Cousins Shield and Mitchell Cup Draws Huge Numbers

26 teams will be doing battle at the Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club (supported by North Shore Squash Club) this Queen’s Birthday weekend. The event will see 20 Men’s teams competing for the Cousins Shield trophy whilst 6 Women’s teams compete for the Mitchell Cup. This event was last held at the Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club in 2011 where the Herne Bay Men claimed the Cousins Shield and the North Shore Women claimed the Mitchell Cup.

In the Cousins Shield event Whangarei is the top seed and they will be looking to put their name on the trophy for the first time since the event started. The Whangarei team is led by international player Angus Gillams of England who holds a current World Ranking of 70, Luke Jones, Michael Sunderland, Finn Trimble, Brent Lewis and Shaun Samson round out the team and will be looking to do anything possible to claim the title. The Herne Bay A team is seeded second in the event and are led by Welshman Peter Creed who holds a current World Ranking of 63. George Crosby, Chris Lloyd, Matiu Te Kani McQueen, Ed Dromgool and Bryce Redman make up the reamider of the team who will be looking to make their way to the final and claim the title on home ground. Thorndon takes the third seed for the event whilst Squashways the Cousins Shields winners from 2014-2016 take fourth seed and will be looking to make their way to the final and claim the title.

In the Mitchell Cup event North Shore take the top seeding with the club having won the event seven times since its inception in 1957. The North Shore team is led by Abbie Palmer who is supported by 5 other A graders in the form of Lisa Cowlard, Suk Hee Kim, Mandy Kennedy, Devon Wright and Cherie Fletcher, as well as Tyler Duberly at 7. Hamilton Squash and Tennis Club have claimed the Mitchell Cup title 5 times in it’s history and will be looking to make the final to add it to their mantle piece again. The Hamilton team is led by international player Moana Gray who holds a current world ranking of 174, she will be supported by Nadine Cull, Jacinta Matson, Casey Owen and Nicola Blake who are all A graders as well as Taylor Ashton the teams sixth player. Newcomers to the Women's event Thorndon and Belmont Park take third and fourth seeds for the event and will be looking to try to get to the final.

Games kick off at 1pm Friday, full draws and seedings can be found on the Cousins Shield and Mitchell Cup event page here.