BOOK YOUR SEAT FOR THE ULTIMATE NETBALL SHOWDOWN NORTH V SOUTH!

For the first time, the ANZ Championship comes to Vector Arena for the “sudden-death” Semi-Final 2.  It’s simple; the team who wins will travel to Australia in the first week of July to contest the Preliminary Final, while the other will be instantly eliminated from the 2010 Finals Series. 

After the most tightly contested race to the Finals Series in ANZ Championship history, the First Windows WBOP Magic and Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel have once again proven to be the dominant New Zealand teams. 

Can one of them finally make it all the way to the top, and become the first Kiwi team to hold the Grand Final trophy aloft?

Get behind the ANZ Championship teams with the hottest seat in town, and watch history in the making at Vector Arena as the WBOP Magic host Semi-Final 2 on Monday 28 June.  This is netball at its very best – don’t miss it!

THE KEY MATCH UP:
VAN DYK v DE BRUIN

A much-anticipated individual highlight of the semifinal clash between First Windows Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic and Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel is expected between Irene van Dyk and Leana de Bruin.

The Magic’s shooting maestro and the Steel’s defensive diva share a lot in common but will meet head-on for supremacy of the circle in what will have a defining influence on the game.

Silver Ferns team-mates, former franchise team-mates, former South African internationals and good friends off the court, van Dyk and de Bruin have enjoyed stellar ANZ Championship seasons. With both standing at 1.9m and injecting an imposing presence, there will be no room for sentiment between the veteran performers.

The seemingly ageless van Dyk, who turned 38 this week, has had another standout season under the hoop while de Bruin’s form since the birth of her first child in November has been inspiring.

Van Dyk has proved the most accurate shooter in the ANZ Championship for the third successive season, this year recording a tad over 94 percent in her accuracy rates. Venturing south from the Magic this year, de Bruin’s high work rate, fitness, ability in the air and movement have created an effective foil against the best of shooters.

``It’s great to have two New Zealand teams in the semifinals,’’ van Dyk said. ``While we will be going all out for the win, it does show that netball here is in good heart.’’

Magic's Irene van Dyk and Steel's Leana de Bruin have been a spectacular match up in the past two games in 2010

THE STAT LEADERS 2010