Hawke's Bay squash player Winona-Jo Joyce heaped kudos on the home crowd support after finishing second in the North Island under-19 girls championship on Monday.
"I couldn't have asked for more from the home crowd. I had lots of support and I played pretty well the whole weekend," Joyce said.
The 18-year-old Havelock North A2 grader, who was a member of the New Zealand team at last year's world junior teams champs in Chennai, India, wanted to prove a point after only being named as a non-travelling reserve for next month's world champs in Malaysia. Left hander Joyce, the second seed, beat one of the players who will travel to Malaysia, Waikato's Georgia Robcke, the third seed, 11-7, 11-0, 11-5 in her semifinal.
In her final Joyce was beaten 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 by the top seed and another member of the Kiwi team for Malaysia, Anika Jackson of Waikato. She said reaching the final helped erase some of the disappointment of missing out on the Malaysia trip.
This weekend Joyce will play in the South Island championships in Christchurch where she will attempt to win the under-19 title she won in 2017. She didn't play in the South Island championships last year as she was in India.