AIDEN Mibus has once again dominated the Surry District Tennis Association championships weekend, claiming the title in the A grade men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions for the second year in a row.

It was a big display of talent across the two days with the championships offering one of the only local opportunities to compete in singles competition.

In the men’s A grade final Mibus came up against Dan Polkinghorne with the two players battling in championship match ups across many years.

Mibus managed to start and finish strong to claim victory in three sets, 6-2, 5-6, 6-4, with the champion saying his matches against Polkinghorne never come easy.

“To be honest I don’t know exactly how many times we’ve played against each other, but it’s definitely been a few and we always go to three sets,” he said.

“I can never expect to clean him up in straight sets and he’s the same with me so it’s always tough.

“I think I started a bit better; I was able to break him first but then he broke me right back so it was 1-1.

“In the end I just kept going and built my confidence on court.”

With Polkinghorne dominating the baseline and Mibus trying to push up to the net and shorten the rallies, it was tough to separate the two players.

“Dan is more of a rally guy on the baseline whereas I look to move up and play some different shots and finish the games a bit quicker.

“Late in the second set I started to cramp up a bit and was cramping all through the third set but once I broke him in the third, I just went for it.”

The A grade men’s singles title is the fourth in a row for Mibus who says the competition continues to build.

“We had six guys in the A grade singles and you couldn’t pick who was going to win across all of them,” he said.

“Nash (Wollard) is someone I played (on Saturday) and have played previously and he is improving so much, I can’t believe how much he’s improved over the years,” he said.

“Damien (Kielbaska) is new and once he gets to know the other players a bit more, he’s also going to be tough to beat.”

Women’s A grade singles

15-year-old Maggie Barbary had an impressive day on the court, taking out the women’s A grade singles match against experienced competitor Jane Booth.

Barbary defeated Jorjia Farrugia 6-5 to make the final clash with Booth defeating young competitor Marnie Mueller in a thrilling 8-7 game.

The final was a best of three sets match with Barbary showing her composure to win in two sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Mixed doubles

The doubles competitions were played out as a round robin with the pair winning the most match ups claiming the title.

In the mixed doubles it was Mibus who locked in another victory alongside young player Nyla Conheady with the pair also teaming up during the regular season for Lawn Red.

Their biggest competition of the day was coming up against the experience of Cameron McCallum and Kerri-Ann O’Keefe who also play together in regular Saturday matches.

Mibus said they managed to make the most of their opportunities against the crafty play of McCallum and O’Keefe.

“Cam and Kerri are very crafty players, so it was a very good game,” Mibus said.

“They had their chances and we had ours and I think we just managed to make the most of what we could.

“I said to Nyla to stay on the baseline and play through it and then I’ll just try to find some winners where I can.

“She is going to be a really good player and it was just lucky she made it on the day, she’d been at Taylor Swift the night before, drove home through the night and then managed to back it up with tennis on Sunday.”

Women’s doubles

In the women’s doubles it was once again the reliable duo of Kerri-Ann O’Keefe and Leah Sandeman who claimed championships honours.

The duo has been formidable across a number of years with their regular Saturday match ups and championship pairings proving difficult to combat.

Coming up against some younger opponents, the experience of O’Keefe and Sandeman shone through as they made quick work of their opponents in the round robin clashes.

Men’s doubles

In the men’s doubles it was again Mibus who took out the championship alongside Dion Sandeman.

The pairing was a late call up as Mibus originally planned to compete alongside Quinn Elijah, who was a late withdrawal, with Sandeman turning up on the day.

“I ended up meeting Dion the morning of the championship because Quinn wasn’t able to play,” Mibus said.

“That was a whole challenge in itself, we didn’t know each other style so trying to figure that out was interesting, but it all gelled together really well.

“I’d never come across Dion before, but he was great, I really hope he keeps playing because he was very handy.”

Once again Mibus’ biggest challenge of the day was Polkinghorne who paired up with Wollard, with their clash proving tough and the eventual champions getting across the line.