Rod Bannister's weapons of choice are fitness, hand/eye co-ordination and a winning mindset as he heads off to do battle with the Australians. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
Rod Bannister's weapons of choice are fitness, hand/eye co-ordination and a winning mindset as he heads off to do battle with the Australians. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
WANGANUi No1 Rod Bannister will be taking no prisoners when he goes to war as part of the New Zealand masters squash team to play Australia over the next 10 days.
Bannister is one of five men and five women - seven from Canterbury - in the Kiwi team playingin the biennial test series that incorporates the Australian masters and Australian age-group nationals hosted in Canberra.
Fresh from his wins in the Central Districts Masters and Rangitikei Opens, the 45-year-old is in the right mindset to tackle the Aussies on their home patch.
"This is a biennial test series and New Zealand has never won in Australia. We won when it was our turn to host it in Nelson in 2011, when I was a reserve on standby. I'd only just got back into squash at the time, but had beaten the New Zealand No1 that year," Bannister said yesterday. "The last time I represented New Zealand was when I was much younger, in 1986 ... but it means so much more, somehow, when you're older.
"I'm going to Australia with a mindset to win - I think it's pointless otherwise."
Bannister is seeded No1 in his 45-49 age group for the Australian nationals and has his first games on Friday. On Sunday the Australian masters starts, culminating with a third masters test on Saturday week.
"I love being based in Wanganui with the ability to still play at top level - we've got all the facilities," Bannister said.
