Defending champions West Auckland and Harbour met with mixed early fortunes as the NZ U21 Championships tipped off in Nelson.

The Westie men fell hard, 58-80, to Otago in their tournament opener, but recovered with an 82-75 win over Tauranga City in the evening rounds.

Harbour women looked far more assured in their 82-26 first-up romp over Gisborne. They were booked to meet New Plymouth, 64-33 winners over Otago, later today.

With a pair of wins each, Waikato, Porirua and Harbour were the teams to impress on Day One of the men’s draw.

P-Town, runners-up last year, edged out hosts Nelson 92-90 in the evening for their second “W”, while Harbour prevailed over Counties Manukau TWOA and Wellington.

Waikato defeated Hutt Valley and Palmerston North in Pool D.

2010 NZ U21 Championships

Thursday, May 6

Saxton Stadium, Nelson
9am
Waikato 99 Hutt Valley 77 (Men’s Pool D)
Palmerston North 79 Auckland 56 (Men’s Pool D)
Harbour 77 Counties Manukau TWOA 66 (Men’s Pool C)
Wellington 93 Canterbury 83 (Men’s Pool C)

10.45am
Otago 80 West Auckland 58 (Men’s Pool A)
Porirua 94 North Canterbury 39 (Men’s Pool B)
Nelson 89 Counties Manukau 67 (Men’s Pool B)

12.30pm
Harbour 82 Gisborne 26 (Women’s Pool A)
New Plymouth 64 Otago 33 (Women’s Pool A)
Porirua 69 Nelson 52 (Women’s Pool B)
Waitakere City 69 Canterbury/North Canterbury 58 (Women’s Pool B)

2.15pm
Harbour 105 Wellington 88 (Men’s Pool C)
Counties Manukau TWOA 75 Canterbury 64 (Men’s Pool C)
Hutt Valley 73 Auckland 64 (Men’s Pool D)
Waikato 72 Palmerston North 65 (Men’s Pool D)

4pm
Porirua 92 Nelson 90 (Men’s Poll B)
North Canterbury 88 Counties Manukau 65 (Men’s Pool B)
West Auckland 82 Tauranga City 75 (Men’s Pool A)

5.45pm
Harbour v New Plymouth (Women’s Pool A)
Gisborne v Otago (Women’s Pool A)

7.30pm
Porirua v Canterbury/North Canterbury (Women’s Pool B)
Nelson v Waitakere City (Women’s Pool B)

Men
Pool A
Otago 1-0
West Auckland 1-1
Tauranga City 0-1

Pool B
Porirua 2-0
Nelson 1-1
North Canterbury 1-1
Counties Manukau 0-2

Pool C
Harbour 2-0
Wellington 1-1
Counties Manukau TWOA 1-1
Canterbury 0-2

Pool D
Waikato 2-0
Hutt Valley 1-1
Palmerston North 1-1
Auckland 0-2

Women
Pool A
Harbour 1-0
New Plymouth 1-0
Otago 0-1
Gisborne 0-1

Pool B
Porirua 1-0
Waitakere City 1-0
Canterbury/North Canterbury 0-1
Nelson 0-1

Friday, May 7

Saxton Stadium, Nelson
9am
Otago v Tauranga City (Men’s Pool A)
North Canterbury v Nelson (Men’s Pool B)
Counties Manukau v Porirua (Men’s Pool B)

10.45am
Counties Manukau TWOA v Wellington (Men’s Pool C)
Canterbury v Harbour (Men’s Pool C)
Waikato v Auckland (Men’s Pool D)
Palmerston North v Hutt Valley (Men’s Pool D)

12.30pm
Otago v Harbour (Women’s Pool A)
Nelson v Canterbury/North Canterbury (Women’s Pool A)

2.15pm
Waitakere City v Porirua (Women’s Pool B)
Gisborne v New Plymouth (Women’s Pool A)

4pm
Men’s QF1 – A1 v C2
Men’s QF3 – C1 v A2
Men’s QF5 – A3 v C4
Men’s QF7 – C3 v B4

5.45pm
Men’s QF2 – B1 v D2
Men’s QF4 – D1 v B2
Men’s QF6 – B3 v D4

 2010 NZ U21 Championships Programme (pdf 799kb)