The Star: November 04, 2021

28 The Star Thursday November 4 2021
SPORTS NEWS
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A united Burwood Park makes strong
return to men’s premier grade
• By Chris Barclay
CHRISTCHURCH’S age-old
elitist social status inquiry
“what school did you go to?” has
missed the mark entirely with
students driving Burwood Park’s
return to the premier men’s
tennis competition.
Talented teenagers from
private and state-funded institutions
have united to bridge the
code’s class divide between the
city’s well-heeled clubs and an
unfashionable outfit on the
fringe of the red zone.
After a three-season break,
Burwood Park returned to Tennis
Canterbury’s top echelon on
October 16.
They made the ideal comeback
against Bishopdale Te Kura
Hagley Park; they then drubbed
last season’s runners-up Country
Mid Canterbury on Saturday, the
6-0 scoreline allowing them to
top the table ahead of traditional
powerhouse Elmwood.
“The boys are happy, they’re
proud of themselves but we’ve
still got the big boys to play . . .
Elmwood, Burnside and Cashmere,”
said Burwood Park coach
and manager Andrew Falck.
They have the bye next weekend
before the competition takes
a break until November 20, when
Cashmere looms.
Falck has mentored most of
the team since they started out,
so this campaign is already an
unqualified success.
“I coached Duncan [McCall]
from the age of eight, I’ve started
most of those players. It’s good to
see them come through,” he said.
Ryan van Grinsven is the
figurative pensioner in his mid-
20s; Jordan Edwards is the other
elder statesman at 18, followed
by McCall, 16, a New Zealand
age-group representative.
Queenstown-based Kai Milburn,
a national title winner, is
the junior at 14. Ethan Cooke
and EJ Gonzaga are 15.
Milburn makes the trek by
bus or plane to play, arriving on
NET GAINS: Burwood Park coach and manager Andrew Falck is delighted with his young
squad’s return to Tennis Canterbury men’s premier grade. The squad includes Duncan
McCall (top right) and Ethan Cooke.
PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN, KAREN CASEY ​
‘The boys are happy,
they’re proud of themselves
but we’ve still got the big
boys to play . . . Elmwood,
Burnside and Cashmere.’
– Andrew Falck
Friday and heading south on the
Sunday.
“He commutes because there’s
not a lot [of tennis] for them
down there,” Falck said.
“I’ll go out on a limb and say
he’s the best under-14 player in
New Zealand. He can handle the
pressure.”
South African ex-pat Falck has
lived in the city for 13 years, sufficient
time to realise old school
ties are a conversation point –
though not in this case.
“It’s strange how they’re all
at different schools and then
compete together. They’re a tight
bunch. They train together and
do a lot together.”
McCall and Nont Prachuabmoh
(17) are at St Andrew’s
College and Christ’s College
respectively, while Cooke (Linwood
College) and Gonzaga
(Burnside High School) also mix
schoolwork and play.
In spite of the squad’s youth,
Falck said premier grade was the
logical progression after a season
in second-tier division one.
“They were a bit young so we
gave them another year of exposure
to adult tennis so they know
what to expect,” he said.
Edwards and Prachuabmoh
already had some premier grade
experience after playing for
Shirley, who have dropped to
division one. McCall has filled in
for Cashmere.
“Other than that they’ve come
through the ranks, div 2, div 1,
and slowly worked their way up,”
Falck said.
Burwood Park, the club, is also
on the ascent after testing times
post-earthquake.
The top men’s team, then
based around Falck’s son Reece –
a top junior now at college in the
US – foundered after the
2017-18 season.
“Eventually we didn’t have the
numbers to keep it going, but
now we’re back in the fold,” Falck
said.
The club never lost its standing
despite the earthquakes fracturing
its catchment area.
“We lost about 15,000 homes
in the area so that impacted
on our ability to grow, but we
have maintained our numbers
throughout,” he said.
“Facility-wise there was some
damage, we had our courts
redone and in December they’re
going to repaint the (four) hard
courts again. There’s three brand
new astro (turf) courts.
“We’ve done relatively well
considering what was lost.”
Papanui packs punch in fundraising bouts
• By Chris Barclay
A FUNDRAISING pro-am card
for the Papanui Boxing Club hit
the target, with about $12,000
raised to help their talented
boxers fight further afield.
Other than boosting the
‘fighting fund’, Papanui boxers
claimed nine of their 11 bouts
to cap a successful exercise at
the Wharenui Sports Centre on
Saturday.
Commonwealth Games
hopeful Tom Weastall was
among the big winners, with a
unanimous decision over Joe
Jacob in their middleweight
clash, setting himself up
for January’s national
championships in Wanganui.
Weastall’s assignment is a
training camp later this month
in Wellington for contenders
to represent New Zealand at
Birmingham next year.
“Tom had a time away from
the sport earlier in the year
but he’s re-established that he’s
the best in these parts,” said
organiser Sam Watt.
Former Commonwealth
Games representative Reece
Papuni was a proud coach, in his
son Makaire’s corner as he made
a successful debut for Riverside
in the 54kg cadet division with a
third-round TKO of Isaac Pond.
Heavyweight Watt won the
six-round main event with
a unanimous decision over
Wellington’s Thomas Russell,
who proved a durable opponent
after being knocked to the
canvas midway through the
fight.
“That’s the longest fight I’ve
ever done. It was good to get
the rounds under the belt but it
would have been nice to get him
out of there,” said Watt, after his
third pro fight.
Raising money for boxers
to further their development
by facing North Island –
particularly Auckland opponents
when Covid-19 restrictions
allow – was arguably more
satisfying.
“It was a great night, we’re
really happy,” Watt said.