18 Apr 2024 | Amateur golf |

#AusJnrInterstate: Triple delight as Blues defend at Royal Fremantle

by Patrick Taylor

NSW_image
The Blues team with their well deserved trophy. Photo: Damien Smith.

New South Wales have held off a fast-finishing Queensland team to successfully defend their title, and make it three wins in a row, at the Australian Junior Interstate Teams Matches at Royal Fremantle Golf Club today.

After the first three days of round-robin competition, NSW and Queensland were the only two teams that could claim the overall championship heading into the final day.

With a one-point overnight buffer, the Blues only needed a half point to make the win a certainty, while Queensland needed a win and a New South Wales loss.

The final day at Royal Fremantle produced some of the most hotly contested matches of the week, and both states ended up halving their matches with Western Australia and South Australia respectively, handing the trophy to the Blues.

The defending champions tallied 5.5 points ahead of Queensland 4.5 and hosts Western Australia 4.0.

South Australia fought hard on the final day to deny Queensland a full point, with captains Raegan Denton and Kade Bryant both securing strong individual wins.

It was a similar case in the Blues versus Western Australia match-up, with Isabella Leniartek and Spencer Harrison grinding out tough victories to halve the overall match.

"Of course we were all a bit nervous, but we were just really supportive of each other and regardless of if we won or lost, we were still going to be proud of ourselves," Blues captain Sophie Eppelstun said of sleeping on the slim lead.

"Overall, we were all pretty confident and we were ready to win."

Eppelstun was also captain for last year's win, and while she will not be eligible to lead the Blues again next year, she is confident her state can snare a fourth straight title in 2025.

New South Wales managed to also secure the boys’ championship by a half-point over Western Australia, but it wasn't quite a repeat of the Blues’ clean sweep from last year, with Queensland taking out the girls’ championship.

Kayun Mudadana was the standout boy in the New South Wales team, only losing one match for the week, and winning big matches over strong competitors in Josiah Edwards and Wesley Hinton in the deciding fixtures.

Queensland's girls, led by Australian Junior champion Shyla Singh and Sarah Hammett, were almost flawless this week on their way to the girl's trophy.

Singh continued her good form from last week at Gosnells, only losing one match where she played as the No.1 or No.2 seed every time.

The New South Wales team will be hitting the town in Perth tonight for a special treat for their efforts at Royal Fremantle.

"We're having celebration Yo-Chi!" Eppelstun said excitedly.

The open age Australian Interstate Teams Matches are coming up in early May, and a number of competitors from this week will represent their states again at Southport Golf Club in Queensland.

Scoring.

The WA State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Lotterywest are major supporters of the Australian Junior Interstate Series in Western Australia. Sport and recreation creates vibrant, inclusive and connected WA communities.

Join our newsletter

Get weekly updates on news, golf tips and access to partner promotions.

Related News

Golf Australia NEW LOGO White Mono_logo
Join our newsletter

Get weekly updates on news, golf tips and access to partner promotions!