Doubles delight as big field contests tourney

Nearly 100 competitors turned out for the 26th annual Janet Agnew Doubles Tennis Carnival at Thomas Neale Memorial Park.

The tournament attracted players from Auckland, and all across Northland, whose standard of tennis delighted organisers.

"We were well supported by local players as well which is great. It was a really good weekend," Tennis Northland development officer and competitor Wendy Sykes said.

The men's and women's A-grade doubles were contested on Saturday, with Kerikeri's Mike Clapshaw and Bruce Mackintosh securing a 6-1, 6-2 win over Aidan Cameron and Aaron Rogers from Auckland.

There was an upset in the women's A-grade semifinals, when Whangarei's Vicki Hick and Delwyn Houlihan beat top seeds Katie Meynall and Paula Stubbing from Auckland.

However, in the final, mother-daughter pair Raewyn Heywood and Shelley Yeates were too strong for the Hick/Houlihan combination and took out the A-grade title, 6-2, 6-3.

It was an all-Whangarei affair in the men's B-grade final, with Karl Hick and Lance Hick defeating Steven King and Phil Molloy 6-4, 7-5 while Jacques Fromont and Christine Frost triumphed in the women's B-grade 7-5, 1-6, 6-2, against Olivia and Rose Lobb.

In Sunday's mixed doubles, Wendy Sykes (Waipu) and Ben Muller (Mairtown) joined forces to win the A-grade final over Rogers and Stubbing, 6-0, 6-2.

Doubtless Bay players Brian Bernard and Angela Mdouari defeated Connor Van Delsum and Raewyn Torrie from Mangawhai, in a B-grade final that went down to the wire - Bernard and Mdouari won 7-5, 1-6, 10-8 in a super tie-breaker.

The 26th running of this popular tournament was again successful and most competitors went home happy with a prize from the $10000 worth of goods donated by sponsors.