TOP EFFORT: Last year's Coach of the Year, John Roestenburg, edged out some of his own lads to claim the Peter Vine Memorial after winning the Wanganui B Grade Squash Tournament over Queen's Birthday Weekend.PHOTO/FILE
TOP EFFORT: Last year's Coach of the Year, John Roestenburg, edged out some of his own lads to claim the Peter Vine Memorial after winning the Wanganui B Grade Squash Tournament over Queen's Birthday Weekend.PHOTO/FILE
WHANGANUI Coach of the Year John Roestenburg has added the Peter Vine Memorial to his trophy cabinet after winning the Queen's Birthday Weekend Wanganui B Grade Squash Tournament.
Roestenburg, a volunteer Wanganui Squash Club coach and mentor for many younger and lower-graded players, overcame two of his national C gradewinners in Brett Mckenzie and James Van Kerkoff to win the title and claim bragging rights over his younger former students.
However, he did lose one match to local Barry Touzel, but with Touzel losing to Van Kerkoff in his penultimate match, Roestenburg secured the title on countback, based on the total number of games won and lost across all matches played.
The win was sentimental for Roestenburg as the men's B grade division were playing for the Peter Vine Memorial Cup. Vine was a good mate, long-time club member and of the same vintage as Roestenburg. He passed away about 10 years ago.
The event was another outstanding success on the back of the recent open tournament with players from as far afield as Hawke's Bay and Taranaki as well as a strong contingent of local players contesting their various divisions.
Sixteen-year-old Kiana Reid was highly impressive in the women's division one, including a win against a higher-graded player on her way to claiming the title.
The event had strong support from sponsors The Dentists and Doyle & Associates.
The next tournament to be held at the Wanganui club is the Squash Central Masters Champs in early August, the premier event for the Central Districts region for players over 35.
At the conclusion of this event the Squash Central Masters team will be selected to contest the New Zealand Masters Championships in Dunedin in October.
