Sport

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 Sport Wairarapa Midweek 47 Wairarapa-Bush golden jubilee held over to 2022

Chris Cogdale

RUGBY

The Wairarapa-Bush 50th anniversary celebrations are the latest local sports event to fall victim to the covid-19 restrictions.

The weekend of festivities to celebrate the amalgamation of the Wairarapa Rugby Union and Bush Rugby Union in 1971 was planned to coincide with the Heartland Championship match against East Coast on September 11.

Wairarapa-Bush chief executive Tony Hargood said the union’s board considered many options before reaching their decision.

“With the continued uncertainty of covid, and with no clear indication of when alert levels would decrease to level one, the board believed it was prudent to postpone the 50th celebrations to 2022,” he said.

“We share the disappointment with the whole of the rugby community, as we know many people were looking forward to the weekend.”

A highlight of the weekend was to be the Friday night dinner featuring the launch of the Brian Lochore Foundation, with the auction of the 2019 special edition WaiBush jerseys, which were emblazoned with Lochore’s All Black number 637, to commemorate his death that year.

Wai-Bush will refund all money paid for tickets, but Hargood said that for people who pre-ordered 1971 jerseys and caps, the original delivery dates are still valid.

The special edition jerseys Wairarapa-Bush [seen here playing Poverty Bay] used in 2019 were to be auctioned at the launch of the Brian Lochore Foundation in conjunction with the union’s golden jubilee celebrations this year. PHOTOS/FILE

Wai-Bush chief executive Tony Hargood. FOOTBALL

Capital Football are anticipating a resumption of their competitions on the weekend of September 11-12, if covid-19 level two restrictions are in place.

That would have the Wairarapa Cup knockout competition resume at the semifinals stage, as well as the Wairarapa Women’s League.

However, the final round of Central League is not scheduled to be played until September 18.

Trust House Wairarapa United’s last game is an away fixture with Lower Hutt City. Wairarapa division one champions Masterton Athletic are also scheduled to play off for a place in Capital Four on September 18. HOCKEY

Wairarapa’s return to the senior representative stage has been delayed until November.

Wairarapa were drawn in the second division of both men’s and women’s competitions scheduled to start in Tauranga on September 12 and to run for a week.

NZ Hockey general manager community and events Ken Maplesden said the postponement was the best possible course of action “given the uncertainty which remains around changing alert levels, and the need to prioritise a safe return to hockey”.

The tournament will still be held in Tauranga from November 14-20 and will follow the same format.

Daniell fumes at exit from US Open

TENNIS Chris Cogdale

Wairarapa tennis star Marcus Daniell was fuming after being knocked out of the men’s doubles at the US Open in New York.

Daniell and Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner were beaten in the second round by the third-seeded French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 6-7 [3] 7-6 [1] in a gruelling two hours and 31 minutes.

As the score suggests there was little in the match, although Daniell felt they were robbed after a controversial incident early in the third set.

Mahut was serving at 30-30 in the third game and Herbert hit a volley which was long, but Daniell said the umpire ruled the ball had hit him on the way past.

“But it was about a foot away and was so obvious we didn’t pay attention to the score, so when we won the next point, we thought we’d broken them,” Daniell said.

The aggrieved Kiwi said they should have been 2-1 up with a break and instead found themselves 2-1 down. There was a discussion between Daniell and Herbert for several minutes before play resumed.

Daniell said Mahut and Herbert had apologised to them after the match.

Daniell and Demoliner had progressed to the second round beating the British pair of Daniel Evans and Lloyd Glasspool in a walkover. The KiwiBrazilian pair had broken serve and were leading 2-1 in the deciding third set when Evans withdrew with a leg injury.

The US Open was the second tournament for Daniell and Demoliner since they reunited the week before the US Open.

The pair had played together for two seasons earlier in Daniell’s career, and they quickly rediscovered their combinations and made the quarter-finals at the Winston Salem ATP tournament in the lead-up to the final grand slam of the year.

Daniell also crashed out of the mixed doubles in the second round at Flushing Meadows. He and partner Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski were no match for Max Purcell [Australia] and Dayanna Yastremska [Ukraine], beaten in straight sets 6-3 6-3 in 63 minutes.

Marcus Daniell at the 2020 ASB Classic on January 17, 2020. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES