Runner-up : Harps Tahurangi, Winner : Greg Bryant

WCA Open AC Singles Championship 2021

Played at the Wellington and Kelburn Clubs from 27 - 30 December

This year’s tournament had 12 entries from Wellington, Manawatu-Wanganui, South Taranaki and the Wairarapa. On Days 1 and 2 players were divided into 2 sections and competed in a round robin, each match being 1 game. The first and second placed players in each section moved forward to the knockout competition where all matches were best of 3 with a total time allowed of 7 1/2 hours . The remaining 8 players then competed in the Plate - another single game, round robin.

As usual the hoops were tightly set and the standard of refreshments excellent!

The weather was generally good throughout, but unfortunately the first round of Plate matches had to be pegged-down almost before it had started on Tuesday afternoon due to heavy rain. That made for a very long day on Wednesday with 4 rounds played. Other than that hiccup, which the players took in their stride, the weather was generally kind to us.

Kelburn lawns were used on Day 4 for part of the Plate, to allow single banking for the final at Wellington.

The final between Greg and Harps was an enthralling match accompanied by lots of “oohs and aahs” from the spectators and some expressive body language from the players. The match went the distance and took the full 7 ½ hrs allocated. Final score : 26-24, 9-26, 26tp-2 to Greg Bryant.

The Plate was won by last year’s champion Ali’i Posimani with 6 wins from 7 games.