Hurley emerges as clear favourite

Jono Hurley has emerged as the clear-cut favourite for the men's singles title at the 2006-07 Wairarapa closed tennis championships.
Hurley was in devastating touch in his quarter-final match with promising youngster Chris Schofield, winning 6-0, 6-0 and showing just why he is ranked amongst the top singles exponents in the Wellington region.
The three other quarter-final matches were also won in straight sets with Geoff Janse beating George Tatham 6-2, 6-4, Baden Stevenson beating Mike Jackson 6-2, 6-1, and Russell Broughton beating Luke Atkinson 6-3, 6-3.
The semi-finals are to be completed by the end of this week with Hurley scheduled to play Janse and Stevenson to meet Broughton.
Janse is an experienced player with a wide range of shots but he will certainly be the underdog against the in-form Hurley and the other semi will be a case of whether the guile of Broughton will be enough to dispose off the agility and youth of Stevenson. A win to either player would be no surprise.
The women's singles semis are also to be completed by the end of this week with Katie Wyeth up against Ashleigh Gane and Leanne Sweeney playing Carla Didsbury.
Wyeth is the top-ranked women's player in the Wairarapa but won't have everything her own way against another talented youngster in Gane while Sweeney, a former Central Districts representative, will be expected to stave off what should be a stern challenge from Didsbury.
Both the men's and women's finals will be played alongside each other at the Masterton Tennis Centre on Wednesday, February 28, starting at 5.30pm.
On the inter-club tennis scene Pirinoa and Martinborough are heading for a showdown in the regional one final which will be played on March 24. The only other team with a chance of being in the top two is Opaki but the odds are against them making up the current leeway on the competition table.
Last Saturday's regional one games saw Martinborough beat Carterton 8-1 and Opaki beat Gladstone 7-2 while a Masterton side depleted by injuries and unavailabilities was forced to default to Pirinoa.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa junior teams did not disgrace themselves when they hosted Manawatu in the under-14, under-12 and under-10 age groups last Sunday.
Unfortunately Manawatu were unable to field a full complement of players in the girl's sections of the under-14 and under-12 matches and some combinations had to be mixed between the two sides to ensure everyone was involved.
For Wairarapa's Kirk Collins this was his last appearance for the under-14's before he ventures onto the senior circuit. He lost a hard fought singles with Cameron Wenham 3-6, 2-6 and, partnered by William Annear, also lost his doubles. However, he finished on a high note by winning his combined doubles in partnership with Charlotte Mossman.
Also in the under-14 boys section for Wairarapa were EJ Hourigan and Monte Warren who acquitted themselves well but lost in straight sets in both their singles and their doubles.
Wairarapa were to the fore in the under-14 girls section with Zoe Schofield and Kristy Renall winning their singles by 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4 , 6-0 respectively and scoring in their doubles too 6-2, 6-1.
It was tough going for the Wairarapa under-12s boys line-up of Angus Petrie, Mitchell Blackwood, Angus Preston and Fraser Dymond, all of whom gave it their best shot but lost their singles and doubles. However, the girls team of Brooke Candy, Dushka Warren, Emma Phelps and Jessica Perry had better fortune with Phelps and Perry winning their singles 6-0, 6-1 and 7-5, 6-3 respectively
Matches in the under-10s division were played first to nine games and singles wins for Wairarapa came from Bradley Annear, Brooke Osborne and Jonty Tatham. There was also a strong effort from Rebecca Perry who perfomed very creditably against a hard hitting male.
Wairarapa also did well in the doubles there with Annear and Tatham winning 9-4 and Osborne and Perry winning 9-1.