31 Women competed in the first silver-graded events of the year at the Kapi Mana Clubrooms in Porirua, Wellington with the final settled by a last-leg decider.
Wendy Harper was looking to retain her New Zealand Masters crown in the women's singles, but she came unstuck against talented teenager Nicole Regnaud, losing out 5-4.
Regnaud, a regular winner of New Zealand’s youth events in recent years, beat Desi Mercer and Kayla Hitch, playing in her second semi-final of the year, to book her spot in the final, dropping just four legs in the process.
Harper, however, really had to battle to make her first WDF ranking final of 2021, surviving two last-leg deciders in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals against Maryanne Teinaki and Jo Steed respectively.
She was unable to extend that streak of last-leg victories to three, with the victory and a first senior ranking title instead going to Wellington native Regnaud, who is now up to 19th in the WDF women’s world rankings.
Both Harper and Regnaud are now assured of a spot in the World Masters, scheduled to run from December 2-5 in the Netherlands.
New Zealand’s next scheduled WDF ranking event is the silver-graded John Wilkie Memorial, set to be played in the Hutt Valley on July 3.
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