The 2026 Havelock North Junior and Senior Open is in the books, and what a fantastic weekend of tennis, competition, and camaraderie it was!

Although Saturday’s play was initially suspended due to some ‘liquid sunshine’, it didn’t take long before things got underway again and we were treated to some outstanding tennis from our 60+ entrants. Sunday saw normal order restored, with a sunny 28-degree Hawke’s Bay day providing the backdrop for another stellar day on the courts. As we got to the pointy end of the draws, there were some hugely entertaining matches - the standard of play was superb right from the Junior Orange Ball matches through to a classic Men’s Open Doubles battle in the late afternoon.

A tournament like this wouldn’t be possible without the support of our wonderful community, and we’d like to acknowledge a few special contributors:

Our sponsors & regional support: A huge thank you to New World Hastings and Sarah Mander for generously sponsoring the bread and sausages for our sausage sizzles across both days. This support was greatly appreciated and helped keep everyone well fed throughout the tournament. A big thank you also to Sean Davies and the team at Tennis Eastern for their ongoing support.

Tournament organisers & officials: Huge kudos to Steve Nicoll and Charly Paunovic for their hard work behind the scenes organising the event, with Steve also firing up the BBQ to cook for everyone on both days and teaming up with Lucy Nicoll to tidy the clubrooms across the weekend. A massive thank you as well to our coaches, Rynold Timothy (Head Coach) and Archie Lokuge, for assisting with the tournament preparation and keeping things running so smoothly on the desk - even when Saturday’s weather didn’t play ball!

Our members & volunteers: Thank you to all the parents and club members who helped out across the weekend and answered the call to ‘bring a plate’, providing a great spread of food to nourish players and supporters alike.

Finally, thank you to all the players and supporters - especially those who travelled from far and wide to support our event. It simply wouldn’t be the same without you! 60+ players, two fantastic days, and a great example of what a strong tennis community can achieve together. We look forward to welcoming you all back for the HNTC Open in 2027.

Tournament results

Congratulations to all our players who competed over the two days, and a special congratulations to our winners and runners-up! It was great to see so many Havelock North players representing the club so well.

Orange Ball

• Winner: Charlie Leslie (Havelock North)
• Runner-up: Luc Taylor (Havelock North)

10 & Under

• Mixed Singles Winner: Ryan (Mingze) Li
• Mixed Singles Runner-up: Diego Casas (Havelock North)
• Boys Doubles Winners: Diego Casas (Havelock North) / Soren Taylor (Havelock North)
• Boys Doubles Runners-up: Luke De Joux / Ryan (Mingze) Li

12 & Under

• Boys Singles Winner: Bruno Reed (Havelock North)
• Boys Singles Runner-up: Josh Nicoll (Havelock North)
• Boys Doubles Winners: Bruno Reed (Havelock North) / Ted Wells
• Boys Doubles Runners-up: Josh Nicoll (Havelock North) / Cam Nicoll (Havelock North)

14 & Under

• Girls Singles Winner: Molly Nicoll (Havelock North)
• Girls Singles Runner-up: Verdi Ormond (Havelock North)
• Boys Doubles Winners: Antonio Coacci / TJ North (Havelock North)
• Boys Doubles Runners-up: Oliver Kee / Nathan Xu (Havelock North)

16 & Under

• Boys Singles Winner: TJ North (Havelock North)
• Boys Singles Runner-up: Oliver Kee

Graded Draw

• Winner: Fuchsia Varcoe (Havelock North)
• Runner-up: Archie Lowry

Men’s Open

• Singles Winner: Zuriel Paulsen (Havelock North)
• Singles Runner-up: Harry Nicoll (Havelock North)
• Doubles Winners: Zuriel Paulsen (Havelock North) / Jay Abeywickrama (Havelock North)
• Doubles Runners-up: Jack Holden / Rynold Timothy (Havelock North)