Wellington qualify for semifinals

Canterbury and Auckland have topped their divisions at the men’s interprovincial tournament and will play Northland and Wellington in the semifinals at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch today.

The hosts finished the round-robin undefeated, beating Bay of Plenty 5-0 and Aorangi 4-1 yesterday.

Their only blemish came at the start of the week, when they shared a point with Wellington, who also went on to win their other five contests.

The men from the capital had wins over North Harbour, 4-1, and Bay of Plenty, 3.5-1.5, yesterday, setting up a hotly anticipated semifinal clash with Auckland, who are also yet to lose this week.

While they finished with the same number of points as Canterbury, the Mainlanders won more individual matches to take top spot in division one.

Auckland completed a perfect six-from-six record with wins over Northland, 4-1, and Hawke’s Bay, 3-2, to top division two.

Northland bounced back from their morning loss to Auckland to beat Taranaki 3-2 and secure their spot in the semifinals, though they will have their work cut out against the hosts today.

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui halved their clash with Poverty Bay-East Coast yesterday afternoon to finish third in division one, while Southland’s win over Otago in the morning wasn’t enough to help them to third in division two, as Otago beat Tasman 4-1 in the afternoon to take that honour.