A report on the recent Nelson Open (June 25/26) from Malcolm Wong who won the O40 & O50 MD with Mark Nalder (Nelson) and was r/u in the Second Grade XD with Glenda Ferguson (Nelson).  The Wong/Nalder combination have now won 10 doubles titles and Malcolm Wong has won 65 tournament titles!

This tournament was held at the new Saxton Field Sports Stadium (7,000 sqm) which was built at a cost of $13 million.  Funding has been provided by the Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council and the Saxton Field Sports Stadium Society.  There are 5 basketball courts in the main part of the complex, which is also used for netball, volleyball and handball.  Table tennis is in a separate part of the complex. There are 8 tables and there is heating to regulate the temperature inside.  There is an office, table tennis shop and cafeteria on the ground floor and seating upstairs.

Bryan Keane ran the tournament with his normal efficiency, with Paul Op Den Buysch operating the Xpand2Play system on the computer and Daryl Jones (Marlborough) writing out the certificates. Play started 9am on the Saturday and finished 10.30pm. Having group play for all events meant a longer day than usual.

Canterbury players dominated the Open events. Simon Fenwick won the MS against William Pringle 4-2  Pringle/Chris Erskine (Nelson) won the MD against Fenwick/Nalder(Nelson) 3-1  Jenny Hung beat Megan Stratford (Marlborough) in the WS 4-0 Hung/Tracey Deeley (Nelson) won the WD and Hung/Fenwick won the XD.  Veteran Mark Nalder played in 7 finals, winning the O40 & O50 MS and MD, and was r/u in the MD and Second Grade MS & MD.