Favourites in form

Press, 7 September 1984, Page 32

Favourites in form

PA Napier The hot favourites, Auckland, spearheaded by the national open champion, Ross Norman, cruised through the first two rounds of the national squash championship teams event at Napier yesterday. Auckland, which is scheduled to play the second seed, Bay of Plenty, in the men’s final, crushed the fifth seed, Canterbury, 4-0, in the opening match. At the top of the Auckland lineup Norman repeated his effort in downing the Canterbury No. 1, Paul Viggers, in straight sets.

Norman, aged 25, who won the men’s individual

title from Viggers on Tuesday, was made to battle for the first set but rushed through the rest of the match to win, 9-7, 9-1, 9-1. Auckland gave Norman a rest in the afternoon but still beat the lowly Midlands, 4-0. Its main rival for the title, Bay of Plenty, had a 40 win over Northern after finding little resistance from the bottom-ranked team. The defending women’s champion team, Auckland, which boasts the leading players Robyn Blackwood and Donna Gurran, hammered Central, 4-0, in the first round.

Blackwood avenged her semi-final loss to Taihape’s

Joanne Williams in the individual event, with a fiveset win.

The other main contenders for the women’s title, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury, all won first round matches without conceding a game. Results.—

one: Auckland 4, Canterbury 0; Bay Of Plenty 4, Northland 0; Wellington 3, Central 1; Waikato 3, Hawke’s Bay-Gisborne 1. Round two: Auckland 4, Midlands 0; Wellington 2, Southern 2; Canterbury 4, Hawke’s Bay-Gisborne 0; Central 4, Northland 1.

Women.—Round 1: Auckland 4, Central 0; Canterbury 4, Southern 0; Waikato 4, Bay Of Plenty 0; Wellington 4, Midlands 0.