Manawatu Badminton have 90 players representing the association in Badminton New Zealand's North Island inter-association teams competitions.

The age groups vary from junior (under-13 15, 17) to veterans (over 50 years) and the competitions are played from May to September.

Last weekend Manawatu's division 3 and division 5 teams played their final matches for the year. The division 5 team won both their ties to finish fourth on the league table.

Manawatu's division three team played two ties in Wellington.

They met a strong Auckland team in the first tie which, after gutsy performances in singles, doubles and mixed, Manawatu lost 12-4.

Auckland are the country's biggest association.

The second tie was against Waikato and was a fight to avoid relegation by both teams and Manawatu won 10-6.

The singles players won six out of their eight matches. That spurred the rest of the team to lift their game and they won two doubles and two mixed matches.

The team comprised captain Mike Newton, Joseph Wilson, Josh Curry, Ian Lin, James Ngu, Rose Wapp, Lisa Miller, Kavithya Senthilnathan, Michelle Boudreau, Ruawai Te Rata and the subs for the year, Wayne Young and Sandra Lynch.

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- © Fairfax NZ News