Covid causes super vets fixture shuffle

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

An Eastland team travelled to Feilding for the first round of Badminton New Zealand's 2022 inter-association super veterans' Division 2 competition.

Hawke's Bay, Eastland's scheduled morning opponents, did not travel as three team members had Covid-19.

The draw was rearranged so that Eastland played Hutt Valley in the morning and then Oroua, who had been due to play Eastland in July.

Eastland team members were Ron Prebble, Alan Ledger, Annabelle Riwaka, Linda White, Ruth Ledger and Helen Morley (Patutahi Badminton Club), Kevin Lee (Gisborne Badminton Club) and regular on-loan player Matheus Batlajeri, from Manawatu

Hutt Valley dominated the morning matches, defeating Eastland 9-0.

In the men's doubles, Ledger and Lee had a close match with some excellent play but they could not take it to three games.

In the mixed doubles, Batlajeri and Riwaka held the upper hand in their first game but their opponents fought back to win in two games.

In the afternoon, the matches were closer. The men won all their doubles in close two-game matches. In the women's matches, the results were the opposite.

Riwaka and Morley won their first game 21-19, but lost the second 21-17. In the third, Oroua edged ahead and won 21-16.

Morley and Ledger had their opportunities but couldn't overtake the Feilding pairing, who won 21-16, 21-15. After the doubles the tie stood at 3-3.

In the mixed doubles, Batlajeri and Riwaka held off tough opponents to win the first game 23-21 in the closest game of the day. They continued their good form to take the second game 21-13.

Lee and Ledger lost their first game 21-15 after the score seesawed, then lost the second 21-10. The tie score stood at 4-4.

Prebble and White could not match the Oroua mixed pair in the last match, and lost in two games.

The score was a repeat of last year's fixture — Oroua 5 Eastland 4.