Day 1 Cousins Shield and Mitchell Cup Kicks Off

All but one of the higher seeds have come through the first round of match play for the 2017 Cousins Shield and Mitchell Cup at Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club, supported by the North Shore Squash Club.

The qualifying round of the Cousins Shield to make it in to the main draw saw some tense match ups and whilst the higher seeded Hamilton, Cambridge and North Shore made it into the main draw it was Hawkes Bay who upset Royal Oak taking the win 3-2 and making it into the main draw.

In the main draw of the Cousins Shield the first round of the day saw 5th seed Devoy Squash and Fitness take their win convincingly 5-0 over 12th seeds Christchurch Football, whilst the 6th seed Mitchell Park were pushed by the 11th seeds Henderson with Mitchell Park taking their win 3-2. Top seeds Whangarei were too strong for qualifiers Hawkes Bay, taking their win 5-0. 4th seeds Squashways showed they were also too good for their qualifiers Hamilton taking the win 5-0. It was the same story for 3rd seeds Thorndon and 2nd seeds Herne Bay who took their wins from their qualifiers North Shore and Cambridge 5-0 respectively. 7th seeds Belmont Park were pushed by 10th seeds Lugton Park but Belmont Park was able to show composure and took a strong win 4-1. The last matchup of the main draw was between 9th seeds Herne Bay B and 8th seeds Remuera Rackets. Herne Bay looked to have it all in the bag going up 2-0 on home courts but Remuera dug deep and took their well earned place in the quarters winning 3-2.

In the Mitchell Cup draw 5th seeds Remuera caused an upset against the 4th seeds Belmont Park claiming the win 3-2 with some massive efforts from the bottom part of their team. The 2nd seeds Hamilton were too strong for Royal Oak claiming their win 5-0. The 5th seeds Remuera had to back up again today facing off against top seeds North Shore in a long time rivalry. It was a tight affair with it going match for match but eventually North Shore claimed the win 3-2.

Full match results and games can be found here.

Updated draws can be found on the event page here.