8 February 2008

Most interest in Soffe Cup tennis tomorrow will be between third placed AWE Huatoki and fourth placed Hooker Pacific Pukekura at Huatoki.
Huatoki should be back to full strength although No 3 Janice Taylor may still be out with a shoulder injury.
The top men's match will be a beauty, between the top two players in Taranaki, Huatoki's Jonathan Ussher and Pukekura's Michael Fleming. The no 2 match is likely to be between Huatoki's Tristan Stayt and Pukekura's Ben Aves with Stayt favoured.  In the singles Huatoki's Lucy Barlow (if available ) will play Linda Reid while the No 2 match will be Huatoki's Saori Han against Donna Thorne.
In the first round there was an 8-8 draw.
 
Competition leaders Central Finance Rotokare will have a tough game against Sandfords Manaia at Rotokare but shoud still win with their strong men's team. The top men's match will be a good one with No 1 Rotokare's Ben Pollard playing Manaia's Jason Mills, the result is hard to pick.  The No 2 match is likely to be  Rotokares' Chris Popata against Jordan Fleming with Popata favoured over the youngster.
The scores should be level after the top two women's singles with Manaia's Nicole Koch and Alesha Ford playing Kelly Toa and Leith Atkins. Toa and Ford are expected to win.
In the first round Rotokare won 11-5 but Manaia should improve on that.
 
Second placed Hareb Deken Oakura will bounce back after their loss to Manaia last week. They play sixth placed McDonald Real Estate Matapu at home.
In the first round Oakura won 14-2 but they had a very strong team that day so Matapu should improve on that score.
The top two men's singles should see a good match between the top up and coming men in Taranaki,  Oakura's 17 year old Josh Walden playing Matapu's David White, aged 19. Both are in the senior rep team, Walden is ranked above White and is expected to win tomorrow.  In the No 2 singles, Oakura's Aaron Hine or Steve Novak should beat Jason Hurley.  In the women's singles Oakura's top pairing, Leah Fletcher and Sue Oldfield are not expected to be troubled against Jen White and Helen Kelly.
 
 
Waiwaka/Stratford/Midhirst have the bye.