Squash
A veritable who's who of New Zealand squash will be contesting the Wellington district championships to be hosted by the Masterton Trust House Squash Club at their Villa St headquarters from July 5-7.
Spearheading the battle for the open men's title will be Kashif Shuja and Evan Williams, while Joelle King looks to have the open women's field at her mercy.
Shuja, originally from Pakistan, turned professional in 2005 and four years later reached No35 in the world rankings. He is now ranked 95, mainly because he has not played in many of the recent major tournaments rather than any significant drop in form.
Arriving in New Zealand in 2001, Shuja became a Kiwi citizen in 2004 and lived in Auckland for almost a decade before moving to Palmerston North.
Winner of the national men's open title on five occasions, Shuja has also been been taking time to travel overseas and has recently played in Europe, firstly for the Wiener Neudorf club just outside Vienna in Austria and then for Squash Zwolle in the Netherlands.
Williams, from Wellington and coached by a former Wairarapa identity Nick Mita, represented New Zealand at the world teams championships in France this month and holds a world ranking of 79. He turned professional in 2008 and climbed a remarkable 40 places on the world rankings during a 12-month stint playing in South America and England.
The left-handed Williams met Shuja in the final of the open men's section Manawatu International/Central Squash Classic last year and they had a cracker of a game. Shuja dominated the first set which he won 11-5 but Williams came out all guns blazing in the second, and after hitting several spectacular winners took that set 11-7.
The crucial third set was a thriller and the scores were tied 7-7 when Shuja placed a forehand drive which Williams went across to cut off. He asked for the let which was not given and a heated exchange between Williams and the referee followed, after which Shuja took advantage of some sloppy play by his rival to win the set and the match 11-7.
Interestingly, King won the open women's grade at that same tournament, beating Kylie Lindsay in straight sets (11-4, 15-13, 11-4) with a typically dominant performance. She is ranked No5 in the world with one of her most memorable successes coming when she won the Australian women's open title in 2009. She also starred at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where she won gold in the women's doubles and silver in the mixed doubles, has also won a Texas Open and picked up her first national championship in 2010.
This is by no means King's first visit to Wairarapa, she has been here for exhibition matches and coaching forums over the past couple of years.