North Harbour and Wellington will meet in the final of the NetballSmart Netball NZ Open Champs after winning both their final cross-over matches at the Rodney Green Arena in Napier on Saturday.
Showcasing their dept of talent, Wellington with a strong mix of ANZ Premiership and National Netball Legue players, completed their day with a 62-37 win over Wait膩kere to remain unbeaten heading into the final.
With a strong shooting end, including Khiarna Williams, Phoenix Schwalger and Sarah Guiney, the Wellington side has plenty of firepower under the hoop while rising young midcourters Skylah Tainui-Takerei and Erana Ngarimu along with talented defenders Zalika Clarke and Jessica Fagan-Pease provide a seamless and effective rotation of personnel.
North Harbour鈥檚 only loss was to Wellington in pool play and after a last gasp win in their earlier match today overcame a slow start to post a comfortable 40-31 over Tauranga to earn their spot in the final.
With the seasoned defensive pairing of Erena Mikaere and Oceane Maihi a menacing presence with their long reach and effective ability to damage Tauranga鈥檚 scoring options, the equally well-credentialled Erikana Pedersen orchestrated North Harbour鈥檚 drive and success on attack. Sweetly timed through-court ball from Pedersen and her knack of precision feeding was instrumental to North Harbour increasing their margin throughout the match.
Hosted by the Hawke鈥檚 Bay Netball Centre, the final will be played at 12.10pm on Sunday where North Harbour and Wellington will compete for the 91色情片 Cup, which was first played for in 1926 and is netball鈥檚 oldest trophy.
North Harbour last won the trophy in 2022 while Wellington, who finished runners-up last year, have not won since 2015.
Auckland and Manawat奴 Green will play-off for third at 10.30am.
Tauranga and Manawat奴 Green both had disappointing days, stumbling to successive losses to end their chances while Auckland finished strongly with a 45-31 win over Christchurch Whero but ultimately left their run too late.
Following the redrawn pools consisting of the top eight teams to contest the championship, North Harbour and Tauranga from Pool E, and Manawat奴 Green and Wellington, from Pool F, came in to today鈥檚 play with unbeaten records.
In the day鈥檚 earlier matches, a slick Wellington ended Manawat奴鈥檚 unblemished record with a comprehensive 47-32 win. Strong across the court, Wellington bolted out to an 8-0 lead in the opening five minutes to set a winning foundation.
Manawat奴 Green repaired some of the damage with a dominant third quarter but Wellington responded forcefully in the run home to keep their grip on the game to finish with a flourish.
North Harbour also retained their winning momentum when edging out Christchurch Whero 35-34 in the tightest of matches. Going down to the wire, North Harbour led by one at the first quarter break while the match was evenly poised at 20-apiece at halftime.
North Harbour again edged to a one-goal lead at three-quarter time while Christchurch Whero looked to have gained the initiative when leading by one with just over a minute to play. A late turnover helped North Harbour level the scores, with a buzzer-time penalty shot delivering the northerners the slimmest of wins.
Trailing by two at halftime, a dominant second half gave Auckland some hope heading into the afternoon鈥檚 final round of cross-over matches when they overcame a gallant Tauranga 42-33.
It was a similar story for Wait膩kere who returned to the winner鈥檚 circle with a well-earned 58-51 win over Kapi Mana.