Chance For Kiwis To Make Amends

There’s an opportunity for New Zealand badminton players to make amends when the Oceania Championships individual tournament starts on tomorrow (Wednesday) at Stadium Southland in Invercargill.

During the Thomas and Uber Cups and the Oceania teams events the Kiwis were outclassed by their Australian rivals, despite having been the dominate force in trans-Tasman badminton over the past decade, however that was with the names Dan Shirley, Sara Runesten Petersen, Nicole Gordon, Geoff and Rebecca Bellingham and Rachel Hindley all representing New Zealand.

In the individual events the local players have seedings which should see them progress to the final few rounds of the draws.

In the men’s singles Joe Wu is the top seed with, Invercargill's James Eunson installed as the second seed, but both players could have a difficult time make the semis. Wu should face top Australian Jeff tho in the quarters and Eunson could play Waitakere’s Luke Charlesworth or Auckland’s Brent Miller in the quarters.

The women’s singles looks good for Chia Chi Huang the former Taiwanese Olympian who is the Australian national coach. She’s likely to take on top seed Michelle Chan in the quarters. While the bottom half of the draw has Australian Leisha Cooper as second seed but plenty of competition from Southland’s Anna Ranking along with fellow Kiwi team member Jessica Jonggowisastro.

There’s plenty of strength in the men’s doubles with top Australians Glenn Warfe and Ross Smith somehow unseeded. Top seeds are Henry Tam(Auckland) and Oliver Leydon-Davis(Waikato) who will see Aussies Tho and Raj Veeran as their main rivals. Eunson and Kevin Dennerley-Minturn are another pair to watch.

The top pairings in women’s doubles are Kiwis Donna Haliday(Auckland) and Danielle Barry(Waitakere) as well as Australians Leanne Choo and Kate Wilson-Smith.

In the mixed draw Tam and Haliday are the top seeds but could face a challenge from Leydon-Davis and Jonggowisastro early on while Warfe and Wilson-Smith are the other key pair in the tournament.

The Oceania Championships individual competition runs through until Saturday with valuable Commonwealth Games ranking points on the line. Players from Fiji, Tahiti and New Caledonia are also taking part.