A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Tournament hosts Eastland had a win and a loss in the second round of the 2019 inter-association super veterans’ Division 2 badminton competition.
Gisborne’s Badminton Centre was the venue for a weekend of ties.
Eastland lost their tie with the Bay of Plenty team 6 matches to 3 and won the tie against Hawke’s Bay 5-4.
The Eastland team members were Kevin Lee (Gisborne Badminton Club), Bruce Ledger, Kevin Taylor, Sheree Gray, Linda White, Annabelle Riwaka and Ruth Ledger (all from the Patutahi club), and Matheus Batlajeri (on loan from Manawatu). Ron Prebble was unavailable for these ties.
After the first weekend of inter-provincial competition, Eastland were placed in the middle of the competition.
Against Bay of Plenty, Bruce Ledger and Lee had their chances but lost in two close games, 19-21, 21-23.
Taylor and Batlajeri took a while to warm up and lost in two games.
Lee and Taylor had a close first game but could not maintain their momentum and lost in two games.
In the women’s doubles, Ruth Ledger and White lost in two games.
White combined with Gray and they held off their opposition to win in two games.
Gray and Riwaka comfortably won their match in two games.
In the mixed doubles, Batlajeri and Riwaka had an exciting three-game match. They won the first game and lost the second, but refocused and took the third.
Taylor combined with Ruth Ledger but they lost in two games.
Lee and Gray lost their first game narrowly, 21-19, but Bay of Plenty dominated the second game to win the match, for a tie result of Bay of Plenty 6 Eastland 3.
Against Hawke’s Bay, Bruce Ledger and Batlajeri lost a tense first game 19-21, then fought back to take the next 21-18, and the third 21-17.
Taylor and Batlajeri struggled to get their rhythm and lost in two games.
Lee and Taylor played consistent badminton but couldn’t get through the defence put up by the Hawke’s Bay pairing and lost in two games.
In the women’s doubles, Ruth Ledger and Riwaka lost their first game to former Gisborne player Brenda Barber and her partner. The Eastland pair refocused and took the next game 21-11. Play see-sawed in the third game before the Hawke’s Bay pairing took a battling 22-20 win.
Ruth Ledger and White won their first game 24-22. Hawke’s Bay refocused, changed their serve and dominated the second game. Eastland fought back in the third but Hawke’s Bay kept the upper hand and won 21-18.
Gray and Riwaka took the first game of their match and continued their domination to win fairly easily.
With only the mixed doubles to play, Eastland were 4-2 down in the match score.
Batlajeri and Riwaka won their first game 21-19, but in the second they let the play get away from them and Hawke’s Bay won it. That prompted a serious change of game plan and they romped away with the third game, 21-10.
It had been a few years since Taylor and White had played doubles together but they dominated the first game, lost the second narrowly, and — with luck and good play — won an exciting third game 21-18.
Lee and Gray lost their first game, came back in the second to win 21-18, and dominated the third for a scoreline of 21-6.
By winning all the mixed doubles matches, Eastland took the tie 5-4.
The team next go to playoffs in Auckland on Saturday, June 29.Results (all matches are doubles) —Eastland 3 Bay of Plenty 6
Men: Kevin Lee/Kevin Taylor lost to Daryl Miller/Graeme Miller 19-21 12-21; Taylor/Matheus Batlajeri lost to Graeme Miller/Keith Miller 17-21 11-21; Lee/Bruce Ledger lost to Keith Miller/Daryl Miller 19-21 21-23.
Women: Sheree Gray/Annabelle Riwaka defeated Sheryl Miller/Sue Warrender 21-13 21-15; Gray/Linda White defeated Sheryl Miller/Vianne Miller 21-11 21-15; White/Ruth Ledger lost to Vianne Miller/Warrender 15-21 11-21.
Mixed: Lee/Gray lost to Graeme Miller/Sheryl Miller 19-21 14-21; Kevin Taylor/Ruth Ledger lost to Daryl Miller/Vianne Miller 15-21 15-21; Batlajeri/Riwaka defeated Keith Miller/Warrender 21-16 17-21 21-15.
Eastland 5 Hawke’s Bay 4
Men: Lee/Taylor lost to Stan Codlin/Brian Fisher 16-21 16-21; Taylor/Batlajeri lost to Codlin/Tony Bloomfield 14-21 14-21; Batlajeri/Bruce Ledger defeated Bloomfield/Bruce Marshall 19-21 21-18 21-17.
Women: Gray/Riwaka defeated Lynda Watson/Penny Cooper 21-14 21-9; White/Ruth Ledger lost to Cooper/Jenny Carmichael 24-22 9-21 18-21; Riwaka/Ruth Ledger lost to Brenda Barber/Jenny Carmichael 14-21 21-11 20-22.
Mixed: Lee/Gray defeated Codlin/Barber 13-21 21-18 21-6; Taylor/White defeated Fisher/Cooper 21-13 22-24 21-18; Batlajeri/Riwaka defeated Bloomfield/Watson 21-19 14-21 21-10.