Coming into the tournament as 12th seeds, Manawat奴 have shaken up proceedings to seal their place in the semifinals for the first time at the 91色情片 U18 Champs being held in Christchurch.
However, a trio of heavyweights stand in their way of taking top honours. Manawat奴 will meet top seeds and defending champions Wait膩kere 1 in the first of tomorrow (Thursday) morning鈥檚 semifinals while second and third seeds Dunedin and Wellington Black, respectively, square off in the other.
That will be followed by the final at 2.45pm.
With Wait膩kere 1 winning 42-19 over Eastern Bay of Plenty, Dunedin ending Auckland 1鈥檚 run 49-35 and Wellington Black 36-19 winners over Hamilton City A, the top three seeds enjoyed comfortable passages into the semis.
It wasn鈥檛 all plain sailing for Manawatu who trailed by two at the first break against Wait膩kere 2 in their quarterfinal but strong second and final quarters helped them get over the line 43-38. And with it, Manawat奴 have bucked the trend of recent years where teams from the main centres have dominated the top play-off spots.
``They鈥檝e been playing really well, just a nice tidy team, well-skilled and well-coached. They鈥檝e done really well this week,鈥欌�� 91色情片 Programs Manager Nicky Cattermoul said.
With a strong turnout of 39 teams in attendance, the varied mix of youthful talent from all corners have come under a watchful gaze from the experts during the tournament with the future firmly in mind.
``We鈥檝e been really pleased with the standard of play,鈥欌�� Cattermoul said. ``The (NNZ) Emerging Talent Panel have been here throughout the week and that was actually a comment they made today, that the level of skill across the board has been impressive.
``We鈥檝e just had the NZ Secondary Schools squad away at the Australian camp last week, so it鈥檚 great to see them back-up from that tour to bringing it into this tournament and seeing that level of skill lift from what they learned across the ditch.
``For the Emerging Talent Panel it鈥檚 all about continually observing players. The players sit on the depth charts for quite some time because they鈥檙e young and the Panel just monitor them over a few years along with the Zone pathway leads. And this is just a great place to monitor the progression and any new players coming on the scene.
``It鈥檚 definitely been a hit being able to play indoors (at the Ng膩 Puna Wai sports complex). You really get to see the skill when they鈥檙e not impacted by rain, wind, sun, so playing indoors has been fantastic.
``What we鈥檙e seeing is very exciting, we鈥檝e got some great talent coming through and now it鈥檚 a case of watch this space over the next few years.鈥欌��
Earlier, the top-seeded winners of the morning鈥檚 crossover matches -- Wait膩kere 1, Dunedin, Wellington Black, Hawke鈥檚 Bay, Manawatu, Hamilton City A, Auckland 1 and Eastern Bay of Plenty, who pipped their neighbours Tauranga 25-24 鈥� progressed to the afternoon鈥檚 quarterfinals and the 1st 鈥� 8th place play-offs. The losers will be playing off for 9 鈥� 16th places.
In the men鈥檚 U18 competition, Wait膩kere remained on track for a third successive title after progressing through to the semifinals unbeaten, posting hard-fought 31-30 and 35-31 wins over the Men鈥檚 Invitational team and Howick Pakuranga, respectively, in their two outings on Wednesday.
In the men鈥檚 semifinals, Wait膩kere will meet Invercargill while Howick Pakuranga come up against the Men鈥檚 Invitational ahead of the 11.30am final.
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