Finalists for North Island Champs Decided 

Evan Williams and Lance Beddoes will battle it out in the North Island Men's Open tomorrow whilst Ellie Epke and Rebecca Barnett will battle it out in the Women's Open.

In the Men's Open the day started off with Joelle King playing Evan Williams. King came out and managed to hit some good shots but Williams kept the edge in the games and never let King get her stride on seeing Williams advance to the Semis. Next up was Squashways and Cousin Shield team members Jonny Barnett and Chris Van Der Salm. Both players went point for point and Chris covered some miles on court retrieving some great shots from Barnett, however Barnett couldn't manage to get ahead until the third game where he managed to find the shots he needed and edged the game. Van Der Salm wouldn't have any of that and came out of the fourth never letting Barnett back into the game winning the match in 4.

Next up was local Ben Grindrod and Sam Atkins. Grindrod was thriving on his home courts and he wanted to make sure he made his home club proud of him today. Grindrod stormed out to a lead in the first 2 games, but Atkins was going to let his younger opponent get away with things too easily and made him fight hard point for point in the third, but it ended up not deing enough and he went down in 3. The last match of the Mens was between up and comer Luke Jones and experienced Lance Beddoes. Beddoes started off strong showing what his time on the international circuit had to offer him. However Jones wanted to show he was able to rough with his more experienced counterparts and he fought hard in the third but it wasn't enough and he eventually went down 12/10 in the third.

In the Women's Quarter Finals Ellie Epke came up against her Mitchell Cup team mate Priscilla Wildsmith. Epke wasn't going to let there be any mercy in this game and she made sure to show her dominance, however Wildsmith wasn't letting ehr get away that easily and hit some great shots in the third, eventually Epke closed out the game and took the match in three. Next up was Hayley Hughes and Abbie Palmer. Hughes hasn't been seen on the squash scene for a while but she pushed Palmer showing she can still rough it with the best. Palmer decided she wasn't going to let Hughes have any chance in the next games and came out and took the lead convincingly winning in 3. Next on was Danielle Fourie and Lassie Cull. Cull had to work hard the previous day and couldn't seem to find the shots with Fourie showing her dominance on the court not even letting Cull get warmed up. The final round of the Women's Quarter Finals was between Juee Bhide and Rebecca Barnett. Barnett wanted to avenger her brothers earlier loss and showed Bhide she was not here to mess around. It looked shaky at one point with Bhide pushing Barnett in the second but Barnett kept the edge in the third and never let her back into it.

The first Men's Semi-Final was between Evan Williams and Chris Van Der Salm. The first game saw Williams come out and dominate the rallies making Van Der Salm do all the retrieving. The second game saw Van Der Salm have some moments of stepping forward and making Williams start to cover his own miles on the court however Williams still managed to get the edge. The third game was hard fough with Van Der Salm taking a substantial lead in the beginning, however Williams wasn't going to make it easy on him. After a brief interlude where the ball was hit out of court Van Der Salm managed to clinch the match showing dominance and control in the long rallies. Van Der Salm however couldn't manage to get his length and long rallies with Williams showing control and skill with the ball with the match going Williams way in 4. 

The first Women's Semi-Final was between Abbie Palmer and Ellie Epke. Both local Auckland players and with both girls heading to the World Junior Girls in Eindhoven in a couple of weeks it was always going to be tough. Palmer couldn't seem to match Epke's shots in the first two games and was sent retrieving on a number of occassions. However in the third match Palmer came out and showed Epke she could amtch her shots and collect some of Epke's more difficult shots. However the fourth game saw Epke come out and put the ball away and step into the final for the Women's North Island Championships.

One of the games of the night was between local boy Ben Grindrod and Lance Beddoes. Grindrod took a convincing lead in the first game but 4 unforced erros saw Beddoes manage to gain the lead and giver Beddoes the first game. Grindrod was fired up in the second game and he didn't let Beddoes in at any point controlling the match from beginning to end. It was a turn of tides in the third with Beddoes taking charge in this set. Grindrod however didn't want to disappoint his home crowd and after a series of no lets from the referees the players eventually found their stride and Grindrod levelled the score. It seemed as if the fifth game could go either way with both player going point for point and playing shot after shot with retrievals which seemed impossible to the normal person. With the crowd on the edge of their seat at 8 all a ball into the tin from Grindrod was enough for Beddoes to take the lead and never look back.

The last game of the night was between Rebecca Barnett and Danielle Fourie of SquashGym. The competition and rivalry between these two stems back a long way and it was always going to be another tough battle. Fourie wanted to show her time on the WSA circuit last month was well spent and she shwoed Barnett not to underestimate her strength. Fourie took the first game but this only fired Barnett up even more and she came out strong in the second. This was a seesaw of events and next up was Fouries turn to get another game. The fourth was closer and both players went point for point but Barnett snuck the edge. The last game saw both players throw everything they could on the line and nothing was left in the tank. With the game going long it seemed as if either player could get this, but Barnett snuck the edge and got the win to face Epke in the final and hopefully get her name on the North Island Championships trophy again.

Matches are being livestreamed here with highlights on the Devoy Squash & Fitness Centre facebook page.  Action starts at 8am Sunday with finals scheduled for 2.00pm.

Final Matches (Saturday) - To be streamed here

Men's Open Semi-Final Results

Women's Open Semi-Final Results

Men's Open Quarter Final Results

Women's Open Quarter Final Results