Southland Centre had a fantastic weekend, starting with John Perry in the 1-5 Year Singles. A narrow, one point loss kickstarted his tournament on Friday evening, but that appeared to spur him on in remaining six games where he won comfortably.
Taranaki's Taira Stirling looked to be the one to beat after earning four wins and a draw from her first five games, but a loss to Hutt Valley's Dave Foster in the sixth round created somewhat of a final between her and John in the last. While this did not go her way, Taira was able to hold onto second place, just half an end ahead of Russel Sowerby, Bush Ruahine, who claimed bronze.
Congratulations to all players on what was an extremely cut-throat event.