Kiwis Beaten At World Champs

New Zealand’s time at the Badminton World Championship in Guangzhou, China has come to an end as Kiwi players found themselves beaten by highly ranked opponents on day two of the tournament overnight.

Waikato brother and sister Oliver and Susannah Leydon-Davis were defeated by the world No7 Thai pair, Sudket Prapakamo and Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-8 21-11 in 26 minutes in the second round of competition. The Kiwis are ranked 52nd in the world and had won their first round match the previous day over an Egyptian pair in straight sets.

Oliver Leydon-Davis then teamed up with Auckland’s Kevin Dennerly-Minturn which saw the 72nd ranked pair take on the 20th ranked team, Ingo Kindervater and Johannes Schoettler from Germany in the men’s doubles first round. The Germans eventually coming out the winners by a score of 21-18 21-11 in 25 minutes.

The World Championships run from August 5-11 in the 10,000 seat capacity TianHe Indoor Gymnasium, Guangzhou with around 400 of the world best players entered in the event.

The majority of the New Zealand players will return after the world champs to play in the New Zealand provincial teams event, the Wisden Cup to be held at Waitakere, 13-17 August.

The best performance by New Zealanders at the world champs came in 2005 in Anaheim, Los Angeles when Dan Shirley and Sara Runesten-Petersen won a bronze medal in the mixed competition.

Badminton World Championships Results (New Zealand results only. New Zealand unless named)
Men’s doubles first round: Ingo Kindervater/Johannes Schoettler (Germany) bt Kevin Dennerly-Minturn/Oliver Leydon-Davis 21-13 21-14
Mixed doubles second round: Sudket Prapakamo/Saralee Thoungthongkam (Thailand) bt Oliver Leydon-Davis/Susannah Leydon-Davis 21-8 21-11