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The first international Championship for gateball stand alone was held at “Takapuna”, a central of North Shore in the north part of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand.
The history of gateball in New Zealand started 28 years ago, when gateball was first introduced in 1989 at “the Northcote YMCA” near the site of this international gateball tournament. In 1990, gateball was adopted as an event during “the SPORTSFEST NZ” mainly organized by the Air New Zealand and the Ministry for Sport, Fitness and Leisure of New Zealand. Then, gateball was played at several croquet clubs at Christchurch, at Rotorua, and at Auckland where the SPORTSFEST NZ was held. Ever since, gateball has been played in the area around Takapuna district if not nationwide.
In February 2017, with supports from Australia, the memorable first International Gateball Championship (both team and doubles tournaments) was held at the Takapuna Croquet Club. The participants were from three countries; Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
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| Takapuna Croquet Club |
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Ms. Sherrill Dennerly, the Director of Gateball NZ, |
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Same as the Championship held in Australia, the games were pleasantly being conducted at a courtly pace with several tea breaks at the croquet club having the natural grass court which has been well maintained.
The team tournament saw all seven teams playing in a round-robin competition. A Japanese team was the undefeated victor with winning six games and the Redcliffe Roses team (from Brisbane, Australia) won the second place with winning four games
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| New Zealand team: players wearing their black-based-colored uniforms, same as “All Blacks,” the New Zealand national rugby team, the world champion. |
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The final in the team tournament was between Japanese teams. The importance of strategy in team playing was demonstrated. |
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| Japan A team (mixed with Australian players), the team tournament winner |
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Redcliffe Roses team (AUS), the team tournament runners-up |
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The doubles tournament had 16 pairing participants, playing games including consolation games in an irregular way. The final game was played between the undefeated teams, and, then, the two Japanese teams became the championship and the runners-up.
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| Mrs. Nosaka and Mr. Kitaura (JPN), the doubles tournament winner |
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Mr. and Mrs. Shoji (JPN), the doubles tournament runners-up |
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