Second teams title for Central
"Our girls team won the Mitchell Cup earlier in the year as well. So it's a double whammy that we've never done before, which is quite sweet." Central No 1 Danielle Fourie.
Nearly half a century would have been too long for the Central women to wait to win another national inter-districts teams title.
Central beat Bay of Plenty 3-1 in the national teams final at Auckland on Tuesday, the second time they have won the title in the past two years after 2014’s triumph on the North Shore.
That was the Central women’s first win in 42 years, but to do it again was just as pleasing for No 1 Danielle Fourie, who also won the national club title with Squashgym Palmerston North this year.
‘‘It’s massive,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s the second time in three years.
‘‘Our girls team won the Mitchell Cup earlier in the year as well.
‘‘So it’s a double whammy that we’ve never done before, which is quite sweet.’’
Fourie, Kaitlyn Watts and Rebecca Clifford were all in the team that won in 2014, while Holly Donnelly and Tamsyn Leevey are newcomers this year.
‘‘It’s quite nice not to wait another 42 years to do it again,’’ Fourie said.
Central only dropped one game through the competition, where Fourie was beaten by Bay of Plenty New Zealand player Amanda Landers-murphy.
In the final Central got off to a great start with young Kaitlyn Watts and Tamsyn Leevey both winning 3-0 over Nadia Hubbard and Jo Shanks respectively, so even though Fourie lost, Central only needed to win one more set to win the tie.
But Donnelly made sure of it by winning her game 3-1 against Aleisha Watene, and in the first set she came from 5-0 down to win 13-11.
Watts’ win over Hubbard was the first time she’s beaten her.
Fourie said it was 50-50 when it came to beating Auckland in the first round, but Central ended up winning 4-0.
Fourie beat Ellie Epke 3-1, getting revenge for when Epke knocked her out in the quarterfinals of the individual championships at the weekend.
In the other matches, Leevey beat Abbie Palmer 3-0, Watts beat Priscilla Wildsmith 3-1 and Donnelly beat Anna Hughes 3-1.
Central then beat Waikato 4-0 where Fourie won 3-0 over Casey Owen.
Leevey beat Anika Jackson 3-0, Watts beat Jacinta Matson 3-1 and Clifford won 3-1 over Nicola Blake.
The Central men finished fourth after they lost their final playoff game 2-1 against Northland.
The last two sets weren’t played because Northland had already secured the win.
Seventh seeds Central upset second seeds Waikato 3-1 in the first game, then lost to Auckland 3-1 in the semifinal.
Canterbury won the overall title, beating Auckland 3-0.