Ed Wilkie won his singles in Martinborough’s final win over Masterton. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Martinborough can lock the Gawith Shield away in the trophy cabinet for a third straight year after a convincing 7-2 win over Masterton on Friday night.
Martinborough went into the final of the Wairarapa Tennis Regional One Interclub championship as the hottest of favourites after going through round-robin play unbeaten.
Masterton were playing in the final in their first year back in the top division after missing several seasons.
Any hopes Masterton had were dashed in the singles, with Martinborough racing out to an unbeatable 5-1 lead.
Number one man Boon Huxtable picked up the only win for Masterton with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Chris Wilkie.
However, the defending champions were rarely tested in the other singles matches with all matches decided in straight sets.
Marco de Groot defeated Chad Parson, Ed Wilkie beat John McLeod, and Matt Nicholson was too good for Liam Kerr in the men’s singles, while Rhona Lovell and Katherine Jacobs were untroubled in their wins over Julie Malcolm and Julie Foley respectively.
With the destination of the Gawith Shield already determined, the doubles matches were academic.
Huxtable combined with Rhys Hooper to score Masterton’s second win against Chris Wilkie and De Groot, while Mike Jones got a taste of final’s action combining with Nicholson to beat Parson and McLeod.
Lovell and Martha Wojcikowski wrapped up the tie for Martinborough with victory over Malcolm and Foley in the women’s doubles.
GAWITH SHIELD FINAL
Martinborough 7 Masterton 2 [Martinborough names first]
Singles: Chris Wilkie lost to Boon Huxtable 6-1, 6-1; Marco de Groot defeated Chad Parson 6-3, 6-1; Ed Wilkie defeated John McLeod 6-0, 6-4; Matt Nicholson defeated Liam Kerr 6-0, 6-4; Rhona Lovell defeated Julie Malcolm 6-1, 6-4; Katherine Jacobs defeated Julie Foley 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles: Chris Wilkie and De Groot lost to Huxtable and Rhys Hooper 7-5, 6-0; Nicholson and Mike Jones beat Parson and McLeod 6-2, 6-3; Lovell and Martha Mojcikowski beat Malcolm and Foley in a super tiebreaker.
