Victoria reflects on successful Masters National Championships

Victoria put up competitive efforts across this board again at the Masters National Championships this year, with their eight sides yielding one title and five grand final appearances.

The tournament extended to 186 matches over eight days of competition, comprising seven grades, with an Over-60 Men’s grade added to the mix this year.

Division Results

The Over-40 Men won Victoria’s only title of the Championships, but the silverware was earned in decisive fashion, with a 92-57 win over hosts South Australia. This gained a measure of revenge for the side for their Preliminary Final loss against the same team last year. They did this off the back of seven wins from eight matches during round-robin play, qualifying first. Brad Jones was named the Player of the Series.

The Over-35 Men (Blue) were looking for back-to-back triumphs after their 2024 title win. However, despite qualifying first with nine wins from ten matches during round robin play, they fell at the final hurdle against Queensland, their finalist opponents from last year, losing 94-81. Nilantha Wijekoon, who is in the Sri Lanka Open Men’s preliminary squad for the World Cup, was named Player of the Series.

Meanwhile, the Over-30 Ladies returned to the Masters division after missing out last year, and made an immediate impact, running last year’s winners South Australia close in the triple round-robin, which included a 12-run win in their third game. Five wins from nine matches and second place got them into a preliminary final against Queensland, and a 37-win got them a spot into the final against the South Australians. However, it was not to be, a 113-92 loss saw the South Australians claim the title for the second year in a row.

The Over-45 and Over-60 Men also made their respective grand finals, the Over-50 Men finished 5th, and the Over-55 Men made the preliminary final.

All-Star Team Selections

With many teams featuring at the back end of the tournament, Victoria was rewarded with several selections in the All-Star Teams.

The All-Star Teams are teams of the tournament which are named at the end of the competition. In years where a WICF Masters World Series event is held, Australian Teams would be named.

Gregory: Pleased to see our Masters’ base is growing

Indoor Sports Victoria (ISV) Executive Ross Gregory showed praised for his Masters’ sides after the conclusion of the event.

“One Championship, and five teams in grand finals out of seven grades, is a fantastic achievement for our organisation and State,” said Gregory.

“I am pleased to see our Masters’ base is growing; we have seen a natural move of our Open’s players up to Masters’ level in the process, and this is showing in the output of our performances at this tournament.”

Gregory put down a lot of the success to the initiatives at local level, including the creation of the Champions League, a tournament run by ISV catering for different grades including the Masters, from which selection for these teams occur. “This tournament has helped our player pool increase, providing good competition and ensuring the best players make each squad we select.”

Victoria now looks forward to the upcoming National Championships for the Opens and Under-22 Teams in Perth later this month.

Image: Indoor Sports Victoria