A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
BADMINTON
Eastland narrowly lost their two ties in the final weekend of play in the 2018 inter-association super veterans’ badminton competition, in Rotorua.
They lost to Auckland (2), 5 matches to 4, and to North Harbour, 5-4.
This meant Eastland ended the season in seventh place out of nine teams in the competition.
Team members were Kevin Lee and Helen Morley from Gisborne Badminton Club; Ron Prebble, Linda White, Annabelle Riwaka and Ruth Ledger from the Patutahi club; and loan players Matheus Batlajeri, from Manawatu, and Ivor Holland, from Thames Valley.
Against Auckland (2), Lee and Batlajeri lost their men’s doubles match in two games. Batlajeri then combined with Holland and they also lost in two games.
Prebble and Holland then combined, winning the first game 21-18, losing a see-saw second game by two points, and dominating the third to win the match.
Auckland (2) won all the women’s doubles in two games. Riwaka and Ledger took a while to settle after losing their first game. They changed tactics and were unlucky to lose the second, by two points.
Ledger and Morley lost their doubles match in two games.
Riwaka then partnered White. They had some close rallies but couldn’t hold off the opposition.
At the end of the doubles, Auckland (2) led 5 matches to 1.
Eastland dominated the mixed doubles, winning all matches.
Lee and Ledger — a new combination — won the first game 21-18, then showed their skill to hold off a fightback by their opponents to win the second game 23-21.
Holland and Morley lost their first game 21-16, bounced back to take the second 21-15 and dominated the third, winning 21-9.
Prebble and White had the upper hand from the start of their first game. The Aucklanders fought back but the Eastland pair won in two games.
Nevertheless, Auckland (2) had already done enough to win the tie 5-4.
Against North Harbour, all the men’s doubles were close.
Baitlajeri and Prebble won their match in two games.
Lee and Holland lost their first game 21-19, reversed the score in the second and held off the opposition in the third.
Lee then partnered Prebble. They won their first game convincingly, lost the second and, in a game where the lead went back and forth, lost the third by two points.
North Harbour won all three women’s doubles, although some of the games were close.
Ledger and Riwaka lost their match in two games.
Ledger and White lost their first game easily, but almost won the second after they changed their tactics.
Riwaka and Morley had the closest match in the women’s doubles. They won the first game, but their opponents dominated the second and also won the third.
At the end of the doubles, North Harbour led 4-2.
In the mixed doubles, Batlajeri and Riwaka continued their winning form of the year by holding off the opposition in the first game to win 22-20.
The second game was quite a tussle but the Eastland pair came back to win 21-17.
Holland and Morley lost to their opponents in two games.
Prebble and White fought back in the first game with some strategic play to win 23-21. They dominated the second game and, with one of their opponents carrying a pulled calf muscle, the Eastland pair secured the win.
However, North Harbour had done enough to win the tie 5-4.
Eastland 4 Auckland (2) 5Men’s doubles: Ron Prebble/Ivor Holland defeated David Xu/Peter Xu 21-18 22-24 21-14; Holland/Matheus Batlajeri lost to David Xu/Daniel Lee 17-21 12-21; Batlajeri/Kevin Lee lost to Peter Xu/Daniel Lee 16-21 20-22.
Women’s doubles: Linda White/Annabelle Riwaka lost to Elaine Dunn/Sara Gordon 16-21 18-21; Helen Morley/Ruth Ledger lost to Gordon/Jill Partridge 12-21 9-21; Riwaka/Ledger lost to Dawn Amon/Partridge 14-21 21-23.
Mixed doubles: Prebble/White def David Xu/Dunn 21-11 21-19; Holland/Morley def Peter Xu/Gordon 16-21 21-15 21-9; Kevin Lee/Ledger def Daniel Lee/Amon 21-18 23-21.
Eastland 4 North Harbour 5Men’s doubles: Prebble/Lee lost to Scott Black/Geoff Burge 21-11 15-21 20-22; Holland/Lee def Burge/Richard Baker 19-21 21-19 21-17; Prebble/Batlajeri def Baker/Graeme Smith 21-16 21-10.
Women’s doubles: Morley/Riwaka lost to Freda Pickard/Phillipa Nash 21-17 10-21 8-21; White/Ledger lost to Pickard/Julie Hemingson 5-21 20-22; Riwaka/Ledger lost to Nash/Hemingson 14-21 16-21.
Mixed doubles: Prebble/White def Burge/Pickard 23-21 21-8; Holland/Morley lost to Black/Nash 14-21 13-21; Batlajeri/Riwaka def Smith/Hemingson 22-20 21-17.
Eastland super veteran players have also taken part in other events outside Gisborne.
In June, Ruth Ledger travelled to her home town, Timaru, and played for South Canterbury in a Division 3 team in the South Island masters’ competition. She joined her sister Jane Watts and helped the team win their division, and promotion for next year.
Several Eastland super veterans — Ron Prebble, Ruth Ledger and Linda White, from Patutahi Badminton Club, and loan players Ivor Holland and Matheus Batlajeri — attended the Badminton New Zealand masters’ tournament in Tauranga.
Prebble and Holland were runners-up in the 60-plus men’s doubles. Ledger and White were runners-up in the 60-plus women’s doubles.
Holland and Ledger played in the 55-plus and 60-plus mixed doubles. Prebble and White played in the 50-plus and 60-plus mixed doubles.
Batlajeri was runner-up in the 70-plus men’s singles and played in the 65-plus men’s doubles.
After this event, Batlajeri travelled to Malaysia to play in the Asia Pacific Masters Games.