Aussies aim to kick butt (in nicest way)

Anendra Singh
There's no holding back when the Australian women are asked what their game plan is for today's transtasman snooker test match in Hastings.
"We're here to kick ass," Tracy Bell and Renata Delahunty chorus at the National Service Club on the eve of the clash against their New Zealand counterparts.
Their captain, Kathy Parashis, is not so sure. Not so much about the sentiments or the rivalry but more with how her team-mates' views may be perceived out there.
Two years ago at the Tokoroa test match, she said: "We came, we saw and we kicked ass," Parashis explains.
"It was an innocent remark. The line came out from the movie Ghostbusters. Actor Bill Murray says it and it seemed appropriate at the time," she elaborates thoughtfully.
"But there's no bitchiness in the women's game like there is among men. Men have a lot of rivalry but with us its fierce but friendly."
New Zealand captain Marion Hay and her senior players last night could not remember the remark after their one-frame loss to the Aussies in 2002.
"We tend to switch off when the Aussies start mouthing off," Hay said with a laugh.
The Australians arrived in Hastings on Monday and will remain after today's test for the New Zealand Open that starts at midday tomorrow and ends at 6pm on Saturday.
The other Australian representatives are Bronwynne Burton, Carolyn Hunter, Kathy Howden, Rhonda Blair, player/manager Jenni McCulla and the youngest representative, Monica Nguyen. Blair and Nguyen, 20, are making their debut.
There's no doubting their passion for the cue sport, either. "You can say we built our homes around our snooker tables," current world doubles champion Howden, of Melbourne, says.
Between them, the players share numerous Australian Open and state titles. For good measure, they have the support of McCulla's partner, Shawn Budd, who last Sunday clinched the Australian Open men's title.
Sydneysider Parashis, 43, who has represented her country for 11 years in 18 years of playing the sport, has made it into 11 Australian Opens finals out of 12, winning seven of them.
"Despite all that we've had to pay our own way to New Zealand. We all have fulltime jobs too.
"We had sponsorship before but that drive is lacking. The Government needs to get behind snooker 100 percent," Parashis says.
The Australians are full of praise for the Kiwis. "They are the best hosts in snooker. They do it so well."
Today's test started with players competing in four singles (by two frames) and two pairs (also by two frames) matches in four rounds of play and the number of frames will be tallied to decide the victors.