Canterbury vs Auckland in the Masters final

Top seeds Canterbury and Auckland have progressed to the final of the Masters Inter District Teams Event.

Second seeds Auckland did it tough against third seeds Southland.  In a rematch of last year's final, Auckland were hit by injuries to two of their men's players - Craig Stratford and Mark Waldin - and required all of the rest of their team to stand up to achieve a 5-5 result in the tie (Auckland subsequently won 17/15 on games countback).  The countback result further emphasises the thrilling nature of the Masters Inter District Teams Event.  With ten players involved, every point counts, and calculators are regularly required.

In the other semi-final top seeds Canterbury were too strong for Bay of Plenty, winning 6/4 to progress to the final.  Bay of Plenty's dominance in the women's ranks saw them win three of five matches, but this was not enough to seal the tie for them with only Eugene Black picking up a victory among the Bay men. Top seeds Canterbury will now be favourites to win the Christchurch Cup for a tenth time (and first since 2009).

In the plate semi-finals, Wellington defeated Northland 7/3, and Waikato also picked up a 7/3 win over Central.

In the first round (played on Monday), Canterbury defeated Northland 10/0, Auckland edged Waikato 7/3, Southland took down Central 8/2, and BOP eclipsed Wellington 8/2.

The final round will be played this afternoon at SquashGym Palmerston North.  Aside from the title decider between Canterbury and Auckland, Southland will play BOP for third place, Wellington will come up against Waikato for fifth, and hosts Central will take on Northland for seventh place.