswood | The Drive |
| Collingrove | Kingswood |
| Trinity Gardens | Seaside |
| Tea Tree Gully | Goodwood |
The State League will see some major changes for the 2017/18 Season which are outlined below;
- Doubling of prizemoney to $4k winner and $2k Runners Up
- Court Supervisors appointed to each tie
- Grand Final to be held on Sunday 25 March
Latest
SA