Initial results and brief from Sotx Auckland Badminton International, Auckland Badminton Stadium, Gillies Ave
Friday 22 June 2012, 2:32PM
By Dave Worsley
746 views
There were no major upsets in the first days play at the Sotx Auckland Badminton International at Gillies Ave with all of the big name players progressing through the initial matches.
New Zealand No1 James Eunson who hails from Southland beat Fijian Burty Molia in straight games to move into the third round where he will take on Yu-Hsian Chiu from Taipei in what could be a tough encounter. Also through to the third round is former top Kiwi Joe Wu who had a win over North Harbour teen, Dylan Soedjasa in the first round and then Tahiti’s Remi Rossi in straight games. He will now play Thomas Ellis in the third round. Also through is former top-30 ranked player Andrew Smith from England.
In the early rounds of the mixed former Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist Tracey Hallam from England teamed with countryman Tom Armstrong to score a hard-fought win over locals Brock Matheson and Emma Rodgers. Taipei pair of Chien Cheng Lai and Ching Chieh Tai beat young talent Kerwyn Lee and Lilian Shih in straight games and look to be a threat for the title , as do the duo of Welshman Raj Popat and Indonesia’s Devi Tika Permatasari who defeated a Taipei pair in straight games.
Top seeds in the mixed are Australians Luke Chong and Victoria Na with Kevin Dennerly-Minturn and Stephanie Cheng the top Kiwi combination.
The tournament continues through to the finals on Sunday with a full draw of men’s and women’s singles as well as doubles and mixed.
First men’s round singles (New Zealand unless noted).
Brock Matheson bt Kerwyn Lee 21-15 21-17, Howard Chou bt Kai Yi Lim 21-18 21-9, Wei Jian Al(Malaysia) bt Sunil Dahiya 21-7 21-15.
Second round singles:
Jie Yang bt Tom Armstrong(England) 13-21 21-17 21-17, Chien Cheng Lai(Taipei) bt Ashraf Dhoray 13-21 21-12 21-15, Kaizar Bobby Alexander(Indonesia) bt Matthew Chun-Kit Chan 21-14 21-16, Po Wei Cheng(Taipei) bt Maika Phillips 21-3 21-8, James Eunson bt Burty Milia(Fiji) 21-13 21-18, Yu-Hsiang Chiu(Taipei) bt Valens Sulaiman 21-9 21-16, Raj Popat(Wales) bt Toshi Chen 21-9 21-8, Daniel Wu(Australia) bt Dylan Henton 21-18 21-13, Andrew Smith(England) bt Samuel Ho 21-9 21-19.
Earlier results from this evening.
Men’s singles first round (New Zealand unless otherwise noted).
Toshi Chen bt Tak Sing Kevin Ng 21-14 21-15, Burty Molia(Fiji) bt Man Chung Tong 21-6 21-4, Daniel Wu(Australia) bt Jonathan Curtin 21-15 21-14, Samuel Hob t Kent Palmer 21-15 21-14, Thomas Ellis bt Jordan McMahon 21-8 21-18, Che Wei Chang(Australia) bt Andrey Degtyarev 21-12 21-23 21-12, Vivian Washington bt Venkata Surya Rao Teegala 21-12 21-17, Remi Rossi(Tahiti) bt Daxxon Vong 21-18 21-19, Yu-Hsian Chiu(Taipei) bt Asher Richardson 21-14 21-18, Joe Wu bt Dylan Soedjasa 21-7 21-10.
Mixed doubles first round:
Luke Charlesworth/Carmen Yuen bt Remi Rossi(Tahiti)/ Anna Wolher(Tahiti) 21-13 21-13, Chien Cheng Lai(Taipei)/Ching Chieh Tai(Taipei) bt Kerwyn Lee/Lilian Shih(21-16 21-14, Raj Popat(Wales)/Devi Tika Permatasari(Indonesia) bt Yu-Hsiang Chiu(Taipei)/Ting Yin Chen(Taipei) 21-17 21-9, Po Wei Cheng(Taipei)/Yu Chieh Cheng(Taipei) bt Dylan Soedjasa/Angie Leung 21-12 21-10, Tom Armstrong(England)/Tracey Hallam(England) bt Brock Matheson/Emma Rodgers 20-22 21-19 21-10.