TENNIS - Double helpings for Aucklanders

Auckland teams dominated the finals of the Janet Agnew Doubles tournament in the sweltering heat at Kamo's Thomas Neale Tennis Centre on Saturday.
Top men's seeds Andrew Ramsey and Jono Craven beat John Dickenson and Nick Mulqueeny 6-3, 6-3, to convincingly take out the men's A-grade competition with a near faultless display of doubles.
The top Northland pairing of Bruce McIntosh and Mike Clapshaw of Kerikeri made it through to the semifinals before being knocked out.
In the women's A-grade competition, Auckland's Diana D'Audney and Paula Stubbing were expected to easily beat the Springfield club's Shelley Heywood and her mother Raewyn, but the local pair showed plenty of bottle to push the Aucklanders hard in the final 7-5, 6-2.
The men's B-grade final also featured a local duo, with Kara George and Ranna Peakman of Mairtown taking Aucklanders Aaron Hicks and Mark Reid to three sets. The Northland pair won the first set 7-5 before going down 2-6 and 3-6 to lose in just under 2 hours.
The women's B-grade finally netted Northland a title and it happened in the most unlikely of fashions. Eleven-year-old Abbey Sykes stood in as Carol Crowley's partner after a late withdrawal and the pair went on to beat Maunu's Mary Coates and Alice Ottley in the final 0-6, 7-6, 11-9.
Tournament director Todd Morgan said there were 86 entries for the competition, with a significant number of them coming from Auckland.
"I think we're getting a few more of the Aucklanders coming up for the tournament on a more regular basis because they don't really have a lot of these social doubles tournaments down there any more," he said.
"... There may be more in the future because most of the visitors seemed to go away happy.
"A few of them won raffles and the like, and it's good to see them support Janet's tournament."