WA remain in contention for a first victory in the Australian Junior Interstate Teams Matches after an eventful day in Brisbane.
However, they will need to defeat Victoria and rely on NSW upsetting QLD in the final round of matches on Thursday morning to claim top spot in the combined team standings.
Having topped the table overnight with two wins and two halves from their opening four matches, WA played only once on Wednesday against the unfancied Tasmania.
The team from the Apple Isle gave an excellent account of themselves, however, before WA’s superiority eventually told at Brookwater Golf & Country Club.
Kortni Houston continued her spellbinding form as she posted a fifth win from five matches in a 4&3 victory over Lorissa Dobson, while Spencer Harrison, Katie Seol and Ollie Marsh also enjoyed comfortable wins.
Liam Sullivan also overcame the resilient Xavier Nicholls to score his fourth point from five matches in what has been an excellent WA state debut.
WA’s Spencer Harrison recorded a fine win on Day 3 of the interstate series
While those wins were enough to take WA over the finish line, Tasmania can take heart from the strong performances of Mackenzie Thomas and Koby Wegman, who edged tight contests again WA’s Isabella Leniartek and Josiah Edwards in the top matches.
Thomas brought Leniartek’s unbeaten record in interstate series matches to an end by winning the final hole to clinch a 1UP win. Prior to that, Leniartek had won 11 and halved one of her 12 individual matches at junior and open-age level since 2023.
Wegman, meanwhile, played out of his skin to topple WA skipper Edwards by 1 hole in a cut-and-thrust encounter.
How it lies heading into Day 4
With the final round of matches set for Thursday morning, WA face an uphill – but not insurmountable – battle to land the combined team title.
Lying second in the table on four points – just a half-point behind QLD – WA must beat Victoria to stand any chance of taking top honours.
Victoria have a remote possibility of topping the table themselves, lying in third place with 3.5 points from five matches. They would, however, need to defeat WA by a large margin and see NSW heavily beat QLD to win.
The equation is simpler for WA: if they win and QLD lose to NSW, the title will be heading west. And that’s a distinct possibility, with NSW looking to end the competition on a high having won the combined team title every year since its inception in 2022.
In what has been an underwhelming week for NSW up to now, they sit fourth in the table on three points but would love to round out the series with a win against their arch-rivals from QLD.
In short, it promises to be a nail-biting series of matches with plenty at stake.
Day 3 scores
WA vs Tasmania
Isabella Leniartek lost by 1 hole to Mackenzie Thomas
Katie Seol won 4&3 against Jessie Richmond
Kortni Houston won 4&3 against Lorissa Dobson
Halia Edwards halved with Kirri Piper
Josiah Edwards lost by 1 hole to Koby Wegman
Spencer Harrison won 5&4 against James Robinson
Liam Sullivan won 3&2 against Xavier Nicholls
Ollie Marsh won 6&5 against Oliver Barrett
Final score: WA 5.5 – 2.5 Tasmania
Current standings
View all the day’s results here.
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