Canterbury clinch semifinal berth
Golf
Hosts Canterbury completed a stunning comeback at the national women’s interprovincial to secure a semifinal berth at Waitikiri Golf Club alongside Auckland and North Harbour yesterday.
Playing in the feature match against an unbeaten Wellington side first up, Canterbury found themselves down in four of five matches through nine holes, however they turned things around to win by a narrow 3-2 margin.
With all five matches finishing with 2 and
1 winning margins it was always tight, but the biggest comeback was Catherine Bell who was three-down early in the day to fight back and earn her team a vital point against Alanah Gullery.
Hillary O’Connor and Olive Tapu were Canterbury’s other winners while Wellington’s No 1 and No 5 – Darae Chung and Anita Harkerss – did the job for Wellington who now face a must-win match today.
‘‘It feels amazing, but the girls have all done really well, we kept fighting and I’m just stoked for the team at this stage,’’ said Bell.
This year seems to bring back memories of
2015 when Canterbury won just down the road in Ashburton. ‘‘Yeah, there’s a similar feeling with heaps of support here which makes it feel like home and helps us relax. Hopefully with everyone having the day off on Saturday they can help us through.’’
If all goes to script, a classic Canterbury v Auckland final is possible as the defending champions also had a perfect day to confirm their place in the final four.
After claiming another 5-0 winning margin in the morning over Otago, things looked slightly nerve wracking against Northland in the early afternoon before their class showed.
This leaves every player in the Auckland team unbeaten entering the final day of pool play with their ‘worst’ team result being a 41⁄2-1⁄2 victory.
North Harbour finished strongly to ensure their final four spot with a 4-1 win over Northland and a 3-2 win over Otago.
Today acts as a quarterfinal for Wellington and Manawatu-Whanganui who go head to head for the final place in the top four.