2026 Narre Warren Para-Singles Tournament Wrap

26 players made their way to Narre Warren and “the Panther Dome” last Saturday for the now annual Para-Singles event. Now in its third running, the field was the biggest yet with a combination of 16 Para-Physical classified players and 10 Para-Intellectual (ID) classified players, competing in an open draw.

The competition was run over four rounds under a sets-play singles format, with matches made up of two sets of six ends and a one end tiebreak if necessary.

While the two covered greens at Narre Warren provided shelter, it wasn’t necessary on what turned out to be a spectacular autumn day; many players opting for the shorts and short sleeves seldom seen at this time of year. On the green the contests started off hot with a few upsets and close results setting the tone for the day. Round one saw the winner of the B5/6 singles at last month’s Para State Championships, Michael Clark (Ballarat North) fall in a tiebreak to Heathmont’s Rob Ruffle. Ben Peachey (Korumburra) coming off his own win in the ID Pairs at the Para State Championships also went down in a tiebreak to Frankston’s Taylor Candy. To top it off last year’s champion in this event, Natalie Brennan (Geelong Eastern Park) also took a tiebreak to overcome Howard Smith from Clunes.

As games progressed and scorecards came in, the tournament was still up for grabs. After three rounds of play there were still five undefeated players; Annette Ruffle (Heathmont), Barry Hancock (Bundoora), Donna Ellery (Auburn), Joanna Lomagno (Korumburra) and the aforementioned defending champion, Natalie Brennan. An eager chasing pack who’d won two of their first three games were also ready to pounce on any slip ups from the leading five with it clear set points and shots may come into the equation.

Annette Ruffle had the mighty task of playing Paul Carlyle (Invermay) coming off his win in the ID Singles at State Championships and unfortunately for her, some late fatigue crept in as she succumbed to Paul 4-5, 5-3, 0-2. This gave Paul his third win of the day having lost in round three to Joanna Lomagno. Joanna had a matchup against Lakes Entrance’s Ian Gray who played a spectacular tiebreak to claim a 3-5, 6-4, 1-0 win. Natalie Brennan had a tough task to add to last year’s title as well, with her final matchup against Michael Clark bound to be a tight contest. Michael however got the better of Natalie 8-4, 9-1 and giving both of them a 3-1 record for the day.

This left just two players with undefeated records after Donna Ellery finished her campaign with a tiebreak win over Blackburn’s Sarah Gibson (8-4, 3-7, 2-0), and Barry Hancock beat Blackburn’s Wayne Farmer 9-2, 6-5 to complete his day winning every single match two sets to zero! Barry was the overall winner on the day with a +41 score differential.