Badminton super vets - Ra Leach
The final round of the Badminton New Zealand inter-association super veterans' Division 2 competition was held at Gisborne's Badminton Centre on Saturday.
Eastland lost to both Waikato and North Harbour, but had some close matches.
Hutt Valley continued their winning form for the season, defeating both North Harbour and Waikato by 8 matches to 1.
Eastland team members were Ron Prebble, Alan Ledger, Linda White, Ruth Ledger, Annabelle Riwaka and Ra Leach (from the Patutahi club), Kevin Lee (Gisborne) and Keith Twiddy from the casual playing group.
Waikato made a clean sweep of their matches against Eastland.
New combination Ledger and Twiddy put up strong resistance in the men's doubles but couldn't edge ahead.
Prebble and Ledger lost their first game, refocused in the second and took it narrowly, but lost the third.
The Waikato pairings dominated the women's doubles and won all the matches in two games.
In the mixed doubles Lee and Ledger lost a tough first game, won the second and lost the third 21-19.
Alan Ledger and Leach played a tactical game to win the first game 21-17. Waikato rebounded to win the second and dominate the third.
The final tie score was nine matches to love.
Against North Harbour, both Lee and Twiddy, and Prebble and Ledger lost their men's doubles matches in two games.
Prebble and Twiddy led from the start and held off their opponents for a narrow win, 21-17 21-19.
The women's doubles were all close matches.
Leach and Riwaka won their first game 21-19 and narrowly lost the second 22-20. They refocused but North Harbour edged ahead and won the third game 21-15.
White and Leach won their first game 21-12 and lost the next 21-11. The lead in the third game swung from one team to the other until North Harbour got the decisive break to win 24-22.
In the final women's doubles match, Riwaka and Ledger played solid and consistent badminton but lost 21-18 21-18.
The matches continued to be close in the mixed doubles.
Lee and Ledger held off their opponents in the first game with some well-placed shots. Their opponents won the second game but the Eastland pair refocused and played steadily to win the third.
Alan Ledger and Leach won their match in three games. They won a tough first game 26-24 and lost the second 21-16. In the third game they took a strategic approach, continually changing their attack to hold off their opponents and win 22-20.
The top mixed doubles pairing, Prebble and White, played a tactical game with some excellent shots, but North Harbour won in two close games.
Eastland lost to Waikato, 0 matches to 9
Men's doubles: Ron Prebble/Alan Ledger lost to Alan Neal/Steve Lawrence 4-21 22-20 10-21; Keith Twiddy/Kevin Lee lost to Neal/Andrew Chang 6-21 12-21; Ledger/Twiddy lost to Lawrence/Chang 17-21 16-21.
Women's doubles: Annabelle Riwaka/Ruth Ledger lost to Faye Post/Willie Mentzel 10-21 14-21; Linda White/Ledger lost to Post/Carolyn Goodin 3-21 7-21; Ra Leach/Riwaka lost to Mentzel/Goodin 12-21 13-21.
Mixed doubles: Prebble/White lost to Neal/Post 9-21 11-21; Ledger/Leach lost to Lawrence/Mentzel 21-17 15-21 9-21; Lee/Ledger lost to Chang/Goodin 13-21 21-16 19-21.
Eastland lost to North Harbour, 3 matches to 6
Men's doubles: Prebble/Ledger lost to Kevin Smith/Geoff Burge 9-21 8-21; Prebble/Twiddy defeated Smith/Victor Sebanatnam 21-17 21-19; Lee/Twiddy lost to Burge/Phil Stiff 11-21 8-21.
Women's doubles: Riwaka/Ledger lost to Margaret Mortimer/Phillipa Nash 18-21 18-21;White/Leach lost to Nash/Kathy Blackbourn 21-12 11-21 22-24; Riwaka/Leach lost to Nash/Kathy Calvert 21-19 20-22 15-21.
Mixed doubles: Prebble/White lost to Smith/Calvert 18-21 15-21; Ledger/Leach def Burge/Nash 26-24 16-21 22-20; Lee/Ledger def Stiff/Mortimer 21-18 16-21 21-19.