Country's new tennis powerhouse

Cousins Kyle Butters and Paige Hourigan were pivotal in the Wanganui victory in the Jacobs Creek Hexangular tournament in Hutt Valley at the weekend. Photo/File

Wanganui is emerging as a dominant force in tennis circles after winning back-to-back prestigious tournaments in the past fornight.

Two weeks ago the Wanganui mixed team cleaned up to win the Christie Cup and continued that form to claim the Jacobs Creek Hexangular event in the Hutt Valley last weekend in dominant fashion.

Tennis Wanganui development officer and an integral component in the River City side, Wilton Atkins, said while the Christie Cup had major historical value, the Jacobs Creek tournament was arguably a more prestigious event given the strong competition from much larger centres.

Teams competing in the Jacobs Creek Hexangular included Wellington, Kapi-Mana, Hutt Valley, Manawatu and Taranaki.

Wanganui travelled to Hutt Valley without pivotal players Emma Hayman and and Karen Cranston, but current stars Paige Hourigan and her cousins Paris and Kyle Butters teamed with class acts Victor Romero, Gabby Hiri, Taylor Quirk, Simon O'Leary, Dana Hiri, Charlotte Gollan and Atkins to win the title for the first time. Wanganui, however, signalled its intention last year finishing second.

"These victories show that Wanganui has arguably the best men's and women's team in the central region," Atkins said. "There is also the suggestion that the Wanganui Tennis Club has one of the best line-ups in New Zealand."

Wanganui was in Pool B along with Kapi-Mana and Wellington, while Pool A included Taranaki, Hutt Valley and Manawatu.

Wanganui went through pool play unbeaten, dealing to Wellington 7-5 and Kapi-Mana 8-2 to head Pool B, while Taranaki finished top of Pool A.

These two sides fought out the final with Wanganui winning 7 matches to 2, without the remaining 3 matches needing to be played - Wanganui had an unassailable lead.

Wanganui had a very strong team despite not having international Hayman, with stars Hourigan and Romero available. Kyle Butters, O'Leary, Atkins and Quirk all went through undefeated in the men's section, while Hourigan and Paris Butters were dominant in their undefeated runs in the women's singles.

All of the Wanganui ladies picked up wins through-out the weekend in what was a great team effort.

"It was Wanganui's doubles and mixed doubles play that were a real strength, but unfortunately - or fortunately - were not needed to be called into gear because we had earned unassailable leads after singles play," Atkins said.

In the final, with Wanganui leading 6-2 after singles play, they needed only one more win out of the four remaining doubles and mixed matches. But only one was needed, Romero and Kyle Butters dishing out a 6-0 6-0 thrashing illustrating just how dominant the Wanganui team were against what were Tennis Central's best men and women players.

The final placings were: Wanganui, Taranaki, Wellington, Hutt Valley, Kapi-Mana, Manawatu.

Atkins said the depth of Wanganui tennis was its strength and he was confident whichever team was fielded to defend the Christie Cup against Manawatu in late February could get the job done.

"We haven't defended a Christie Cup in 50 years, but if we retain it in February it gets to stay in our cabinet with our name engraved on it."