Awakeri Badminton Club hosted its third annual Badminton Exchange with Eastland Badminton Club from Gisborne last month.

A squad of 24 from each club took part, playing in under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 teams.

This year, Eastland won each age level to take the overall trophy.

The exchange began with a welcome lunch, followed by boys’, girls’ and mixed doubles matches.

A shared dinner and games night was held on Saturday and players and some family members stayed “marae-style” at the Awakeri Events Centre, home of Awakeri Badminton Club.

The singles games were played on Sunday.

In the Awakeri under-13 team of Liam Grindrod, Leon Edwards, Teagan Picard and Ella Meadowcroft, three of the four were first-year players.

Club spokesperson Kirsty Reid said they fought for every point in every game, making the club proud.

The under -15 team of Lachlan Reid, Tai Rikirangi, Harvey Ferguson, Ariki Wilson, Mahly Rikirangi, Scarlett Holding, Siobhan Watkins and McKenzie Nurkka included experienced and new players.

Mahly and Scarlett comfortably won their singles and doubles’ games while Siobhan and McKenzie also came away with wins.

Reid said Lachlan and Mahly, as well as Tai and Scarlett, played their hearts out and came away with wins in their mixed doubles matches. Harvey and Siobhan narrowly missed out after an epic and close three-setter match.

The under-17 team of Keelan Dawson, Keon Ocumen, Abel Aneesh, Dylan Penny, Xeia Panganiban, Becca Harris, Kyemani Hemara and Amiria Penny also played well, with five of their 16 games going to sets.

Keelan and Kyemani fought hard to win their singles matches comfortably in two sets. Abel put up a strong fight in his singles, narrowly missing out in the third set.

Both of the girls’ doubles combinations also went down narrowly in three sets. The mixed doubles combinations of Keelan and Becca, and Dylan and Kyemani, pushed the Eastland players to three sets.

The under-19 team of Jayden Dagoc, Levi Dagoc, Mackenzie Reid and Reagan Farmer lost to a very polished Eastland team.

Mackenzie had a close singles game but missed out in the end.

While the final results did not go Awakeri’s way this year, Reid was pleased with the players’ performances and behaviour over the weekend.

“The players and their whānau from both Awakeri and Eastland were such a credit to their clubs,” she said.

“They were all so lovely and polite and were a pleasure to host. It was neat to see the players who knew each other from the last two years reconnecting with each other and to see new players making friendships.

“The whole weekend was full of laughter, fun, and plenty of competitive banter.”

Geoff Wright from Eastland said the weekend was about more than just medals and trophies.

“It’s also a great chance for our juniors to make new friends, build on existing ones, and have some fun with badminton.”

The final results were:

FMG Under 13 Trophy: Eastland 8-0

Bay Spreaders 2020 Ltd Under-15 Trophy: Eastland 10-6

W J Dippie Ltd Under-17 Trophy: Eastland 14-2

Nickz Auto Services Under-19 Trophy: Eastland 8-0

Overall Exchange winner: Eastland.