Netball Cook Islands domestic competition has reached a flashpoint with Takuvaine and Arorangi showcasing dominance at the knockout rounds on Saturday in the Premier division.

Saturday’s knockout matches took place at the National Sports Arena Indoor stadium in Nikao where Takuvaine asserted their dominance after a hard-fought victory over Avatiu with a score of 54-42 in the Premier division at Court 1.

In Court 2 – same division, Arorangi also showcased teamwork and great defence which resulted in their victory over Ngatangiia with scores 61-37.

Avatiu was a hard team to clash with, as scores fluctuated closer to each other on the scoreboard, throughout all four rounds and showing impressive shooting skills.

Meanwhile, the two Premier champions are now through to the next round this Wednesday.

Takuvaine/Tutakimoa captain, Rima Moeka’a admitted that the Avatiu team was a difficult rival to play against but grateful to have made it through to the next round.

“It was a long time coming for Takuvaine. We were 6th on the table and Avatiu 3 so it was definitely going to be a hard game for all of us and it just meant that we had to reflect and see how we were going to do training and bring that to the gam and it feels awesome just to go through,” she told this newspaper.

“It's been about 7 years since we've been to the finals where we won that. So it's nice to get a step closer to that final. 

“So the season started about 12 weeks (ago). We have been fortunate enough to have a good pool of players. Unfortunately, with our lives, motherhood, businesses, and all of that stuff and work so we haven't had a steady team on the court always.

“There's always a change every week. So this team together we've been training for a good 4 weeks I think. So I think that definitely helped us.”

Asked about what areas they’re looking to improve, as lessons from Saturday’s clash against Avatiu, Moeka’a said fitness is all they need to defeat Tupapa this week.

“So we'll be playing a really really fit Tupapa team next week in the semi-finals. And so we just have to play a bit more smarter,” she said.

“We're not the fittest team, they're way fitter than us so we just need to calm down and use our heads when we're playing next week.

“We would just like to say congratulations to all the teams that came onto the court today. Knockouts are always usually hard for some teams, some teams usually cry so congratulations to everyone and we hope to see you next week.”

In Court one, Ngatangiia defeated Tupapa in the Under6 division with scores 10-3; Under8 division –Avatiu (15) and Ngatangiia (0); Under12 division – Arorangi (25) and Takuvaine (16); Under14 – Tupapa (28) and Arorangi (26); Under16 – Avatiu (29) and Tupapa (24) – There was no game for the Under10 division.