Kiwis Take Two Titles

It was a real trans-Tasman battle in the finals of the Oceania Junior championships at Stadium Southland in Invercargill as New Zealand won two out of the five titles and came close in the singles contests, with both the men’s and the women’s finals going to three games.

Fourth seed Asher Richardson from Canterbury lost to top seed Boris Ma from Australia 21-18 in the final game while Auckland’s Victoria Cheng, the tournament second seed lost to the No1 seed Tara Pilven(Australia) 12-21 21-12 21-14.

Kiwis took out the mixed in straight games with Waitakere pair Luke Charlesworth and Mary O’Connor combining to defeat third seeds Ashwant Gobinathan and Louisa Ma. The women’s doubles was an all-Kiwi affair as O’Connor and Madeleine Stapleton accounted for the North Harbour sisters Anona and Aviva Pak in straight games, while the men’s doubles had top seeds Gobinathan and Ma beat second seeds William Chen and Asher Richardson in straight games.

As a result of making the singles finals Richardson and Cheng have qualified for the first Summer Youth Olympic Games to be held in Singapore in August.

With the junior tournament finished the Oceania Championships continue with their finals late this afternoon in Invercargill with numerous trans-Tasman contests.

Results:

Junior Oceania Champs

(New Zealand unless noted).

Oceania Junior mixed final

(1)Luke Charlesworth/Mary O’Connor bt (3)Ashwant Gobinathan/Louisa Ma 21-11 21-13.

Oceania Junior men’s singles;

(1)Boris Ma(Australia) bt (4)Asher Richardson 17-21 21-14 21-18

Oceania Junior women’s singles;

(1)Tara Pilven(Australia) bt (2)Victoria Cheng 12-21 21-12 21-14

Oceania Junior women’s doubles;

(2)Mary O’Connor/Madeleine Stapleton bt Anona Pak/Aviva Pak 21-19 21-11

Oceania Junior men’s doubles;

(1)Ashwant Gobinathan/Boris Ma(Australia) bt (2)William Chen/Asher Richardson 21-19 21-16