Report – Champion of Champion Women’s Fours – 1 – 3 August 2025

There was again little joy for North Harbour’s representatives when the national champion of champions events continued at the weekend with the women’s fours in Dunedin.

Orewa’s Elizabeth Ring, Val Taylor, Jill Green and Tira Campbell won only one of their four qualifying games and so missed out of Sunday’s post-section play.
However, they were up against some strong opposition, with four powerful fours especially from the Auckland club, Central Otago’s Queenstown, Nelson and Canterbury’s Elmwood Park.

Orewa’s final qualifying match was against a Nelson four which had two of the greatest ever New Zealand women’s players in Jo Edwards at skip and Val Smith at three, so it was a gallant effort to extend that illustrious line-up to a 16-8 loss. 

What on paper were the tournament’s strongest sides made the semi-finals. Nelson beat Queenstown 16-13 and Elmwood Park skipped by former Black Jack Mandy Boyd ensured an all South Island final by crushing Auckland 19-4.  In a quality final between two good teams Nelson, finishing strongly after trailing early, took the title 13-10.

The champion of champions events will continue next weekend with the men’s pairs in Hamilton.

North Harbour will be represented by Brown’s Bay’s Neil Fisher and Lloyd Sinton.
But again the level of competition will be high, with one of the toughest pairs a couple of former Harbour players, in Black Jack Tony Grantham and his old Birkenhead club-mate, Randall Watkins.  They will be representing Auckland’s Mt Albert. Daryl Read, who showed so much promise when he was in the Harbour centre a few years ago, will be playing for Taranaki’s Paritutu club.