Instead, Eastland Masters were this year entered in the North Island Regional Masters Competition in Division 3 of the northern region.
They were not quite at full strength due to injuries and family obligations, but got off to a good start against Waitakere.
The men’s and women’s No.4 combinations set the scene for what was to be a battle of three-game matches.
Eight out of 12 matches were decided in three games. Eastland won five of those eight matches.
Particularly epic was the match that Gabrielle Perano and Makuini Winiata played against Jenny de Bazin and Grace Chan.
Eastland won the first game and Waitakere won the second. In the third, Waitakere were 12-3 up but Perano and Winiata dug deep to come back and win the third game 24-22.
Eastland led five matches to three after the doubles. However, with three out of four mixed doubles combinations changed, Eastland would still have a hard task achieving the tie victory.
That’s what happened, though. Justin Kent and Makuini Winiata won a sensational three-game match 20-22, 21-19, 21-19, and Mark Beard and Adrianne McLeod had an easy two-game win that sealed the tie for Eastland.
A win and a loss for the No.1 and No.2 mixed combinations meant the final score was 8-4 to Eastland.
Having already spent four hours on court, Eastland regrouped and refuelled, ready to do battle.
For the tie against Auckland (3), Eastland made a few changes to the men’s doubles but the majority of their combinations remained the same.
The Eastland men were in fine form and won all four of their doubles matches. The Eastland women had some close matches but were unable to record a win, which meant the teams went into their mixed doubles level at 4-4.
Again Kent and Winiata had an epic three-game match but this time it ended in the opposition’s favour. Auckland were now ahead by one match.
Beard and McLeod squared it up at 5-5 with an easy two-game win.
Brendan Andersen (Bay of Plenty) and Gabrielle Perano had a quick two-game win, putting Eastland ahead 6-5.
In their final match of the day, David Colbert and Victoria West sealed the deal with an epic three-game win against Auckland’s Karl Baker and Marianne Mahoney, 17-21, 21-12, 21-15, which made the final score 7-5 to Eastland.
The next weekend away for the Eastland Masters will be in late September, when they will play three ties over a weekend.
This will be the first time Eastland Masters will have played three ties in one weekend. It is part of a new format being trialled by Badminton New Zealand.
Brendan Andersen/David Colbert def R Fernandes/B Campbell 21/11, 21/17; Colbert/Mark Beard lost to Fernandes/P de Bazen 21/15, 19/21, 19/21; Beard /Gary Teague lost to Campbell/F Max 17/21, 19/21; Justin Kent/Teague def Max/de Bazen 21/15, 16/21, 21/17.
Gabrielle Perano/Victoria West def S Taylor/J de Bazen 19/21, 21/19, 21/13; West/Adrianne McLeod def Taylor/ A Conroy 21/9, 24/22; Perano/Makuini Winiata def de Bazen/G Chan 21/8, 14/21, 24/22; Winiata/McLeod lost to de Bazen/de Bazen 21/19, 11/21, 10/21.
Colbert/West lost to Fernandes/de Bazen 21/14, 19/21, 16/21; Andersen/Perano def Campbell/Taylor 21/17, 17/21, 21/14; Beard/McLeod def Max/Chan 20/22, 21/19, 21/19.
Andersen/Beard def K Barber/Dev Santhiya 21/15, 19/21, 21/19; Colbert/Kent def Barker/Paul Knighton 21/15, 21/11; Andersen/Teague def Santhiya/Herbert Lowe 21/9, 21/19; Kent/Teague def Knighton/Sod Hso 21/19, 23/25, 21/16.
Perano/West lost to Yvonne McKay/Claire Williams 22/24, 21/18, 19/21; West/McLeod lost to Williams/Marianne Mahoney 14/21, 15/21; Perano/Winiata lost to McKay/Mahoney 14/21, 15/21; Winiata/McLeod lost to J Taite/ Mahoney 9/21, 10/21;
Colbert/West def Barker/Williams 17/21, 21/12, 21/15; Andersen/Perano def Knighton/Taite 21/9 21/11; Beard/McLeod def Hso/McKay 21/14, 21/13; Kent/Winiata lost to Lowe/Mahoney 21/19, 19/21, 17/21.
