Busy two days of Central Squash doubles

Rod Bannister, pictured and Kent Darlington are top seeds for Men's Division 1 for the Central Squash doubles.

The Whanganui Squash Club's busy season continues as they will host the annual Central Districts Doubles tournament tonight and tomorrow.

Starting at 6pm this evening for three hours and then continuing all day on Saturday, there will be 58 teams vying for titles in three categories – Men's, Women's and Mixed – with several players doing double duty.

The Men's event will have three divisons, while the Women's draw has two and the Mixed is the biggest turnout of teams with players filling up four draws.

Highlights should come from Men's Division 1, which has an eight team draw packed with talent, as Whanganui's pairing of Rod Bannister and Kent Darlington are top seeds.

Members of SquashGym Palmerston North and Whanganui, Stephen Bennett and Matt Ratcliffe are the second seeds.

Palmerston North's Matt Nation and Jared Scrivens are contenders from third seed, while fourth seeds Brad Watts and Jaren Steenson come from the Thorndon Squash Club in Wellington.

Throw in Central Squash representatives in the form of Bryce McKenzie (Rivercity) and Allan Bailey (SquashGym), young New Zealand Under 13 champion Reece Holmes (Hawera) and some seasoned doubles campaigners in the form of Whanganui's Nigel Ward and John Roestenburg and there is no-one in this draw who can be slept on.

The Women's Division 1 also has a tough eight team draw which see's Kawaroa Park's Jacinta Harrison and Chelsea Aim from New Plymouth as top seeds.

Mickayla Kerr and Abbie Holmes, from SquashGym and Hawera respectively, are the second seeds, while the Whanganui/Ohakune pairing of Ngakuria Osborne and Amy Osborne are third seeds.

Taumaruni's Karen McGill and Tracey Browne round out the Top 4.

The Mixed division see's the most participation with three draws of eight teams and one draw of three teams.

In the top draw, Darlington teams up with Kerr and are top seeds, while the Whanganui/Hawera pair of Banniste and Holmes are second.

Bennett and Rebecca Clifford from SquashGym are third seeds and the Whanganui pair of Ratcliffe and Pauline Slovak round out the Top 4.

Doubles Tournament seedings

June 22-23, at Whanganui Squash Club.

Men's– Division 1: 1. Rod Bannister/Kent Darlington; 2. Stephen Bennett/Matt Ratcliffe; 3. Matt Nation/Jared Scrivens; 4. Brad Watts/Jaren Steenson; 5. Bryce McKenzie/Brett McKenzie; 6. Allan Bailey/Reece Holmes; 7. Anthony Mott/Jason Salle; 8. Nigel Ward/John Roestenburg. Division 2: 1. Graham Gillard/Zak Peacock; 2. Melville Homes/James Matthews; 3. Rob Moore/Dave Campbell; 4. Bryan Stent/Andrew Christie. Division 3: 1. Kevin Jenson/Kevin Chartens; 2. Wade Coneybeer/Darren Kelly.

Women's – Division 1: 1. Jacinta Harrison/Chelsea Aim; 2. Mickayla Kerr/Abbie Holmes; 3. Ngakuria Osborne/Amy Osborne; 4. Karen McGill/ Tracey Browne; 5. Pauline Slovak/Rebecca Clifford; 6. Fiona Gemmell/Jo Parkinson; 7. Lyn Te Ngahue/Sharon Bryant; 8. Trin McCarthy/Karla Swainson. Divison 2: 1. Raukawa Simon/Julie Rowan.

Mixed – Division 1: 1. Kent Darlington/Mickayla Kerr; 2. Rod Bannister/Abbie Holmes; 3. Stephen Bennett/Rebecca Clifford; 4. Pauline Slovak/Matt Ratcliffe; 5. James Gould/Nicki Gibbs; 6. Colin Swainson/Tracy Browne; 7. Ngakuria Osborne/Sean Edmonds; 8. Melville Holmes/Jacinta Harrison. Division 2: 1. Hayden Lloyd/Samatha Douglas; 2. Jimmy Forrest/Sharon Bryant. Divison 3: 1. Raukawa Simon/Maurice Clark; 2. Warren Johnson/Trin McCarthy; Division 4: 1. Aria Bannister/Reece Holmes