Waikato & North Harbour Dominate National Champs

Waikato appears to be the stronghold of men’s badminton in New Zealand at present with two players from the region set to clash in the singles final of the national championships held at North Harbour.

Defending men’s champ TJ Weistra was forced to fight hard in the quarterfinals over North Harbour’s Brock Matheson in three games in just under an hour, however Weistra who is now over 35 who coaches in Hamilton was then able to dispatch Chance Cheng (Northland) in straight games to make the final.

He’ll face another Waikato player, Michael Fowke who also had a tough quarterfinal beating second seed Samuel Ho (Auckland) in three games before defeating former Canterbury player, now Waikato rep, Asher Richardson 22-20 21-16.

Lilian Shih the east Auckland teenager was the top seed and defending champion in the women’s singles draw but found herself beaten in the semifinals by North Harbour’s Anona Pak in straight games 22-20 21-10. Pak will now play another Harbour competitor, Vicki Copeland who knocked out second seed Kaitlyn McLeod from Auckland in straight games.

The men’s doubles final will feature the strong Auckland pair of Henry Tam and Delius Tang, both former New Zealand players up against the relatively unheralded team form the Capital, Jacob Morgan(Wellington North and Elliot Pike(Hutt Valley).

Favourites for the women’s final will be Jihyun Marr, a former Olympic Games medalist for Korea who is teaming with Angie Leung. Marr also features in the mixed doubles final with Cheng.

The finals start from 10am Sunday at the North Harbour Badminton Stadium.

A large number of the players who have taken part in the tournament having been trying to get match practice prior next month’s world Grand Prix SKYCITY New Zealand Open and also places in the New Zealand Sudirman Cup team (world mixed teams event) to be played in Malaysia in May.

Results - Pub Charity New Zealand National Badminton Championships, North Harbour.
Women’s singles quarterfinals:
Lilian Shih (Auckland) bt Angie Leung (Auckland) 21-18 21-18, Kaitlyn Mcleod (Auckland) bt Rebecca Goddard (Nth Harbour) 21-15 12-16, Vicki Copeland (Nth Harbour)  bt Jamin Ng (Auckland) 21-17 22-20, Anona Pak(Nth Harobur) bt Rayna Phillips (Nth Harbour) 21-10 21-12
Semifinals:
Pak bt Shih 22-20 21-10, Copeland bt Mcleoad 21-8 21-19.
Men’s singles quarterfinals:
TJ Weistra (Waikato) bt Brock Matheson (Nth Harbour) 21-11 18-21 21-17, Asher Richardson (Waikato) bt Maika Phillips(Nth Harbour) 21-14 21-12, Michael Fowke (Waikato) bt Samuel Ho (Auckland) 21-16 18-21 21-19, Chance Cheng (Northland) bt Riga Oud (Auckland) 21-15 21-14.
Semifinals:
Weistra bt Cheng 21-16 21-17, Fowke bt Richardson 22-20 21-16
Men’s doubles semifinals:
Henry Tam (Auckland)/Delius Tang (Auckland) bt Samuel Ho (Auckland)/Riga Oud (Auckland) 21-18 21-16, Jacob Morgan (Wellington North) /Elliot Pike (Hutt Valley) bt Daniel Lee (Auckland) Dylan Soedjasa (North Harbour) 21-12 21-17
Women’s doubles semifinals:
Jihyun Marr (Northland)/Angie Leung (Auckland) bt Emma Chapple (Counties Manukau)/Danielle Tahuri (Waitakere) 21-18 21-14.
Mixed doubles semifinals:
Chance Cheng (Northland)/Jihyun Marr (Northland) bt TJ Weistra (Waikato)/Susannah Leydon-Davis (Waikato) 21-19 21-12,