I took three of our HB Lawn Junior Members & Napier Boys High pupils to the NZ Secondary School Champs to compete in the new formatted 3 player NZ Tennis Cup in Christchurch last week.
Dan Rowe, Luke Winter & Max Clifford made up the team. Napier Boys High were seeded 3rd. We were in a pool with Burnside High, St Pauls, Lynfield College & Timaru Boys High. We managed to beat the first three schools comfortably. It was then a big match up against the No 2 seeds Timaru who had two S3 players in their line up. Dan Rowe our S2 ranked player had a really good win at No 1. Luke Winter S5 had a very narrow loss against the other Timaru S3 player only losing 10/7 in the third set Super Tie Breaker. So it came down to the doubles where Max Clifford teamed up extremely well with Dan to win the crunch doubles match and allowed us to finish top of our pool.
We therefore had a semi final against Fielding who had two pretty strong year 12 players. Dan gave the team another really good start by winning at No 1 in straight sets. Luke at No 2 then had a tough but competitive loss against a stronger older opponent. Hence we were required to win the doubles to make the final. Sadly it was a nail biting loss in some tricky windy conditions for Max and Dan.
We therefore drew St Pauls for the 3rd play off spot in New Zealand. Max played singles for this tie but suffered a straight sets loss. Dan then had a tense three set win to level the tie. Luke teamed up with Dan in the deciding doubles. Our Napier Boys won the first, but lost the second. However, they focused well in the decider to win the match and secure 3rd place for the team.
It was a very successful week of Tennis at the newly completed Nga Puna Wai Sports Park. They did well to beat the No 2 seeds and pick up a Tennis New Zealand National Medal.
.....report by team coach, Simon Winter.
Dan Rowe, Luke Winter & Max Clifford made up the team. Napier Boys High were seeded 3rd. We were in a pool with Burnside High, St Pauls, Lynfield College & Timaru Boys High. We managed to beat the first three schools comfortably. It was then a big match up against the No 2 seeds Timaru who had two S3 players in their line up. Dan Rowe our S2 ranked player had a really good win at No 1. Luke Winter S5 had a very narrow loss against the other Timaru S3 player only losing 10/7 in the third set Super Tie Breaker. So it came down to the doubles where Max Clifford teamed up extremely well with Dan to win the crunch doubles match and allowed us to finish top of our pool.
We therefore had a semi final against Fielding who had two pretty strong year 12 players. Dan gave the team another really good start by winning at No 1 in straight sets. Luke at No 2 then had a tough but competitive loss against a stronger older opponent. Hence we were required to win the doubles to make the final. Sadly it was a nail biting loss in some tricky windy conditions for Max and Dan.
We therefore drew St Pauls for the 3rd play off spot in New Zealand. Max played singles for this tie but suffered a straight sets loss. Dan then had a tense three set win to level the tie. Luke teamed up with Dan in the deciding doubles. Our Napier Boys won the first, but lost the second. However, they focused well in the decider to win the match and secure 3rd place for the team.
It was a very successful week of Tennis at the newly completed Nga Puna Wai Sports Park. They did well to beat the No 2 seeds and pick up a Tennis New Zealand National Medal.
.....report by team coach, Simon Winter.