Auckland Take National Championships Over Waikato

Auckland retained badminton’s Wisden Cup after scoring a 10-6 victory in their final round robin match over Waitakere at the Wellington Badminton Centre late on Saturday evening.

The Auckland side contained Olympic mixed player Renee Flavell as well as New Zealand international players Michelle Chan, Donna Haliday, Kevin Dennerley-Minturn, Nathan Hannam and Henry Tam. Waitakere had ex-internationals Dan Shirley, the only Kiwi to win a world champs medal and John Gordon as the backbone of their team as well as teenager Ethan Haggo who is now part of the New Zealand squad, but was somehow rated as the third best singles player in the team.

All three won their singles matches and Shirley and Gordon reformed their past world top-10 ranked combination together to defeat Hannam and Rune Svenningsen in straight games.

Waikato finished second after an as-expected win over Canterbury 15-1 who were relegated to the Slazenger Cup.

The Waikato victory saw Olympian Craig Cooper complete a whitewash in his three matches defeating Peter McMillian in straight games in the singles, teaming up with Oliver Leydon-Davis in the men’s for another straight game win plus combining with Deyanira Angulo for a three game victory in the mixed over Alfred Wong and Jo Seddon.

For Canterbury Rebecca Jury triumphed in the second singles over New Zealand under-19 rep, Anna Brown by an epic score 19-21 21-16 22-20.

North Harbour will take over from Canterbury after they cleaned up the Slazenger Cup beating all teams in easy fashion. The Harbour team which won the prestigious Wisden Cup competition a couple of years ago had Olympic singles player John Moody in its side and led 8-0 after the singles in the final giving them a undefeatable lead against Auckland(2). North Harbour beat the Auckland second team 11-5 in the final match while Southland finished in a creditable third ahead of Wellington North.
Places 5th to 7th were all decided by countback of matches as all teams won a tie each.
Players now prepare for the Waikato International in Hamilton starting on Thursday and until the finals on Sunday 7 September

Wisden Cup final round robin scores.
Auckland 10 Waitakere 6(Auckland names first)
Men’s singles 1: Rune Svenningsen lt Dan Shirely 10-21 16-21,
Men’s singles 2: Kevin Dennerley-Minturn lt John Gordon 16-21 16-21,
Men’s singles 3: Henry Tam lt Ethan Haggo 21-17 22-24 12-21,
Men’s singles 4: Nathan Hannam bt Simon Koo 19-21 21-16 21-19,
Women’s singles 1:Michelle Chan bt Danielle Barry 21-11 21-10,
Women’s singles 2: Xu Li bt Emily Ang 21-10 21-5
Women’s singles 3: Renee Flavell bt Kritteka Gregory 21-13 21-11
Women’s singles 4: Donna Haliday bt Mary O’Connor 21-15 21-14
Men’s doubles 1: Hannam/Svenningsen lt Shirley/Gordon 10-21 13-21
Men’s doubles 2: Tam/Dennerley-Minturn bt Ashraf Dhoray 21-13 25-23
Women’s doubles 1:Flavell/Chan bt O’Connor/Barry 22-20 17-21 21-7,
Women’s doubles 2: Haliday/Li bt Kritteka Gregory/Gabby Aves 21-15 21-16,
Mixed 1: Svenningsen/Haliday lt Shirley/O’Connor 16-21 15-21,
Mixed 2:Tam/Li bt Gordon/Catherine Moody 15-21 25-23 21-18,
Mixed 3:Dennerley-Minturn/Flavell bt Haggo/Barry 21-14 21-15,
Mixed 4: Hannam/Chan lt Koo/Aves 19-21 21-13 19-21.

Waikato 15 Canterbury 1(Waikato names first)
Men’s singles 1: Joe Wu bt Alfred Wong 21-12 21-18,
Men’s singles 2: Craig Cooper bt Peter McMillian 21-7 21-13,
Men’s singles 3: Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Greg Bray 21-15 21-19,
Men’s singles 4: Michael Fowke bt James Bishop 21-12 21-19,
Women’s singles 1:Feiran Mesa bt Jo Seddon 21-11 21-17,
Women’s singles 2:Deyanira Angulo bt Elia Vuleta-Dick 15-21 21-12 21-17
Women’s singles 3: Amanda Brown lt 21-19 16-21 20-22,
Women’s singles 4: Vina bt Carol Wu 21-13 21-16,
Men’s doubles 1: Cooper/Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Wong/McMillian 21-19 21-8,
Men’s doubles 2: Wi/Bjorn Seguin bt Bernard Wong/Bray 21-16 21-16,
Women’s doubles 1: Mesa/Vina bt Seddon/Jury 21-9 21-13,
Women’s doubles 2: Doriana Rivera/Angulo bt Carol Wu/Vuleta-Dick 21-14 21-14
Mixed 1: Cooper/Angulo bt Wong/Seddon 20-22 21-18 21-17,
Mixed 2:Leydon-Davis/Mesa bt Wu/Bray 21-13 21-19,
Mixed 3: Seguin/Rivera bt McMillian/Jury 21-13 21-19,
Mixed 4: Wu/Madeleine Stapleton bt Bishop/Vuleta-Dick 21-17 21-15.

Final placings: Auckland 1, Waikato 2, Waitakere 3, Canterbury 4. Canterbury relegated to Slazenger Cup.

Slazenger Cup Final Round Robin: North Harbour(1) bt Southland 15-1, Bay of Plenty bt Otago 10-6, Auckland(2) bt Wellington North 11-5, North Harbour(1) bt Auckland(2) 11-5, Otago bt North Harbour(2) 9-7, Southland bt Bay of Plenty 13-3,
Placings: North Harbour(1) 1, Auckland(2) 2, Southland 3, Wellington North 4, North Harbour(2) 5, Bay of Plenty 6, Otago 7.