15 March 2007

In the Soffe Cup interclub tennis semifinals tomorrow, top qualifiers, AWE Huatoki are at home to Hooker Pacific Pukekura. It will be a major upset if Huatoki are beaten. The last time these two sides met, Huatoki took it out 10-6
Huatoki's men's side will be Jonathan Ussher, Roy Gaskin, Neil Bridgeman and Rakesh or Amrit Rai while Pukekura's men's side is unknown but will include Meto Snegirev and Paul Simpson.
Huatoki's womens line-up is likley to be Lucy Barlow, Saori Han, Janice Taylor and Robyn Hinton who will play Pukekura's Linda Reid, Donna Thorne, Kirsten Adam and Jeanette Harding. Thorne and Adam gave Han and Taylor a good game of singles last time before losing in the third set tiebreaker.
 
The Sandfords Manaia and Rotokare clash at Manaia will be close. In the first round Manaia won 9-7. Rotokare look to have a stronger men's side then Manaia. Their men's team is  likely to be Chris Popata, Mark Atkins, Greg Hareb and Mike Roberts. They will play Thomas Luxton, Jason Mills, Alistair Murdoch and Michael Gates.
The women's singles matches are likely to be Nicole Koch against Leith Atkins, Alesha Ford versus Val McLoughlin, while the no 3 and 4 matches should be Maureen Whiting against Ashlee Murdoch and Beccie Atkins playing Ginny Death. Manaia should win all but the No 3 clash and be in the lead going into the doubles.
In the men's and women's doubles, last time the two sides met, Rotokare took out three out of four but lost all the mixed. They will have to improve on that to beat the Cup holders who won't relinquish their tenure easily.
 
In the Wilson Trophy, Oakura will host Manaia and Matapu are at home to Okaiawa (1).
In the Sumpter Trophy, Huatoki (1) have home advantage against Manaia and Team Hawera host Waitara. The home teams are favoured in both these semi-finals.
Games in all divisions are played on Sunday if it is rain interrupted tomorrow.