President’s grade tennis provides exciting finale

Close encounters marked Tuesday night’s Marlborough WK+ President’s Grade tennis finals.

Results in the region’s most popular senior competition went down to the wire, the division one title decided on countback while the division three winner was settled in a tense super tiebreak.

Two Rapaura teams met in the division one decider, Rapaura Masters coming out on top of Rapaura Just Move 32-27 on countback of games after the matches were shared 2-2.

Just Move made a strong start, Emily Stenhouse and her sister Heidi Allen beating Donna Clark and Pauline Fudge 9-6, then Kyle Heagney and Darin Herd prevailing 9-8 over Jared Bell and Stu Campbell in a tiebreak.

However, Masters took control in the mixed, Donna and Stu beating Heidi and Kyle 9-5, before Jared and Pauline downed Emily and Darin 9-4 to clinch the tie and the title.

Division two was take out by Renwick Mighty Four, a side who have made a steady rise through the ranks. Andy Glackin, Tom Trolove, George Guthrie, Sarah Dillon and Vic Struthers have played together as a team for many seasons, Sarah and Vic since they were 15.

They began in division four, which they won in 2011-12 and 2012-13. They took out division three in 2015-16 under the Rapaura club’s umbrella, then this season won division two as the Renwick Mighty Four, earning promotion to division one for 2023-24.

Taking the division three title this season was Rapaura Matador, who have had something of a roller-coaster ride through the grades. Theirs was the clos- est encounter on Tuesday. After finishing 2-2 in matches won and equal on games won, they embarked on a super tiebreaker, with Ramon Smith and Marianne Pecchenino eventually edging out Blair Hantz and Joey Eade under lights to clinch the title. The division four decider was contested on Tuesday, February 21, and taken out by Renwick Racquets who beat Rapaura Shiraz 3-1.

Results from the WK+ Presidents Grade finals on Tuesday, February 28:

Division 1: Rapaura Masters 2

(32) Rapaura Just Move 2 (27)

Division 2: Marlborough Swallows 1 Renwick Mighty Four 3

Division 3: Rapaura Matador 2

(32) Rapaura Blenheim ITM 2

(32) Won super tie, 10-7

Division 4 (played on February 21): Renwick Racquets 3 Rapaura Shiraz 1.

Cycling Marlborough rider Callum Saunders picked up two national elite titles at the New Zealand track cycling champs staged at Invercargill’s SIT Zero Fees Velodrome over the weekend. First, Olympic and Commonwealth Games representative Callum took out the men’s elite sprint crown, registering a top speed of 71.59 km/h, then he claimed the men’s keirin title. Tasman’s Shaane Fulton emulated Callum’s efforts in the women’s sprint and keirin.

Cricket Washout

Both Sunday’s scheduled Marlborough senior representative cricket matches were washed out. The men were due to play their Nelson counterparts at Horton Park for the prized Newman Shield, while the women’s rep side were due to take on the Nelson Ryxons at Saxton Field, Nelson. Attempts will be made to re-schedule both fixtures.

Nbl Teams Set To Play

Marlborough’s basketball fans are in for a treat on April Fool’s Day when NBL sides Nelson Giants and Wellington Saints come to town. The teams