A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Badminton
Eastland had a win and a loss in the first round of the inter-association super veterans’ Division 2 badminton competition in Feilding.
They defeated Oroua 9 matches to 0 and lost to Wellington North 6-3.
Eastland team members were Kevin Lee, from the Gisborne Badminton Club; Ron Prebble, Kevin Taylor, Sheree Gray, Linda White, Annabelle Riwaka and Ruth Ledger, all from the Patutahi Badminton Club; and Matheus Batlajeri, a loan player from Manawatu.
Against Oroua, Taylor — returning to competitive badminton after a four-year break — combined with Batlajeri to win their men’s doubles match in two games, 21-18, 21-12.
Prebble combined with Taylor, and they were able to maintain this momentum and win in two games.
Prebble and Lee showed their domination in the first game, winning 21-11, and relaxed a little in the second. Nevertheless, they still won, 21-15.
In the women’s pairs, White and Ledger won their first game fairly easily and were able to hold off the opposition to win the second 21-18.
Ledger combined with Gray for the closest two games of the tie. They won by two points in each game.
Gray and Riwaka took the court next and comfortably won their match in two games.
In the mixed doubles, Batlajeri and Riwaka dominated from the beginning to win in two games.
Lee and Gray showed their determination from the first serve and won fairly easily in two games.
Prebble and White were last on the court, winning their first game 21-10. In the second, their opponents got five points ahead but the Eastland pair stayed calm, worked themselves back into the game and won 27-25.
Against Wellington North, Batlajeri and Taylor fought back to win a tense first game 22-20. However, their opponents refocused and took the next two games.
Batlajeri combined with Lee and lost their match in two games.
Against Wellington North’s top pairing, Lee and Prebble lost their first game by six points, then changed tactics and were able to hold off their opponents and win 23-21. In the final game, Eastland edged ahead to win 21-16.
Wellington North won all three women’s doubles in two games.
In the mixed doubles, new combination Taylor and Ledger played risk-free badminton, kept it simple and took the first game 21-18. In the second, the score see-sawed and they eventually won the game 24-22 to take the match.
Lee and Gray won their first game 25-23 but their opponents came back with gusto to win the second set 21-11. Thanks to some brilliant shots and a change of game plan, Eastland took the third match 21-17.
Prebble and White were no match for their Wellington North opponents and lost in two games.
The final score, 6-3, was better than the 8-1 loss when the team last played Wellington North in a veterans’ inter-association fixture, so the Eastland players were relatively satisfied with this result.
The team’s next tie will be in Gisborne on Saturday, June 8.
Eastland 9 Oroua 0
Men’s doubles: Ron Prebble/Kevin Lee defeated Bruce McGarvey/Stuart Osborne 11-21 9 21-15; Prebble/Kevin Taylor def McGarvey/Steve Arathoon 21-17 21-16; Taylor/Matheus Batlajeri def Osborne/Arathoon 21-18 21-12.
Women’s doubles: Sheree Gray/Annabelle Riwaka def Jan Harris/Anne Sutherland 21-9 21-12; Gray/Ruth Ledger def Sutherland/Alison Coleman 21-19 21-19; Linda White/Ledger def Harris/Coleman 21-13 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Prebble/White def McGarvey/Harris 10-21 25-27; Lee/Gray def Osborne/Sutherland 21-13 21-11; Batlajeri/Riwaka def Arathoon/Coleman 21-9 21-13.
Eastland 3 Wellington North 6
Men’s doubles: Prebble/Kevin Lee def Dave White/Tony Lee 15-21 23-21 21-16; Kevin Lee/Batlajeri lost to White/Jamie O’Donnell 15-21 13-21; Taylor/Batlajeri lost to Tony Lee/O’Donnell 22-20 9-21 15-21.
Women’s doubles: Gray/Riwaka lost to Maggie Lee/Lesley Gledhill 16-21 11-21; White/Riwaka lost to Lee/Diane Knight 7-21 11-21; Ledger/White lost to Gledhill/Knight 10-21 13-21.
Mixed doubles: Ron Prebble/Linda White lost to Dave White/Gledhill 14-21 14-21; Kevin Lee/Gray def O’Donnell/Tony Lee 25-23 11-21 21-17; Taylor/Ledger def Keith Miller/Nita Read 21-18 24-22.