Auckland and Manawatu/Wanganui have already sealed their place in the semi-finals of the New Zealand Women’s Interprovincials after having gone through the week undefeated until now.
But three other teams North Harbour, Canterbury, and Bay of Plenty remain in contention for the remaining two spots with one more round of round-robin still to play before the finals on the weekend.
The top two sides will square off against each other tomorrow to determine who will finish at the top of Division One.
Manawatu/Wanganui continued to impress on day three of the event comfortably beating a dangerous Otago outfit 5-0. Four out of the five Manawatu/Wanganui ladies have gone through the week undefeated, with the team only dropping three games after six rounds of matchplay.
They sit on five points with 23 games.
Taking their number one spot at the top of Division One back after round six are tournament favourites and three-time defending champions, Auckland.
They’ve dropped the lone half-point throughout the tournament thus far and look on track to be a threat come Saturday.
They faced a strong Wellington outfit on Thursday and managed to come away relatively unscathed with a 4.5-0.5 victory. Number one Vivian Lu had a notable performance beating Darae Chung who has been in unflappable form the entire year 5&4.
The half-point came from Erica Cui who managed to squeeze out a half with Auckland number two Fiona Xu in a closely fought contest. Number three Carmen Lim got over the line 4&3, whilst Angela Ju and Grace Jung both won their match 2&1.
The ladies from the city of sails sit on five points and 24.5 games. They face Manawatu/Wanganui at 8.40am on Friday in a match that will decide who finishes at the top of Division One.
In Division Two, North Harbour remain undefeated and in control of their division with one game to play.
They’ve beaten Bay of Plenty 3-2 in a match that influenced the entire division. Wins came from North Harbour number four Yeonsoo Son 4&2, number three Eunseo Choi 3&1, and Anna An in the top match won 5&4.
They had a bye on Thursday afternoon leaving them on four points and 16 games, with Canterbury on three points and 15 games.
Bay of Plenty fall to third on three points and 11.5 games. They bounced back nicely with a 3-2 win over a valiant Northland team this afternoon.
They face Waikato tomorrow morning in a must-win match and will wait to see the result of the North Harbour and Canterbury clash to see who progresses to the semi-finals on Saturday.
