Different stories but same goals

Ant Rountree (left) and Rod Bannister get a bit of court time in at the Wanganui Squash Club yesterday ahead of the National Masters in Auckland on Friday. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY 170913WCBRCSQ02

The underdog and the champ are poised to make their presence felt on the national stage in Auckland this weekend.

Wanganui's Rod Bannister and Ant Rountree compete in the New Zealand Masters National Squash Championships, where they will take on the country's age-group best.

Bannister is in white-hot form after taking the 45-49 age-group Australian singles masters title last week and he is the 2011 winner of the New Zealand 40-44 singles title. He did not compete last year.

For Rountree, contesting the 35-39 age group, it will be his first time at the New Zealand Masters Championship and despite his recent successes down these ways, he will be relatively unknown in Auckland squash circles.

Bannister is aiming to be the best in his age group in Australasia and is seeded number 1 this weekend, while Rountree is the eighth seed in his division.

He was a member of the Wanganui Men's Premier team that won the Central Region's Interclub series this year as well as the Wanganui Club Masters team that was second at the Club National Championships this season in Wellington. Bannister was also in the Central Region interclub side.

"I've done pretty well in my class down this way lately, but there won't be too many know me in Auckland, so I'll pretty much be an underdog," Rountree said yesterday.

"It will be great to play with less pressure and I'll be happy with a top finish."

For the ever-confident Bannister, victory is the aim.

"I was really happy with my form in Australia. They beat us in the test series, although I did win two out of my three matches for New Zealand," he said.

"It was very tough competition and they were there to smash us and unfortunately found our underbelly. I ran myself into the ground in the test series, so to pick myself up with an attitude change and win the singles with nobody backing me was great," Bannister said.

The individual New Zealand champs take place from Friday culminating in finals on the Sunday afternoon and the inter-provincial teams event run form Monday through to Wednesday.

Both players are part of the Central Region in the teams event in Auckland.