Butters family cleans up in Hamilton

All former WHS students; Sam, left, Paris and Kyle Butters with their trophies from the Maori Tennis Championships in Hamilton on Thursday.

It was another haul of tennis trophies for the talented Butters clan as Kyle Butters and his siblings Sam and Paris won titles at the 90th Aotearoa Maori Tennis Championships in Hamilton last week.

The tournament was held at the Waikato Tennis Centre, which hosted 175 players across multiple grades ranging from under 10's to over 76.

Kyle Butters, who is of Ngati Tuwharetoa descent, regained the Kiingi Tuheitia Open Mens singles title, defeating Te Arawa's Shaun Tamai in the final.

Tamai had some confidence going into the last match, having narrowly defeated defending champion Te Kani Williams in the semifinals, but Butters, the 'Freshman of the Year' at Boise State University where he is on scholarship, was a class above in his return to the Maori championships.

It was his fourth open singles title, having won from 2011-13.

Kyle Butters then teamed with Sam to win the Open Men's doubles title after a hard fought match against the Rotorua pairing of Tamai and Jesse Galvin-Dawson.

Younger sister Paris then added a third trophy as she was a comfortable winner in the Mixed Doubles final, as she and her partner defeated Auckland's Peri Woods and Tracey O'Connor.

The Butters' cousin Paige Hourigan was unable to take part in the three day tournament as she was preparing for the ASB Women's Classic qualifiers on Saturday.

Maori Tennis Association chairman Richard Garratt said as well as the Butters family there was a strong contingent of Whanganui players, continuing a long and proud tradition in Maori tennis.

"From the inaugural Marumaru Cup established in 1907 for their own Hauauru tribes, the trophy [was] named after prominent Whanganui kaumatua Tarau Marumaru.

"Whanganui hosted the second NZ Maori Lawn Tennis Championships in Whanganui in 1927, [and] Tukere Te Anga from Whanganui was president of NZMLTA from 1926- 1936."

In addition, a NZ Maori Tennis team played the touring British Isles team in Whanganui that same year in 1927, which was organised by Pei Te Hurinui Jones.