2025 Trans Tasman: Day 3 recap

by Val Febbo on February 2, 2025

The Right at Home Jackaroos have once again successfully defended the Trans Tasman trophy after a scintillating day on the greens of Naenae, replicating the 2024 scoreline of four series to one over the New Zealand Blackjacks.

Open Men – Australia defeated New Zealand 12-6

It was a barnstorming day for the Australian men who carried on the form that saw them gain a 7-5 lead overall after day two, with the away team losing just one matchup on the final day of competition.

Aaron Wilson overcame a slow start to the weekend, clinching the final two singles matches against Shannon McIlroy, while also pairing with Aaron Teys to defeat McIlroy and Ali Forsyth in the middle session to enjoy a perfect day of action.

Teys and his fours counterparts in Corey Wedlock, Carl Healey and Lee Schraner were magnificent in the two fours clashes played on the southern tip of the North Island, winning by a combined nine shots across the contests with Wedlock, Schraner and Healey going down by three in the sole triples match of the afternoon to mark the solitary blemish for the Jackaroos.

Open Women – Australia 9-9 New Zealand – Australia win on shot difference +3

In a close encounter, the Australian women fought back from a two-match deficit to win the first four contests of the day, meaning that New Zealand would have to reel back a hefty shot difference of 19 in the final session to level the series.

Dawn Hayman was exemplary in the morning session with a tight singles encounter against Tayla Bruce, winning the matchup 5-4 4-4, while Kristina Krstic, Chloe Stewart, Natasha Van Eldik and Kelsey Cottrell enjoyed a gritty 16-14 victory over Leeane Poulson, Briar Atkinson, Selina Goddard and Val Smith in the fours.

Krstic and Hayman blasted through Atkinson and Goddard in the pairs with a 16-6 6-5 win in the middle session, while Stewart, Van Eldik and Cottrell claimed a 19-7 salutation in the triples to leave the green and gold in a strong position to claim the tie.

Bruce was able to rebound with a 7-2 11-2 victory over Hayman in the deciding session to bring hope to her fours team, who were able to secure a two-shot victory to level the win count, however it was Australia who managed to defend their shot differential to clean sweep the open competition once again.

Para – Australia 9-9 New Zealand – New Zealand win on shot difference +11

Like 2024, the sole point on the overall master board for the Blackjacks went to the para team, who came from behind to take the trophy on the final match.

The opening session saw Louise Hoskins and Serena Bonnell win their first match as a pair for the tournament before Damien Delgado and James Reynolds piled on more pressure for the Blackjacks with a straight sets win of their own.

Jacky Hudson and Jake Fehlberg were the only team to not register a win for the Australians in the morning, going down in three sets but winning the shots count.

Australia were two matches and nine shots to the good going into the final round, but undeterred, New Zealand struck, winning two of the final three contests by a total of 18 shots to claim the tie.

Australia A v New Zealand Development – Men – Australia defeated New Zealand 13.5-4.5
Just as the open men, Australia A’s men were in a rampant mood, dropping just one match on the final day to ensure the tie would be theirs early in the day.

In fact, the first two sessions would be dominated by Australia, with Kane Nelson again on song in singles play, as well as triples with Nick Cahill and Cody Packer, while Nathan Black and Ben Twist were in fine form in the pairs.

Cahill, Packer, Black and Twist went unblemished in the fours, with the only defeat coming in Nelson’s final singles match against Aiden Takarua for New Zealand’s sole win of the afternoon.

Australia A v New Zealand Development – Women – Australia defeated New Zealand 11-7
The Australia A women only needed a solitary victory to secure the overall win on the final day and that came in the opening session as Brianna Smith, Kylie Lavis, Jessie Cottell and Jamie-Lee Worsnop clinched a fours win to make the lead unassailable.

New Zealand would win three of the next four in what were inconsequential to the overall standings.

Cassandra Millerick claimed Australia’s second salutation in her final singles encounter with a 3-6 6-5 4-3 win against Lisa Prideaux.

See the results HERE