The Star: October 26, 2023
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20 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>October</strong> <strong>26</strong> <strong>2023</strong><br />
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Premier tennis to bounce back<br />
after bad luck with weather<br />
• By Diane Keenan<br />
PREMIER TENNIS players are<br />
itching to get on court for their<br />
first premier interclub game of<br />
the summer season after bad<br />
weather has twice thwarted the<br />
season opening.<br />
After the opening week of play<br />
was washed out by rain, extreme<br />
wind conditions the following<br />
week and there was no play at<br />
Labour weekend, players could<br />
not be happier that Saturday’s<br />
forecast is for fine weather.<br />
“It has been a real shame that<br />
we haven’t been able to play so<br />
far this season,” said Elmwood<br />
premier women’s team captain<br />
Louise Oxnevad.<br />
“We all just want to get out on<br />
court.”<br />
Oxnevad and fellow Elmwood<br />
player Tessa McCann have a<br />
busy weekend of tennis ahead.<br />
Both will play for Kohimarama<br />
in the first round of Caro Bowl,<br />
Auckland’s premier interclub<br />
competition on Friday night<br />
before flying home the following<br />
morning in time for interclub<br />
against Cashmere at 1pm at<br />
Cashmere Courts.<br />
Kohimarama is drawn to play<br />
Royal Oak, which has Ruby<br />
Young, Cashmere’s top player, in<br />
its ranks.<br />
“It is possible that Tessa and<br />
Ruby could be playing interclub<br />
against each other twice this<br />
weekend,” says Oxnevad.<br />
Oxnevad, a former top New<br />
Zealand junior who grew up<br />
in Queenstown, is a welcome<br />
addition to Christchurch<br />
premier tennis, having joined<br />
Elmwood for its final two games<br />
last season.<br />
Oxnevad says she was<br />
fortunate to be coached by Lan<br />
Bale at the same time he was<br />
coaching a number of promising<br />
juniors including Ben and Riki<br />
McLachlan.<br />
Oxnevad was awarded a tennis<br />
scholarship and played college<br />
tennis while also studying<br />
architecture at California<br />
Polytechnic State University.<br />
After graduating, she worked in<br />
Sydney for several years before<br />
her shift to Christchurch where<br />
she now works as an architect.<br />
Her mother Felicity is also<br />
an accomplished representative<br />
player.<br />
Elmwood’s team is formidable<br />
with Abby Mason, McCann and<br />
Oxnevad as its top players.<br />
Jenny Blackburn, the captain<br />
of Cashmere’s premier women’s<br />
team, is also enthusiastic about<br />
a possible start to the season this<br />
weekend.<br />
“We want it to be a good<br />
competitive tie against<br />
Elmwood,” she said.<br />
Blackburn is a club stalwart for<br />
Cashmere and, with sister Heidi,<br />
played her junior tennis for the<br />
club.<br />
“We are really looking forward<br />
to playing a home game this<br />
weekend. Cashmere members<br />
always turn up to support us<br />
when we are playing at home.”<br />
Blackburn will be joined by<br />
Ruby Young, Ruby McPhail, Lily<br />
McHarg and Mandy Wilson.<br />
In other women’s match-ups,<br />
Shirley will host Waimairi,<br />
while last year’s competition<br />
winners Te Kura Hagley plays<br />
Bishopdale.<br />
Cashmere, last season’s<br />
competition winners, are at<br />
home to Bishopdale in the men’s<br />
competition. Players include the<br />
three Meredith brothers, Matt,<br />
Tim and James, along with<br />
Harry Weeds, Jonny McHarg<br />
– who returns this season from<br />
injury – Lucas Evans and Liam<br />
Barrett. Bishopdale will include<br />
Will Schneideman and Grayson<br />
Cullen.<br />
Elmwood, a team stacked<br />
with experience, will be a tough<br />
opponent for Te Kura Hagley,<br />
a team which is in a rebuilding<br />
phase. Elliot Darling is playing<br />
with brother Lawrence, Mid<br />
Canterbury coach Jack Tiller and<br />
Benji McGillivray for Elmwood,<br />
while Te Kura Hagley includes<br />
Pat Nolan and Ben Smith.<br />
Burnside Park, with club coach<br />
Remi Feneon at the helm and a<br />
talented lineup in Finn Emslie-<br />
Robson, Jordan Edwards, Liam<br />
Adams and Jamie Poole, will<br />
play at home against Edgeware<br />
Waimairi.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new competition format<br />
means there are now only three<br />
round-robin games to earn a<br />
place in the pre-Christmas<br />
semi-finals.<br />
EYE ON THE BALL: Louise Oxnevad, Elmwood premier<br />
women’s team captain, is looking forward to getting back<br />
on the court.<br />
Kobori clinches individual honours at<br />
Eisenhower Trophy championship<br />
PHOTO: GETTY<br />
CHRISTCHURCH golfer<br />
Kazuma Kobori has won the<br />
individual honours at the<br />
Eisenhower Trophy world<br />
amateur teams championship,<br />
leading New Zealand to a<br />
top-five finish in Abu Dhabi.<br />
Kobori is the second New<br />
Zealander to claim the top<br />
individual spot at the biennial<br />
global tournament, following<br />
Phil Tataurangi in 1992.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 21-year-old fired a<br />
brilliant seven-under 65 at Abu<br />
Dhabi Golf Club, finishing<br />
with a chip-in on the 18th hole,<br />
helping the three-man New<br />
Zealand side to an eight-under<br />
team total in the final round<br />
and a vast improvement on<br />
their overall placing of 35th two<br />
years ago.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir tally of 23-under was<br />
good enough for equal fifth, 13<br />
shots behind runaway winners<br />
the United States.<br />
Kobori, who battled illness for<br />
much of the week, said his game<br />
felt solid over the weekend.<br />
“I played really nicely over<br />
the last few days. I think I made<br />
a total of 16 birdies which is<br />
always fun,” he said.<br />
He shot 70, 70, 67 and 65 to<br />
seal the individual honours<br />
over US Amateur champion<br />
Nick Dunlop.<br />
It continues a brilliant year<br />
for Kobori, who has already<br />
won the Australian Amateur,<br />
the Western Amateur, and the<br />
US Elite Amateur Series.<br />
Taranaki’s Sam Jones shot<br />
the second counting score on<br />
Sunday, shooting a one-under<br />
71, contributing to the team<br />
score for a third time, while<br />
Jayden Ford shot even in his<br />
final round.<br />
<strong>The</strong> trio head to Melbourne<br />
to compete in the Asia-Pacific<br />
Amateur Championship this<br />
week.<br />
– RNZ