Waitakere and Waikato to square off in NZ Division One Badminton Final

It could not have been scripted any better, two actual finals on the last day of play in the Wisden and Slazenger Cups being played at Auckland. With a round robin competition there is no guarantee that on the last day of play there will be an actual final, to have one in both divisions is the ideal.

Dan Shirley remains unbeaten in singles in his Wisden Cup careeer but will be challenged in the final tomorrow against New Zealand's top ranked man Joe Wu from Waikato. Two very different line-ups both with the same goal, to win the Wisden Cup. Waitakere with a who's who of ex-international players; Dan, Geoff Bellingham, John Gordon, and Nick Hall with current NZ international Danielle Barry and top under 17s player Mary O'Connor. Waikato, a tight unit, with younger players who are still on the incline in their careers; Joe Wu, Oliver Leydon-Davis, Michael Fowke, Bjorn Seguin, Amanda Brown, Madeleine Stapleton, Poh Lin Teo and Mexican player, Hamilton resident Deyanira Angulo all who have been trained by former national coach and now team mate TJ Weistra. A betting person would have to put their money on Waitakere but expect a very close tie.

North Harbour look reasonably safe from relegation after lifting their game a couple of notches to convincingly defeat Wellington North 13-3. On paper Auckland 2 should beat Wellington North tomorrow meaning they will be relegated to Slazenger Cup for 2010. The Battle of the Bridge; Auckland vs North Harbour should also be an interesting tie although on paper Auckland 1 should be too strong after Auckland 2 defeated Harbour earlier in the week.

It is an all South Island final in the Slazenger Cup; Ascot Park Southland vs Canterbury. On court Southland looks the stronger team, Canterbury was pushed to the wire against Otago tonight only just winning 9-7, however when the two teams met in the Neill Cup (Otago, Southland, Canterbury) a few weeks ago Canterbury won a very close tie, with the matches tied at 8 all,18 games all, 641-619 points . The winner of this tie is automatically promoted to Wisden Cup for 2010.

Results from day 4:

Division One - Wisden Cup

Waitakere def Auckland 2 14-2

Waikato def Auckland 1 10-6

North Harbour 1 def Wellington North 13-3

Division Two - Slazenger Cup

Southland def North Harbour 2 13-3

Bay of Plenty def Nelson 9-7

Canterbury def Otago 9-7

Play starts 11am Saturday 22nd at Auckland Badminton - Gillies Ave

For full event information see: www.badminton.org.nz