Strong Paritutu team leads interclub

Paritutu Green are the leaders after the first three rounds of the Vospers-sponsored women’s division one interclub were completed on Saturday at West End.

In an impressive effort, the two-time past New Zealand champions won eight matches from nine during the day.  That leaves Paritutu on 16 points, although with four further rounds still to be played, the competition is very much alive.

Hawera Park is a close second on 14 points, followed by Fitzroy on 13 and Opunake on 10 to round out the top four.

Paritutu’s greatly experienced pair and four advanced through the day with untarnished records. The pair was Barbara Batley and Cathy Andrews while the four comprised Bridget Fletcher, Val Keightley, Gloria Shaw and Heather Johns.

Singles player, Kileigh Barber, fresh from her open singles triumph, won twice but was tipped up 16-21 by the wily Una Maha (New Plymouth) in the second game.

Hawera Park completed a perfect opening two rounds, but Fitzroy provided a much sterner challenge in the third round, with the city club taking two of the three games.

Fitzroy singles player Rhonda Adams made it three successive wins when she ousted the previously unbeaten Ella Smailes 21-19. Maree Gadsby’s four, which included some personnel changes during the day, also had three victories, the last a 15-14 effort over Pauline Kennedy. The Hawera Park duo of Girl Reweti and Kristin Stampa polished off three strong wins.

Play resumes this coming Saturday at the Tower Club. Points after three rounds: Paritutu Green 16, Hawera Park 14, Fitzroy 13, Opunake 10, New Plymouth 8, West End 6, Tower 3, Paritutu Gold 2.

Great form continues

Craig De Faria, who enjoyed such a phenomenal season last summer, continues to hit the right notes again. After winning the men’s open singles last week, De Faria has now skipped his side into the semifinals of the South Taranaki Club-sponsored men’s centre fours.

Playing at Hawera Park on Sunday, De Faria and his powerful side of Jordan Linn, Dave Wilson and Steve Walker overcame two tough obstacles in post section to keep alive their hopes of back-to-back titles.

In the opening post section round, the team ousted Dean Elgar and his West End team 20-17, before edging past a Hawera Park quartet headed by Paul Clegg 14-12.

The semifinals, which will be held at Hawera Park on November 9, will see a repeat of last year’s final, with De Faria scheduled to meet the Tower team of Mark Kuklinski, John Roberts, Scott Roberts and Bruce Phillips. Phillips advanced to the final four after a 20-14 win over Graham Reive (Inglewood).

The other semifinal is between Grant Anderson (Tower) and Ian Andrews (Paritutu). Anderson skips Clive Phillips, Brendan Anderson and Phil Kuklinski, while Andrews’ team comprises Ryan Vincent, Brendon Walton and Stefan McCartain.

In the quarterfinals, Anderson defeated Daryl Read (Paritutu) 20-13, while Andrews beat clubmate Darren Goodin 23-18.