A record 60 plus entries have been received for the annual Trev's Wairarapa closed junior tennis championships to be held at the Masterton Tennis Centre on Sunday. WTA chief executive officer Cilla Paulik is understandably delighted with the response which is almost double that of the previous year. She said players fromEketahuna in the north to Featherston in the south would be involved with ages ranging between 7yrs and 14yrs. Doubles and singles matches would be staged with each player guaranteed at least three games "I'd hate to think how long it could take to get through them all but we want to ensure all the players get a fair go," Paulik said. Meanwhile, Martinborough have raced out to a commanding lead in the regional one inter-club competition. They have 88pts, followed by Opaki 71, Gladstone 62, Carterton 50, Pirinoa 48 and Masterton 25. On the face of it then a Martinborough v Opaki grand final would seem almost assured but appearances could be deceiving in this case as Gladstone and Masterton have still to play a match deferred from an earlier round and the result of that could change things quite dramatically. This is especially so for Gladstone if they could pick up the maximum 10 points available there. Right now that would actually see them in second place, one point ahead of Opaki. That Gladstone will want to play the match is guaranteed as a default win would only give them three points while they would only get two points if a decision was taken to call it off with the points being shared. Tomorrow's regional one draw sees Gladstone playing Carterton at Gladstone, Masterton up against Martinborough at Martinborough and Pirinoa meeting Opaki at Pirinoa. The form book would suggest comfortable wins in each instance to Gladstone, Martinborough and Opaki although a Pirinoa side anywhere near full strength could make the latter work overtime in the process.
