Conchords play ball for city mission

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

GOING BIG: Nick Griffin and William Sommerville try out the jumbo tennis racquets that will be used in the charity event.

Relevant offers

Wellington

Whare too small for waka Bus hits tourist from cruise ship Outstanding scholar keeps getting better Firefighters fly to Kapiti blaze Joust another day at the office Bunch of new dwarfs sing praises of The Hobbit Thai team to investigate Kiwi's death Milk bars served it up by the scoop Council fears loss of liquor ban areas Congratulations and be prosperous

Organisers of a charity tennis tournament have scored an ace, serving up Flight of the Conchords stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for the event.

Clement's uncle, Patrick McArdell, used "a bit of family pressure" to nab the high-profile pair for the tournament on March 20 at Wellington's Renouf Centre.

The comedy duo is in New Zealand on holiday for a few weeks.

"I had to convince Jemaine and then he had to convince Bret, but it didn't take much because they were both keen to help out.

"But I think they were hoping their appearance would slip under the radar not much chance of that happening now."

The Rotary Club of Wellington is organising the tournament, with oversized racquets, to raise money for the Wellington City Mission and Wellington tennis.

Mr McArdell said the pair would probably play doubles together. "Bret has been playing a bit of tennis and Jemaine likes squash. I don't think they will be treating it like Wimbledon, but they both hate to lose."

It will not be the first time a member of the Conchords show has hit the headlines for swinging a racquet. Rhys Darby, who plays clueless manager Murray, teamed up with tennis champion Roger Federer last year in an ad for sporting giant Nike.

Rotary club spokesman William Sommerville came up with the tournament idea after visiting a Rotary club in Papua New Guinea. "I haven't actually seen them play it, but it's built up to be something quite special and people really look forward to it."

He ordered 64 of the huge plastic racquets from Vietnam and enlisted 30 teams to compete.

The game is played as a doubles competition, with players taking turns to hit the ball.

Though the racquets required a double-handed grip at all times, the game was still playable, Mr Sommerville said. "They're really not that heavy. The games are seven minutes, so it will be quite fast and hopefully a lot of fun."

The fundraising goal for the tournament is about $13,000.

- © Fairfax NZ News