Butters' ranking to soar | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

Rising Wanganui tennis player Kyle Butters' great run in the Auckland ITF tournament came to an end yesterday when he lost 6-1, 6-1 to fifth seed Ku Keon Kang of Korea.

Unseeded Butters started the week ranked 915 in the world among under-18s but he will have rocketed up the rankings after his outstanding display.

He started his campaign with a tough three-set win over Australian Mark Polmans who beat him in the final of the Australian junior championship.

He followed that up with wins over Kiwi Jay Barclay 6-3, 6-1 and Japan's Kennosuke Nouchi 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Butters then humbled the number 3 seed, Aussie Jacob Grills - who is world-ranked 161 - by an impressive 6-2, 6-1 scoreline in the quarterfinal.

Yesterday, he was guilty of trying to force the points and hit the ball too hard and he came unstuck against 15-year-old Korean Kang (world-ranked 178) who won the world under-14 title last year. Kang beat top seed Thien Nguyen Hoang, who has a ranking of 67, in his quarterfinal.

In the doubles, Butters and another Kiwi, William Matheson, went out in the last eight to Kang and Australian Matthew Tanza.

Wanganui's Paige Hourigan went out in the second round to India's Aarzoo Malik, world-ranked 284, 7-6 (5), 6-2 at the Auckland tourney, which is a grade 3 event with a high quality field - and the ranking points on offer - which reflect that.

Butters is back in Wanganui today and will celebrate his 15th birthday tomorrow.