Gillian Hooper and Kishore Katta hold the Cootes Cup. Photo supplied
Gillian Hooper loves winning the Cootes Cup.
The trophy was introduced more than 40 years ago in memory of a notorious former secretary of the Te Kūiti Badminton Club, Mr Cootes, who absconded with the club’s funds.
Although a terrible deed, the committee of the time, with a black sense of humour, decided to dedicate a tournament in his honour.
The trophy is a kind reminder that with the right attitude, you can bounce back from anything.
Club secretary Caroline Marnoch said the Cootes Cup was always exciting.
“We had 12 pairs take part and try their best to win the trophy.”
Unlike most tournaments where you can pick a partner, this one sees all the men’s names placed in a hat and then picked out, which is how the pairs are formed.
“Gillian seems to have a stranglehold on the Cootes Cup now; it doesn’t matter who she gets as a partner, she still manages to win. She won it several times now,” Marnoch said.
This year Hooper teamed up with Kishore Katta and they proved too strong for the other teams and took out the title.
Marnoch said this tournament was one of the club’s more fun events and usually attracted good entries.
“I think our youngest player was about 16 and the oldest, 60. So, a pretty good mix.”
She said club badminton had been slow over the winter with rugby, football and netball taking up people’s time. She hopes badminton will claim a few more faces for the summer months.
The Cootes Cup was more of a social event, run for fun.
Serious badminton will start in October after Labour Weekend.
Marnoch said she’d love to see some new faces come and give the sport a go.
“It’s a great way to meet people. It’s not too physical and is a lot of fun.
“We always have a laugh. I have been playing for more than 40 years. I love it.”
