Badminton titles head north

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 14

Badminton titles head north

Visiting players won all but one of the open titles at the Canterbury badminton championships. Ron Scott (Hutt Valley) and Tracy Stevens (Auckland) won two finals each, but Scott was taken to the last gasp in both singles and doubles by Canterbury players. In a pulsating men’s singles final, Scott encountered tough opposition from Graham Sercombe. Edged out in the first set, Sercombe took the second comfortably and pushed Scott to the brink of defeat in the third. But the Hutt Valley man rallied to win by a point. The pattern was similar in the doubles final, with Scott and his Hutt colleague, Richard Linney, prevailing by a point in the third set against Geoff Miller and Peter Mundy. Stevens experienced a testing singles final against Jill Cooper (Hutt Valley), winning in three hard-fought sets. Cooper and Stevens joined forces to win the doubles. The open mixed doubles proved to be the tournament controllers’ downfall, with none of the seeded combinations reaching the final. In an all-Cantprbury title contest, Mike Porter and Jenny Andrews beat Mark Chambers and Megan Williams. Finals results from the championships, sponsored by Murray White Furniture Finishing, were:— Open Men’s singles: R. Scott (Hutt Valley) beat G. Ser-

combe (Canterbury), 15-12, 615, 17-16. Women’s singles: T. Stevens (Auckland) beat J. Cooper (Hutt Valley), 7-11, 12-9, 11-8. Men’s doubles: Scott and J. Linney (Hutt Valley) beat G. Miller and P. Mundy (Canterbury), 15-9, 8-15, 18-17. Women’s doubles: Cooper and Stevens beat S. Meleisea and S. Rhodes (Nelson), 15-9, 15-9. Mixed doubles: M. Porter and J. Andrews (Canterbury) beat M. Chambers and M. Williams (Canterbury), 16-18, 15-0, 15-8. A reserve Men’s singles: S. Hurring (Avon Central) beat K. Jullian (Hagley); 15-5, 15-8. Women’s singles: S. Jenson (Fendalton) beat C. Dunn (Avon), 11-6, 11-1. Men’s doubles: C. Kho and G. Windleburn (University) beat R. Bramley and Hurring (Avon), 15-8, 10-15, 18-16. Women’s doubles: W. Downing (Avon) and J. Anderson (Fend.) beat M. Stevens and A. Tipping (University), 15-6, 15-11. Mixed doubles: Hurring and Downing beat M. Brownlie and A. Williams, 15-10, 1417, 18-17. B grade Men’s singles: G. Boniface (Wes.) beat N. Whalley (Wes.), 15-6, 11-15, 11-15, 1815. Women’s singles: J. Taylor (Hornby) beat J. Skerton (Hornby), 1-11, 12-9, 11-5. Men’s doubles: Boniface and Whalley beat A. McCloy and W. Kay, 15-7, 15-4. Women’s doubles: Taylor and Skerton beat Y. Hoskings and M. Ford

(Wes.), 15-4, 15-13. Mixed doubles: Whalley and Ford beat D. Close and J. Wilkinson, 15-7, 15-7. C grade Men’s singles: N. Campbell (N. Bri.) beat G. Conner, 1015, 15-11, 15-7. Women’s singles: C. Davey (Wes.) beat D. Williams (University), 611, 11-9, 11-7. Men’s doubles: Law and Scott beat J. Hutchison and R. Loffhagen (Fend.), 15-7, 10-15, 15-12. Women’s doubles: J. Melville and D. Williams beat D. Keppel and H. Vermeulon, 17-15, 15-8. Mixed doubles: D. Tonkin and Keppel beat Brown and Williams, 15-4, 7-15,15-6. D grade Men’s singles: N. Campbell (N. Bri.) beat M. Wilson (Hag.), 18-15, 15-10. Women’s singles: M. Weiser beat K. Taylor (Fend.), 8-11, 11-8, 129. Men’s doubles: Wilson and L. Earl beat Campbell and W. Moore, 15-7, 15-8. Women’s doubles: S. Wilder and V. Dobson beat K. Kean and L. McCloy, 15-2, 15-10. Mixed doubles: M. and J. Wilson beat R. Loffhagen and Taylor, 18-17, 15-10. Veterans Men’s doubles: L. Smith and J. Goddard (Chch) beat W. Edgecumbe and E. Kirkland (Knox), 15-9, 5-15, 15-11. Women’s doubles: B. Thorpe and P. Marshall beat L. Bassett and S. Goddard, 15-2, 159. Mixed doubles: D. Le Page and L. Bassett beat L. Smith and S. Goddard, 16-18, 15-9, 15-3.