Best of 2008 - Bay of Plenty Sports

27th December 2008

It was a good year for sport in the Bay without being stunning, but there were still plenty of highlights. Bay Times sports aficionados Kelly Exelby and Jamie Troughton pick their best of the year.

Beijing Olympics

"Suddenly the Great Wall of China jumped out in front of me."

If it's not the best sports quote of the year then it's right up there, perfectly summing up Tauranga-born Mahe Drysdale's Beijing Olympics after the three-times world champion rower's collapse in the single sculls gold medal race.

Drysdale's bronze medal was heroic, coupled with dramatic pictures of him lying collapsed on a pontoon at Shunyi.

So what of Tauranga's other Beijing Olympians?

Swimmer Moss Burmester had the first near-miss with his New Zealand-record-breaking swim in the 200m butterfly. He swam the race of his life but was overtaken in the final metres, just missing out on coming third to superstar Michael Phelps.

Rookie whitewater slalom kayaker Luuka Jones finished at the back of the field in 21st while Tauranga Boys' College's Peter Burling - New Zealand's youngest Olympian - finished 11th with crewmate Carl Evans in the 470, missing the medal race.

Jo Galletly and Gemma Flynn were in the Black Sticks women's hockey team, the New Zealand team's biggest underachievers, losing all six games and saving the worst for last, a humiliating 4-1 drubbing against South Africa.

The Steamers

Well, they could hardly have got any worse could they - 13th in last year's Air New Zealand Cup and a series of lamentable, spineless performances.

Thankfully things were right back on track this season after the off-field woes were sorted out.

After five rounds, the Steamers led the competition and showed a mettle unseen for several seasons.

With the likes of Solomon King, Colin Bourke, Mike Delany and James McGougan on fire, the Bay steamed all the way into a home quarterfinal, where they came to a shuddering halt against Southland.

Even the mid-season loss of Jamie Nutbrown to Wales didn't hinder as much as it should have.

Now it looks as though most of the players will be back next year, with a large chunk of Super 14 talent to boot. Dare we dream again?

Ben Ruthe, athletics

A year that started so disappointingly for top Tauranga runner Ben Ruthe ended in triumph with a string of titles.

The 28-year-old had a disastrous day at the London Marathon early in 2008, hitting the wall in his attempts to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

By December, however, he'd won just about everything else - the national crosscountry title, the Auckland Marathon, the Toi's Challenge, Kauri Run and North Island Triple Crown series, as well as a heap of local events.

Ruthe may be the tip of the Tauranga athletics iceberg, however, with Mariah Ririnui, Livvie Duggan and Michael Cochrane all charging through the junior ranks and the likes of Kyle MacDonald and Gareth Hyett continuing form in the seniors.

With the first big event at the new Tauranga Domain track just days away, expect even greater things in 2009.

Bay Men's Golf

There is, it seems, life after Danny.

Bay of Plenty sealed the deal this month as New Zealand's best men's golfing province with their fifth interprovincial title in seven years - and they did it without the world's No 1 amateur Danny Lee.

Lee, amateur in name only these days, is biding his time until after the Masters next year to turn pro, leaving a new-look Bay team to continue the dynasty.

At the hermetic Greenacres course on Nelson's gleaming coastline, it was the Bay team that shone, led by the two unlikeliest suspects - rookies Jamies Hamilton and Ben Taylor.

Hamilton, 19, was player of the tournament with seven wins out of eight matches, while 20-year-old Taylor was unblemished, mixing two halves with six wins. Bay were the only team to go through the week unbeaten.

It was a special win that will never be repeated, with the team's experienced core - Jared Pender, Troy Ropiha and Mark Smith - ditching the amateur game for the paid ranks.

Daniel Flynn, cricket

While much of the headline space has been hogged by young turks Kane Williamson and Trent Boult, it's been the fighting qualities of Daniel Flynn that have impressed most this year on the international stage.

The 23-year-old has fast carved a tidy niche as the specialist No 3 batsman New Zealand has been lacking for the past decade.

Flynn is averaging 43.8 in his nine tests and is making the troublesome No 3 spot his own, after starting at No 6 before moving to No 5 and then to No 3 when new coach Andy Moles shoved the Mount Maunganui club player up the order to add steel to the Caps' wilting spine.

Williamson, New Zealand's Young Player of the Year, and Boult shone in a lacklustre Northern Knights side early in the domestic season, having spearheaded New Zealand's semifinal effort at the under-19 World Cup in Malaysia.

With Moles a big fan of the teenage pair, you suspect it won't be long before they're reunited with Flynn, their Bay of Plenty teammate - this time at the highest level.