Going through their respective pools unbeaten, Auckland, Christchurch, Counties Manukau and Hamilton City spearhead the eight teams who have progressed to tomorrow’s quarter-finals at the NetballSmart NZ Open Champs being held in Auckland.
With crunch matches on the line in Thursday’s final round of pool matches at Pulman Arena, the leading quartet will be joined by Cambridge, Dunedin, Tauranga and North Harbour who also made it safely through and with it the opportunity to be in the running for the New Zealand Cup.
There were anxious moments for Waitākere and Kerikeri, who were unlucky to miss the top-eight cut by the narrowest of margins.
Keirkeri, in the competitive Pool D, which had one more team than the other three pools, finished on equal points in second place with North Harbour but missed out on progressing to the top echelon on goal differential. A bonus point loss helped Cambridge nudge ahead of Waitākere by one point to claim second spot and a ticket to the final eight in the equally-competitive Pool A.
Defending champions Auckland shut the door on Waitākere in today’s play with a 57-52 win, in the process denying their cross-town rivals a losing bonus point, obtained when losing by three or less, to keep a clean sheet.
In the battle of the south, last year’s beaten finalists Christchurch outshone Dunedin 45-36 to claim top spot in Pool B while Counties Manukau continued their winning ways with a comprehensive 69-24 win over Howick Pakuranga in Pool C.
The well-credentialled Hamilton City dominated Pool D, closing out their unbeaten run with a 52-45 win over North Harbour while Kerikeri rounded out their pool play matches with a well-drilled 62-22 win over Taranaki.
The range of selectors on hand have been pleased with the standard of play, the different levels of experience on show and as a result, the diverse mix and variety of how teams are playing and adapting.
"There is a mix of experience across the teams, ranging from ANZ Premiership and Synergy Hair Netball League (SHNL) players, to young players moving from the age groups into their first experience at Open grade level,’’ Netball New Zealand Emerging Talent Panel Convenor Adrienne Morrin said.
``This presents not only a great opportunity for these younger players to challenge themselves against such high-calibre competition but also, for coaches to further develop their coaching skills while working with and against this range of athletes.’’
In a big day for teams tomorrow (Friday), Auckland will square off against Dunedin, Hamilton City meet Tauranga, Counties Manukau come up against North Harbour and Christchurch will clash with Cambridge to determine the semi-finalists.
The semi-finals will be played on Friday afternoon along with on-going matches to determine placings fifth to 17.
Final play-off matches will be played on Saturday, culminating in the Grand Final at 1pm.
Teams contesting places 9 – 12:
Howick Pakuranga, Kerikeri, Manawatu Green, Waitākere.
Teams contesting places 13 – 17:
Wellington, Noku Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Gisborne, Manawatu White.