SQUASH: Champion inspires Carole to swat flu, then rival

SHANE HURNDELL
Carole Rowsell thought of her world champion Hawke's Bay Lawn clubmate Kay Glenny as she won a crucial first match in the Hawke's Bay Super League squash final last night.
"I had the flu all week and it worried me throughout my match. But I kept thinking of Kay's fighting qualities and I got there in the end," she said after beating another clubmate and fellow B2 grader Anna Martin 9-7 in the fifth set.
On Thursday Glenny, a longtime friend of Rowsell, had won the 60-plus title at the World Masters Games in Canada. She would have been proud of the fighting qualities Hell's Rowsell displayed against Subway's Martin.
Rowsell, who has won three of her four matches against Martin this season, was also full of praise for the advice given to her between sets by former New Zealand representative Paul Viggers who was filling in for fellow experienced campaigner and Hawke's Bay clubmate Keith Redman who is in Hamilton this weekend playing in the Waikato Open.
Subway's No 3 man Rex Butler tied the score at one match all with his 3-0 win over Brent Goldfinch before Hell's No 2 man Hayden Niethe won a five set thriller 9-7 in the fifth against Nigel Martin to put Hell ahead 2-1.
Niethe, like Viggers, was a substitute in the Hell line-up for Redman's son Bryce who is also playing in the Waikato Open.
In-form Subway captain Debbie Tunnicliffe took 14 minutes to win the No 1 women's clash in straight sets, 9-5, 10-8, 9-6 against Viggers wife Sheryl who was a substitute for injured Hell captain Pauline Boyle.
Tunnicliffe had only been beaten once in the 12-week league back in the first round when she took on Glenny.
This set up the ideal finale in the MoreFM-sponsored league with the A2 graded Viggers up against his B1 graded clubmate Simon O'Shaughnessy - a classic master-student clash. And the pair turned on a spectacular exhibition for the packed gallery.
Viggers won the first set 9-2 and O'Shaughnessy the second 9-8 after Viggers called short when the score was 8-all. Viggers won the third set 9-5 and O'Shaughnessy the fourth 9-0 after Viggers opted to save his legs for the fifth when he realised he wasn't able to recover from a 5-0 deficit.
Viggers then showed why he is still the top man in the region with a comfortable 9-1 win in the final set. Laser Electrical beat Bay Cuisine 3-1 in the playoff for third while Hawke's Bay Refrigeration beat Shed 2 3-0 in the playoff for fifth.