Four North Island teams will contest the semi finals following two rounds of post-pool play on day three of the 2023 Celebration Box Netball NZ U18 Champs in Hamilton on Wednesday.
The semi finals will be played tomorrow (Thursday) morning ahead of the 2.45pm final with Auckland 1 and Hamilton City A squaring off first after comfortably despatching Dunedin and Invercargill respectively, ending any hopes of a South Island team being in the mix at the business end.
Waitakere 1 were too good for the Waitakere 2 team and will meet Wellington A Black, who eased past Howick Pakuranga, in the second semi final.
In cold conditions and over-all mostly dry but with patches of rain providing enough dampness to make the courts a little slippery, players were a little bit more cautious at times which meant some loss of fluidity to the on-court product.
"Both the semi finals will be really good games,’’ Netball NZ U21 head coach Julie Seymour said. ``All teams at this level tend to have a few key players that stand out and then it’s about those other players having to step up in the tense atmosphere of a semi-final.
"It’s not an easy pick in either of the semis. All four teams have stood out, played well and from day one, would have been picked to be where they are at this stage of the tournament.
"It will be interesting because sometimes some of these teams have just been able to rely on their height and their size but when they come up against someone as tall or who can jump as well as them, it will be important for them to be not too predictable.
"Something I have observed here is that there are a lot of holding shooters who aren’t moving much or changing their game very much. So, it will be interesting to see in the semis, with more savvy defenders on them, how they handle it.’’
Seymour was happy with the overall standard of play delivered during the country’s most popular age-group tournament.
"There’s been some really nice stuff and I’ve actually enjoyed seeing some players being played in a few different positions,’’ she said.
"At this young age, it’s nice to see them not being pigeonholed in just one position. I really like to see it when a player can have a couple of positions that they can play. It’s good for their skill, knowledge and game awareness side of things.
In the morning’s rounds, wins for Dunedin, Auckland 1, Hamilton City A, Invercargill, sister teams Waitakere 1 and 2, Wellington A Black and Howick Pakuranga propelled those teams into the top-eight match-ups.
Meanwhile, a loss for Christchurch A Red ended the team’s chances of defending the title they won last year.
In the men’s U17 division, being held for the first time, the winner of the second and third-placed teams, Hamilton City and Hutt Valley, will meet the unbeaten Waitakere in the final.