Josh Greenfield and Sam Atkins are the highest graded players in the premier men's division at the Masterton Squash Club's open tournament, starting tomorrow night.
Greenfield (Palmerston North) and Atkins (Wellington) are both graded at A1 while three of the other contenders, Willie Bicknell, Tamsyn Leevey and Kent Darlington are graded
at A2.
Leevey, who has been ranked as high as 24 on the women's world rankings and has represented New Zealand at Commonwealth Games level, has been given special dispensation to play in the men's premier event as well as the women's.
She is seeded to make the semis of the men's competition, but can expect strong opposition from the ex-Wairarapa player Darlington, now of Wanganui, in her first-round match tonight.
Making up the remainder of the men's premier division are local players Matt Spooner and Malcolm Wyeth and Pahiatua's Justin Brown, all of whom are graded as B1.
Leevey, of course, appeals as a home run for the major women's title. The Wellingtonian is graded at A1 there while second seed Gerry Brooking (Masterton) is an A2. Aso in the field are three B1s in Jess Wilson, Paris Dalrymple and Wendy Hearn and three B2s Alicia Rangi, Kelly van der Burg and Tere Wilson.
Tonight will see the Masterton club open its two new glass-backed courts with the highlight being an exhibition match, starting at 6pm, between the NZ Squash Hall of Famer and former world No3 Stu Davenport against Willie Bicknell, the ex-Wairarapa player who has been ranked in the top 10 in the country and is now development officer for the Wellington region.
