Waitakere and Waikato Dominate in Badminton
Waitakere and Waikato are the two teams dominating the New Zealand Inter-association division 1 & 2 Championships being played at Auckland
Results from day three
Division 1 - Wisden Cup
Waitakere def Wellington North 16-0
Waikato def North Harbour 10-6
Auckland 1 def Auckland 2 12-4
Division 2 – Slazenger Cup
Southland def Bay of Plenty 15-1
Canterbury def Nelson 15-1
North Harbour def Otago 10-6
It is looking like two very good finals on Saturday at the New Zealand division 1 & 2 inter-association competition. In the Wisden Cup Waitakere and Waikato are both undefeated while in the Slazenger Cup Southland and Canterbury are undefeated.
Waitakere totally dominated Wellington North defeating them 16-0 with only one match in the tie going to three games. Waikato did not have it so easy, defeating North Harbour 10-6. The win of the night goes to Chance Cheng (NH) over Michael Fowke (Waik). Cheng (20) was a top junior player but has been in the badminton wilderness for the past few years, this win showing his natural talent for the game. The two Auckland teams squared off against each other, this is the first time that one Association has been allowed to have two teams in division one, showing the strength and depth within Auckland. Auckland 1, as expected were the winners 12-4 but they did not have it all their own way with 6 of the 16 matches going to three games.
Waitakere and Waikato each have three wins from three ties, Auckland 1 has two wins, Auckland 2 one win with North Harbour and Wellington North yet to register a win. These two teams square off tomorrow night in what will be an important tie as the team finishing bottom of this division is automatically relegated to division 2 for the 2010 competition.
In the Slazenger Cup Canterbury and Southland both have three wins from three ties, North Harbour has two from three, Bay of Plenty one from three while Nelson and Otago yet have to register a win.
For full event information and results see www.badminton.org.nz