Wgtn women favoured

Press, 5 January 1979, Page 18

Wgtn women favoured

Twenty-three teams have assembled in Christchurch for the 1979 national women’s softball tournament, which starts at Porritt Park today. . Four trophies will be at stake for the tournament, and eight sides will compete for the top prize, the Rothmans Trophy. Wellington, the defending champion, is favoured to retain the title it won in the Hutt Valley last year. It defeated Auckland in a tense finale to the tournament after forcing a play-off, and studded as it is with veter-

ans of the recent world series in San Salvador, will be very difficult to beat. Auckland’s chances cannot be discounted, however, and Canterbury too is capable of surprising some of its more fancied rivals. Teams from Manawatu, Southland, Hutt Valley, Nelson and Otago complete the draw for the Rothmans phyThe remaining 15 sides will compete for the three other trophies, and they have been divided into two sections. Bl and 82. The Mereweather Cup will be contested between the

two bottom teams from the A grade and the two top sides from the B sections. The first and second placed teams from this competition will be promoted to Section A for the tournament in 1980, while the other two sides will go down a grade. The four provincial B sides entered for the tournament — Canterbury, Otago, Hutt Valley and Wellington — will play a double round robin competition to decide the winner of the New Zealand Softball Association Cup, while the remaining seven teams will play for the Council Cup.