TENNIS: Big hitter back in Bay side

SHANE HURNDELL
Shane Wilson ranks as one of the biggest hitters to play on a tennis court in Hawke's Bay and he's back.
That's back in the Hawke's Bay senior side after a nine-year absence. Havelock North's Wilson will have the No 3 berth when the Bay attempts to retain the symbol of Central Districts tennis supremacy, the Christie Cup, in their first defence of the season against Taranaki in Waipukurau today.
"Shane's powerful hitting is a lethal weapon and he also does a lot for team spirit," Bay No 1 and Central Districts representative, Luke Donovan, said.
Wilson's return should help compensate for the absence of Hastings kingpin and former Bay No 1 John Francois, who retired from rep play after almost 20 years service at senior level when the Bay won the cup for the first time in 16 years with a 13-11 win against Manawatu in Palmerston North back in February.
Hawke's Bay player-selector Mike Purcell is rapt that Wilson has made his long-awaited return in the Bay's first defence of the season. He is equally excited about the prospects of the three secondary school players in the side - Napier Boys' High School's Jac Wardrope, fellow debutmaker Heather Martindale of Napier Girls' High School and Iona College's Emma Yule, who is in her second season in the side.
Martindale's Greendale clubmate Pip McCarthy will also make her debut for the Bay team. They have been given the opportunity in the absence of their clubmates, injured former New Zealand Veterans representative Victoria Kerrison and Kay Glenny who is in Auckland for the Pavarotti concert.
Purcell will use experienced Havelock North player Trevor Hinton for doubles and mixed doubles play. Hinton and Wilson are a handy doubles combination and it will be interesting if Purcell play them together.
A feature of the Taranaki team is the return of experienced former Central Districts representative Mike Fleming. He will prove a tough assignment for Hawke's Bay's No 4 Steve Pollard of Hastings.
Purcell, Donovan, Pollard, the Bay's No 2 man Jason Kitching of Hastings, No 1 woman Bronwyn French of Greendale, Yule and No 2 woman Linda Brown of the Havelock club were all in the Bay team which beat Manawatu last summer.
Because of the rep fixture no Hawke's Bay premier men's interclub fixtures will be played today.
It's a big weekend for the province's junior representative teams, which will play in Eastern Quadrangular fixtures against Wairarapa, Kapi Mana and Hutt Valley. The under-10s play in Masterton, the under-12s at Onekawa and the under-14s at Lower Hutt.
Hawke's Bay, the defending champions in the under-12s, hope to improve on last year's second placings in the other grades.