Juniors show up old guard

Whangarei junior Noah Gulick stepped up to triumph over his senior counterpart Bruce Mackintosh in the senior men's singles division of the annual Northland Senior and Junior Closed Tennis Championships.

Gulick, 16, defeated Kerikeri's Mackintosh in Saturday's men's final at Thomas Neale Memorial Tennis Park, 6-3, 6-3 in a great on-court battle.

He also set up a final's contest in the junior boys' singles final, against 16-year-old Ben Muller from Mairtown. This was supposed to be played yesterday but was postponed because of the wet weather.

Muller also played in the senior division, and progressed to the semifinals before being knocked out by Mackintosh.

A small field of female players also competed in the championships, and again juniors showed potential, with Northland's top two females placing first and second.

Mangawhai's Alana Torrie won the senior singles competition, while Waipu's Abbey Sykes placed second - based on their round robin results.

About 60 juniors contested the event, while only around 18 seniors took part. The doubles was also to have been contested but was postponed.