Tawa-Lyndhurst still on top of the Heap
Connor Heap blamed rust for his sluggish start, but his class shone through eventually.
The Tawa-Lyndhurst men’s No 1 set his team on the way in the third round of post-Christmas Wellington interclub tennis on Saturday.
The Christchurch-based player, who recently won the 18s nationals, beat Miramar’s Felix Humphries 6-2, 6-0, not losing a game after the match was 2-2 early on.
‘‘It took a while to get into it,’’ Heap said.
‘‘I’ve had some time off and only really started hitting again this week. Once I got into my rhythm, I was happy with the way it played out.’’
Heap later teamed with Francis Glover to win their doubles match. Marcel Glover also had a solid day, registering wins in singles and doubles.
Michael McGlinchey and Rynold Timothy had singles defeats, but Tawa-Lyndhurst still took the tie 4-2, to capture six points.
Heap, who also plays in Auckland, is looking to play tournaments in the United States and Europe shortly, but will be eligible should Tawa-Lyndhurst make the interclub final. That’s looking likely – they sit atop the standings by a point from rivals Thorndon, who have a nine-point buffer over third-placed Miramar.
Heap said he enjoyed the camaraderie at Tawa-Lyndhurst, who beat Wellington Wakefield and Maungaraki comfortably in the first two rounds to assert their dominance.
‘‘It’s my third year here and it’s been great. The team are a great bunch of guys.’’
In women’s premier 2, TawaLyndhurst and Titahi Bay beat Pukerua Bay and Lower Hutt to maintain their competition dominance.
GOLF
In division 1 interclub golf, Judgeford showed plenty of fight before losing 9-6 to Manor Park at Shandon.
In the foursomes, Hayden Ring and Ben Duflou won 5 and 3, Joe Cuthers and Jayden Ford won 2 and 1, and Ropeti Faatoafe and Qualen Asi won 1-up.
That put Judgeford up 3-2 following the foursomes, but they won just three of seven singles matches, to Ring, Duflou and Moleni Fa’aaliga.
In the match-up of the No 1s, Daniel Hillier, from Porirua but leading the Manor Park team, beat Michael Payne 8 and 7.
The result leaves Judgeford fifth on 10 points, behind Paraparaumu (20.5 points), Royal Wellington (17.5), Manor Park (14.5) and Shandon (10.5).