DAY 5 Wrap – Queensland Claim Teams Gold In Dramatic Fashion

Day 5 of the Australian Senior Championships in Adelaide saw the team events conclude. In a sensational performance the Queensland team of Jake Duffy and Altantulga Lkhagvadorj won gold after defeating Victoria in the semi final and NSW B in the final. Against Victoria Altantulga Lkhagvadorj cleaned up Dillon Chambers in straight games in the opening rubber before Jake Duffy caused a boil over by taking down Olympian David Powell in 5 games. Victoria didn’t surrender easily though and claimed the next two rubbers to force a deciding doubles to be played. It was the Queenslanders who claimed the rubber in four games to storm into the final. In the other semi final NSW B trumped their counterparts NSW. Star for NSW B was Joe Lim as he took down both Kane Townsend and Trent Carter. Jake Lee had a tougher time in singles as he was defeated by both Townsend and Carter which again meant a deciding doubles was required. In a match that ebbed and flowed, Lee and Lim held their nerve to claim the win and a berth in the finals with a five games victory by the narrowest of margins.

In the final Jake Duffy was the difference, claiming clutch five games victories over both Jake Lee and Joe Lim. Queensland came to within one game of gold in the fourth rubber, however Lee clung on for a five games win over Altantulga Lkhagvadorj which meant yet another deciding doubles was required. Lim paired up with Shaoping Zhang and they shot out to a 2-0 lead, however the Queenslanders dug deep to come back and eventually won 13-11 in the fifth to claim gold.

In the 3^rd/4^th place playoff NSW claimed a 3-2 victory despite Heming Hu winning both singles for Victoria. This meant that for the first time in countless years the Victorian Men’s Team did not claim a podium finish.

The Women’s Team final was a more straight forward affair. Top seeds Victoria who were fielding a team full of Olympians proved too strong for a gallant NSW. Tracey Feng’s victory over Miao Miao was the only joy for NSW, while Melissa Tapper’s two singles victories over Feng and Michelle Bromley proved the difference in the end.

In the bronze medal playoff Queensland claimed a 4-1 win on the back of Min Hyung Jee’s two singles victories against Kai Peng and Jiamuwa Wu.

In the Under 21 Men’s Teams unprecedented scenes took place as NSW, NSW B and NSW C claimed gold, silver and bronze respectively. Meanwhile in the Under 21 Women’s Teams Victoria B finished the week undefeated after taking down Victoria 4-1 in the final. Hosts South Australia claimed their first medal of the week by winning bronze by defeating South Australia B, with Michelle Chan’s two singles victories over Natalie Cheung and Jasmine Fung the deciding factor.

Singles round robins get underway tomorrow. For full results, click here.